Eastern Slavic Naming Customs - Given First Name

Given First Name

As with most cultures, a person has a given name chosen by the parents. First names in East Slavic languages mostly originate from two sources: Orthodox church tradition (which is itself of Greek origin) and native pre-Christian Slavic lexicons.

Common male first names

If two variants of a name are given, generally the first variant is Russian, and the second is Ukrainian.

  • Иван/Іван (Ivan, equivalent to John, of Hebrew origin)
  • Николай/Микола (Nikolay/Mykola, equivalent to Nicholas, of Greek origin meaning "victory of the people")
  • Борис (Boris/Borys, a pre-Christian Slavic diminutive of Borislav, meaning "Fighter for Glory")
  • Владимир/Володимир (Vladimir/Volodymyr, a pre-Christian name of Slavic origin that originally means "Great in his Rule/Power", but can be interpreted by contemporary East Slavic languages speakers as "The Lord of the World/Peace")
  • Пётр/Петро (Pyotr/Petro, equivalent to Peter, of Greek origin)
  • Андрей/Андрій (Andrey/Andriy, equivalent to Andrew, of Greek origin)
  • Александр/Олександр/Олекса (Aleksandr/Oleksandr, equivalent to Alexander, of Greek origin)
  • Дмитрий/Дмитро (Dmitry/Dmytro, of Greek origin)
  • Сергей/Сергій (Sergey/Serhiy, of Latin origin)
  • Леонид/Леонід (Leonid, from Leonidas, of Greek origin)
  • Алексей/Олексій (Aleksey/Oleksy, of Greek origin)
  • Виктор/Віктор (Viktor, of Latin origin)
  • Юрий/Юрій, Георгий/Георгій, Егор/Єгор (Yuri, Georgy, or Yegor, equivalent to George, of Greek origin)
  • Павел/Павло (Pavel/Pavlo, equivalent to Paul, of Latin origin)
  • Константин/Костянтин (Konstantin/Kostyantyn, of Latin origin)
  • Кирилл/Кирило (Kirill/Kyrylo, of Greek origin)
  • Василий/Василь (Vasily/Vasyl, equivalent to Ваsіl, of Greek origin)
  • Poмaн (Roman, of Latin origin)
  • Cтaниcлaв/Станіслав (Stanislav, of Slav origin)
  • Михаил (Mikhail, equivalent to Michael, of Hebrew origin)
  • Игорь/Ігор (Igor/Ihor, from Ingvar, old Norse)
  • Максим (Maxim/Maksym, from Latin, meaning "greatest")
Non-Slavic/Christian male first names
  • Булат (Bulat, of Turkic (Tatar) origin, originally from Persian, means "steel")
  • Тимyр (Timur, of Turkic Tatar origin, means "iron")
  • Рycлан (Ruslan, of Turkic Tatar origin, means "lion")
Common female first names
  • Анна (Anna, equivalent to Anne or Hannah, of Hebrew origin)
  • Елена/Олена (Yelena/Olena, equivalent to Helen, of Greek origin)
  • Наталья/Наталія (Natalya/Nataliya, equivalent to Natalie, of Latin origin)
  • Мария/Марія (Mariya, equivalent to Mary, of Hebrew origin)
  • Ольга (Olga, Olha a pre-Christian name derived from Varangian Helga)
  • Александра/Олександра (Aleksandra/Oleksandra, equivalent to Alexandra, of Greek origin)
  • Ксения/Оксана (Kseniya/Oksana, Oksana is the most common Ukrainian female name, Kseniya is from Greek Xenia)
  • Екатерина/Катерина (Yekaterina/Kateryna, equivalent to Catherine, of Greek origin)
  • Татьяна/Тетяна (Tatyana/Tetiana, of Latin origin)
  • Анастасия/Анастасія (Anastasiya, of Greek origin)
  • Светлана/Світлана (Svetlana/Svitlana, meaning "Shining One"; although it looks like a pre-Christian Slavic name, it was invented by Alexander Vostokov in 1802 and became popular when Vasily Zhukovsky published his ballad Svetlana in 1813).
  • Юлия/Юлія (Yulia, equivalent to Julia or Julie, of Latin origin)
  • Вера/Віра (Vera/Vira, means "Faith", calque from Greek Πίστη)
  • Надежда/Надiя (Nadezhda/Nadiya, means"Hope," calque from Greek Ελπίς)
  • Любовь/Любов (Lyubov, means "Charity" or "Love", calque from Greek Αγάπη)
  • Софья/Софія (Sof'ya/Sofiya, means "Wisdom", equivalent to Sophia, of Greek origin)

Read more about this topic:  Eastern Slavic Naming Customs

Famous quotes containing the word name:

    What is it? a learned man
    Could give it a clumsy name.
    Let him name it who can,
    The beauty would be the same.
    Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)