Etiquette and Customs
Meeting and Greeting
- The typical greeting is a warm, firm handshake, maintaining direct eye contact, and repeating your name.
- When female friends meet, they kiss on the cheek three times, starting with the left and then alternating, while close male friends may pat each other on the back and hug.
- Ukrainian names are comprised of:
> First name, which is the person’s given name.
> Middle name, which is a patronymic or a version of the father’s first name formed by adding "-vich" or "-ovich" for a male and "-avna", "-ovna", or "ivna" for a female. The son of Alexi would have a patronymic of Alexivich while the daughter’s patronymic would be Alexivina.
>Last name, which is the family or surname.
- In formal situations, people use all three names.
- Friends and close acquaintances may refer to each other by their first name and patronymic.