We examine the problem of social self-identification of the service class people (sluzhilye liudi) in Russia in the early Modern time. The service class people that represented a set of different corporations varying in time and in space showed different identities in various situations. Their recognition of own identity differed depending on the influence of certain factors: territories, corporate perceptions, honor, etc. Based on the analysis of petitions of the service class people, the author identifies the main markers of self-identification and traces some regularities of their use. Particular attention is given to the practices that provided consolidation of people into groups and the methods they used to be distinguished from the mass of people and to show one's identity.
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