The story behind the name ‘Matryoshka

The Matryoshka is a real doll derived from the name ‘Matryona’ (or Matryoshenka or Matryosha), a famous female name among the peasant folk of Russia. These names all came from the Latin word ‘mater,’ which means ‘mother.’ A doll representing an older woman is oftentimes called a ‘babushka’ or ‘baboushka,’ which means ‘sweet or cute old woman.’

The Matryoshka dolls are Russian wooden dolls with smaller dolls nestled inside the bigger ones. These dolls are egg shaped, symbolising motherhood and fertility. It was originally associated with the portly and healthy mother of the great peasant family. Oftentimes, a full family of males and females are nested inside the outside mother doll, with a baby as the smallest doll.

The mother doll’s clothing usually includes a scarf, shirt, apron, and a long jumper called a ‘sarafan.’ These were worn by women and peasant girls in the northern and central part of Russia since long before the 20th century. The dolls commonly have flowers in their hands that symbolise the dolls’ origin and the region where they were made.

Later, the word ‘Matryoshka’ became a symbolic name. It was then used especially to represent brightly painted wooden figurines. The first nesting doll from Russia was painted by Sergey Maliutin and curved by Vassily Zviozdochkin. It contained eight pieces: a young woman with a rooster, accompanied by a boy, then again followed by a girl and so on. The last figurine that was made was a baby, wrapped in a diaper.