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Some western men are crazy about Russian girls because those gorgeous Slavic women seem to be exotic for them, others – because they already know enough about girls from the largest post-Soviet country. As the girls themselves, Russian girl names can sound quite exotic to our ear. Sometimes it is easy to fall in love with a Russian girl only by learning her name. So, without any further ado, we offer you to delve into our list of beautiful Russian girl names.
“Anna”
Anna remains one of the most popular and most common Russian names. The name is popular not only in Russia but worldwide as well. Anna is a simplified variation of a Jewish name Hannah. Its popularity among Russian female names is rooted in literature as Leo Tolstoy “Anna Karenina” remains one of the most famous novels in Russian literature. But don't worry: if a Russian girl has this name, it doesn't mean that she will end her life (spoiler alert) under the train as her namesake from Tolstoy's novel.
“Anastasia”
Anastasia is one of the most widespread Russian names for girls. The origin, however, is not Russian. Anastasia is a female version of the ancient male name Anastasius. Anastasia was the name of the 4th-century Roman martyr and saint. The name has always been common in Eastern Europe. It appeared in various spellings in Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Anastasia was the youngest daughter of Russian Tsar Nicholas II who was rumored to have escaped the Bolsheviks' massacre of the royal family. Numerous impostors claimed to be her, but in the end, it turned out that Anastasia was murdered together with her family on July 17, 1918.
“Kseniya”
Less popular than Anastasia and Anna, Kseniya is quite popular among Russian girl names and the meaning of this name of Greek origin, ξενία, is “hospitality”. It has a lot of variations, like Oksana and Xena, and it is popular not only in Russia but in Ukraine, Poland, Serbia, Macedonia, and Finland as well.
It is believed, that women who are named Kseniya are very successful and make a strong impression on those who surround them. Considering how many successful women in Russia and USSR bore the name, this belief is not that far from being the truth.
“Lyudmila”
Lyudmila is one of the most popular traditional Russian female names. The meaning of the name is “favor of the people”. “Люд” (lyud) is the old Slavic word that means people, while “мила” (mila) means dear, beautiful, or gracious. As with Anastasia, there was a saint named Lyudmila. Saint Ludmila/Lyudmila of Bohemia was a Czech saint and martyr. She was the 10th-century Duchess of Bohemia. She was a mother of Vaclav the Good, the great duke of Bohemia. Saint Ludmila had a sad story as her daughter-in-law Drahomira ordered her to be murdered.
“Natalya”
Natalya or Natasha is one of those pretty well-known Russian girl names. The meaning of this name is basically Christmas Day, the Birthday of the Lord. As with Anna, it owes its popularity to Leo Tolstoy as Natasha Rostova was one of the central characters of his opus magnum “War and Peace”. The name was quite common in the post-war United States and remained popular until the 1980s when it was replaced by more straightforward Natalie.
“Vera”
Vera is one of the most popular Russian names. It means “faith” while some sources claim that the meaning of the name is “true”. Vera was a saint and martyr who was murdered along with her three sisters and their mother in the 2nd century during the prosecution of Christianity by the Roman Empire.
“Sophia”
Sophia is a Greek name that means “wisdom.” Of the 10,000 Russians, this is the name of 630 girls. It appeared in Russia after the advent of Orthodoxy. For a long time, only girls from the upper class were called Sophia. Now this name has the greatest popularity in Moscow.
“Valeria”
The female name of Valeria is Latin in origin. The meaning is “strong” or “good health”, and it is formed from the Latin word “valere”. Valeria’s name is considered both Catholic and Orthodox. Moreover, during the christening, they often use the synonym name Kaleria instead of it, which is also firmly included in the everyday life of Russians. It is very popular in countries with a Russian-speaking population. Today this name is considered one of the most popular female names.
“Olga”
The name Olga is Old Russian by the origin and is borrowed from the Scandinavian languages. It could be formed from Helga – “holy”, “wise” or “fatal”. According to another version, it can have Slavic roots. The female name Olga has a very strong energy aura and is able to endow a girl named at birth with this name with a large number of important and necessary characteristics.
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