I've heard that another effect of Sovietization in Mongolia was surnames. Mongolians had surnames (strictly speaking, clan names) before the Soviet takeover. T

I've heard that another effect of Sovietization in Mongolia was surnames. Mongolians had surnames (strictly speaking, clan names) before the Soviet takeover. The Soviets abolished them, as part of an effort to get rid of the old aristocracy. Since then, Mongolians have been known officially either by a single personal name or by using their father's name in combination with their own. In the 90s, there was an attempt to bring back surnames. People were given a free choice of which surname to adopt. Some people either still knew the surname their family had had before the Soviet era (because it had been passed down in secret), or were able to find it in local records. But a lot of people chose a name that had no history in their family, either because they didn't know their old surname, it had an unflattering meaning (like "Thief" or "Seven Drunkards"), or they simply wanted a different one. The attempt was unsuccessful, in part because huge numbers of people chose to adopt Borjigin (Genghis Khan's clan name) as their surname.