I thought this might be helpful to all of our fiction writers trying to come up with genuine-sounding Russian names. Note that the below is not an exhaustive list, and there are many more first and last names that it does not cover, but it should give you a character with a genuine Russian name by using a rather simple set of rules.
All of these are pretty common, especially amongst the ethnic Russians (some non-ethnic Russians may have these names, too). I have arranged them in order of Russian alphabet, which is why you would have "V" after "B" and so on. Additionally, I have included a diminutive/short form of a name if applicable (italicized) - generally such short form will be used for children, close acquaintances, family members, and sometimes for much younger underlings. If a diminutive form is not listed, it means that there is not one, or that I am not aware of one (such as with old-fashioned and archaic names, some of which may be so uncommon that an agreed-upon diminutive form does not exist). A formal way of addressing someone is first name and patronymic.
All of these are pretty common, especially amongst the ethnic Russians (some non-ethnic Russians may have these names, too). I have arranged them in order of Russian alphabet, which is why you would have "V" after "B" and so on. Additionally, I have included a diminutive/short form of a name if applicable (italicized) - generally such short form will be used for children, close acquaintances, family members, and sometimes for much younger underlings. If a diminutive form is not listed, it means that there is not one, or that I am not aware of one (such as with old-fashioned and archaic names, some of which may be so uncommon that an agreed-upon diminutive form does not exist). A formal way of addressing someone is first name and patronymic.
An easy way to create Russian-sounding last names is to take a Russian first name, and:
If the name ends in a consonant, add -ov for male and -ova for female. For example, you can add -ov to Ivan to get Ivanov, which is a common Russian last name. Note that female version of it would be Ivanova - instead of it being Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov, it would be Mr. Ivanov, but Mrs. Ivanova.
Note one exception - the name Igor. In Russian, it ends with a character/sound that does not exist in English. Therefore, treat it as if it ended on a vowel or on a "y".
If the name ends on a vowel or on a "y", add -ev for male or -eva for female. For example, you can add -ev to Alexey to get Alexeyev, an authentic Russian-sounding last name.
Let me know if you would like me to give you an assortment of last names on top of that - I can probably have quite a few to you if you like.
Generally, a patronymic would follow these rules:
If one's father's first name ends on a consonant, simply add -ovich to the end of it for a male, or -ovna for female. For example:
My father's first name is Boris, therefore, my middle name/patronymic is Borisovich. My first name is Aleksandr. If my daughter was named accordingly to Russian system, her middle name/patronymic would have been Aleksandrovna.
If one's father's first name ends on a vowel or on "y", simply add -evich to the end of it for a male, or -evna for female. For example:
If father's first name is Sergei, his son's patronymic/middle name would be Sergeievich. If father's first name is Vasiliy, daughter's patronymic/middle name would be Vasiliyevna.
The exact form of address used depends on the situation. During formal situations, or when conversation is held between people of roughly equal social standing who are not closely familiar with each other(i.e. during a business negotiation, or if both people know each other through work, are not close friends, and are roughly at the same level), both people will address each other by first name and patronymic.
For example, let's assume that Vasiliy Alekseyevich Ivanov and Irina Fedorovna Petrova are mid-level managers at a large Moscow firm. In work environment, they will use full first name and patronymic when addressing each other.
In informal situations, if the people are familiar with each other, they may call each other by first name, often using diminutive forms. Family members will refer to each other in this manner most of the time as well, and the person will almost always refer to his or her children this way (including grown children). For example, if Vasiliy and Irina (from above example) are friends outside of work and meet for drinks at a bar, they will call each other "Vasya" (diminutive of Vasiliy) and "Ira" (diminutive of Irina).
If there is a large disparity between social standing of two people (i.e. one of the top managers of the firm versus a low-level employee, or a manager and a person he or she manages), the person with the highest standing will be invariably addressed by first name and patronymic, even in social situations. The person with the lower standing may be addressed by last name, or, in rarer cases, by first name or diminutive of first name. The one exception to it is secretaries - a boss may usually call his or her secretary by first name before resorting to other forms of address.
For example, let's assume that Ivan Sergeyevich Mironov is an executive (or a high-ranked government employee, or something like that), Nikolai Aleksandrovich Sedenko is a junior employee, and Alyona Vasilyevna Rybak is Mironov's secretary. Mironov would probably address Sedenko by last name, although he would probably address Rybak by first name (mainly due to closer familiarity many bosses would have with their secretaries, who control access to their bosses, and who may have greater impact on their schedules).
Rule of Thumb regarding forms of address: if in doubt, use first name and patronymic, as it is a polite, formal way of addressing someone, especially if you are not sure as to where that person's status is. Currently, you may also address someone as Gospodin⁄Gospozha (last name) - former is male form, latter is female form, and both are equivalent to English⁄American Mr.⁄Ms.
I've always wondered, what was the reasoning for having male⁄female differentiation on names except affectionate nicknames?
Alexander⁄Alexandra is always Sasha. But according to the rules it would be Alexandrev⁄ova Alexandrevna⁄evich.
How did it happen that there is gender differentiation when the name is in that position but not with affectionate names?
I think it mostly has to do with the informal nature of diminutive/affectionate names, especially for the first names that have male and female versions. Additionally, there are more gender-specific diminutives - while Sasha is a common short for Aleksandr or Aleksandra, Shurik or Sanyek are only used for Aleksandr, while Shura, though used for both Aleksandr and Aleksandra, is more common for females. It does not easily follow proper Russian, since it is more like legitimized slang than language you will find in dictionaries.
It has more to do with what the diminutive name is and less to do with any formal notion of gender differentiation. Since diminutives are by definition informal (although some people may choose to go by such diminutives - some actors or pop stars do exactly that), proper Russian becomes less important.