>>>Isn't it "Petrov"? :)
>>>
>>>The other most common Russian last name was "Rabinovitch" < g >
>>
>>LOL
>OK.......for us non-Russian speakers.......what's the joke?

When you try to explain a joke, it usually becomes not funny at all <g>

Basically, Rabinovitch was the same way among "Russian" Jews as Ivanov among Russian Russians. There was a book (which I didn't read, but heard enough) called "Ivanov & Rabinovitch". It's about a Russian who wanted to imigrate to Israel and his friend, who wanted to live there he lived. So they both married to each other's sister and changed their last names...