Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Scandinavian, German, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Portuguese, Spanish
Other Scripts: Ольга (Russian), Олга (Serbian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: OL-gah (Russian), AWL-gah (German, Polish) [key]
Russian form of
HELGA. It was brought to Russia from Scandinavia by the Varangians. The 10th-century
Saint Olga was the wife of Igor I, the prince of Kievan Rus (a state based around the city of Kiev). After she was baptized in Constantinople she attempted to convert her subjects to Christianity.
