Latvian names, like in most European cultures, consist of two main elements: the given name (vārds) followed by family name (uzvārds). During the Soviet occupation (1940–1941; 1944–1991) the practice of giving a middle name (otrais vārds) was discouraged, but since the restoration of independence, Latvian legislation again allows the giving of up to two given names and it has become more common to give a middle name to children. Latvian male names end in 1st or 2nd declension masculine endings, either -s/-š or -is (with a handful of mostly foreign exceptions ending in indeclinable -o, such as Ivo, Raivo, Gvido, Bruno, Oto and only a few belonging to the 3rd declension ending in -us, such as Ingus, Mikus, Edžus, Zemgus). Latvian female names have the feminine 4th or 5th declension endings -a or -e respectively. For centuries, one of the most popular Latvian names has been Jānis, whose written use dates back to 1290. The vocative case is used when addressing someone directly, for example, Jāni for Jānis. The diminutive form is often used to express endearment or when addressing children, for example, addressing Jānis as Jānīt (vocative diminutive). Spelling Writing of Latvian names always conform to the highly phonetic Latvian orthography and in the case of foreign born Latvian nationals or marriages between Latvian women and foreigners (whence they assume the family name of their husband) the foreign names are modified to conform to the phonetic spelling and to acquire the respective case ending. For example, Gerard Depardieu is Žerārs Depardjē, Joaquin Phoenix is Hoakins Fīnikss and Donald Trump is Donalds Tramps. This has given rise to at least half a dozen lawsuits over the last couple decades, mostly ethnic Russian Latvian nationals not content with addition of case endings. Other examples include: a Latvian woman contesting her foreign husband's name being transcribed phonetically in her documents (Mentzen alias Mencena v. Latvia case) where the plaintiffs were turned down legal proceedings by a Latvian couple to allow them to register their child as Otto (instead of Oto) a claim filed with UN HRC by a Latvian national of Russian-Jewish Leonid Raihman whose claims were upheld. History Before the Christianization of Latvia in 13th century Latvians commonly gave their children names of objects from natural surroundings, such as Irbe (partridge), Lācis (bear), Ieva (bird cherry) and Ābele (apple tree), many of whom later became last names. Names of the following