Patronymic Group

one of the forms of social organization characteristic of patriarchal clan society and often preserved in a class society until the capitalist stage. A patronymic group is a group of relatives from large or small families having a certain economic, social, and ideological unity and a common patronymic name—that is, a name derived from the Christian name of the founder of the group (for example, the Slavic Kalinovichi or the German Solingen and Ratingen). A patronymic group as a social form was first distinguished in 1931 by the Soviet scholar M. O. Kosven. It was studied by him and later by other scholars, who discovered patronymic groups among many peoples of the Caucasus and northern Asia and among the western and southern Slavs and other peoples.