I’m watching “the Americans” (GREAT show if you aren’t already watching), and they portray Russians as frequently using people’s first and last names in the same way we would use a first name or a surname:
“You are good at getting people to trust you, Nina Sergeevna.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea, Oleg Burov?”
“You have very powerful friends, Vasili Nikolaevich.”
Really? What’s it about? It must signify something…
The second name is a patronym, not exactly a last name. It’s part of their name – it states their father’s name – and its sort of like a middle name. It’s not a family name on it’s own. The first name stands alone, but the patronym is often used for more specificity.
Mikhail Ivanovich (Mikhail, son of Ivan) and his sister, Alexandra Ivanova (Alexandra, daughter of Ivan). In your examples, Nina’s father was named Sergei, and Vasili’s father was named Nikolai.
We don’t have anything exactly comparable in English, but something similar is being named “Robert, Jr.” Junior is part of Robert’s name but it’s neither his given name nor his family name. Instead, it signifies a family relationships (specifically, the first son of the same name as the father).
At the school I work at, Mrs. Ballou teaches Russian (and is from Russia). The students call her Yullia Ivanovich. I always wondered why. Ignorance fought!
It ought to be “Ivanovna” (I think?), for a woman
Correct.
Referring to someone by first name + patronymic is common. However, you’d only do that with someone you know fairly well. A colleague.
Getting to know each other better comes with a wide array of lovely diminutives (for each of your names), but that’s for another post 
I’ve heard that some editions of Russian novels sometimes have name guides to indicate that Ivan Yurovich Gorski might be referred to as “Gorski” by some, “Ivan Yurovich” by others, and “Vanya” by yet others.
I can remember getting some damned Russian novel out of a library and seeing someone carefully pencilled in which damned ‘Ivan Ivanovich’ every identical name was referring to. Made reading it so much easier as I didn’t have to try and remember who was whom.:smack:
In 1977, when I lived there, it was certainly the custom for adults on cordial, but not intimate, terms to refer to each other that way. It was also considered appropriate for children to address adults that way. There really was no form of “Mr.” or “Mrs.” I never heard anyone say “Comrade,” and according to my father, you pretty much didn’t hear it outside of government offices, and I think last names only was something you heard a lot in the workplace. I don’t really know what the rules for it are, except it seems to be pretty much something men do.
Nicknames, like Sasha for Aleksander, or Olya for Olga are reserved for very good friends and family members. Also, adults will address children by their first names only, even when the children are expected to use the patronym.
It doesn’t ever seem to be the custom to mix pet forms and patronyms. So you would never hear “Natasha Ivanova.” If you know someone well enough to call her “Natasha,” you call her just that. Otherwise, it’s “Natalia Ivanova.”
Just a literary note: in ballet, French is the language, so ballet mistresses are always “Madame Lastname.” Since there are a lot of Russian ballet mistresses in the US and Britain, you hear of a lot of “Madame Obolonsky” and “Madame Svetlova,” but “Madame” isn’t used in Russia at large-- I have no idea if it’s used in ballet in Russia-- probably not; I think that French as the language of ballet is a Western Europe-American thing. I took ballet lessons in Russia, and we called the teacher by her patronym. I honestly can’t remember what we called the steps, but half the students were from the embassy school, so if the teacher used French terms, it could have been a concession to that.
Very close friends are addressed by first names or diminutives of first names.
All other friends are addressed by first names, usually shortened (Misha, not Mikhail).
More formal exchanges (like student to teacher, or underling to boss, or even colleague to colleague who are not friends) are full first name + patronymic. Shortened first names are never used with a patronymic, obviously.
Yet more formal exchanges used to use Tovarishch (today, Gospodin/Gospozha) + last name. Tovarishch is still used in the military.
People are rarely addressed using all three - that is, first name, patronymic and last name. That is usually done when referring to someone in third person.