nymphastral's Personal Name List

Form of Hadrianus (see Hadrian) used in several languages. Several saints and six popes have borne this name, including the only English pope, Adrian IV, and the only Dutch pope, Adrian VI. As an English name, it has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it was not popular until modern times.

Created by Russian author Aleksey Tolstoy for his science fiction novel Aelita (1923), where it belongs to a Martian princess. In the book, the name is said to mean "starlight seen for the last time" in the Martian language.

Russian form of Alexius. This name was borne by a 14th-century Metropolitan of Kiev who is regarded as a saint in the Orthodox Church. It was also the name of a 17th-century tsar of Russia.

Diminutive of Aliaksandra or Aleksandra.

Latinized form of the Greek name Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant "defending men" from Greek ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, help" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός). In Greek mythology this was another name of the hero Paris, and it also belongs to several characters in the New Testament. However, the most famous bearer was Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. Due to his fame, and later medieval tales involving him, use of his name spread throughout Europe.

The name has been used by kings of Scotland, Poland and Yugoslavia, emperors of Russia, and eight popes. Other notable bearers include English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), American statesman Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Scottish-Canadian explorer Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), and Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor of the telephone.

Short form of Adelina, Albina and names that end in alina.

Form of Alice used in several languages.

Feminine form of Anastasius. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Anatolius.

Romanian form of Andrew, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian/Bulgarian Андрей or Belarusian Андрэй (see Andrey).

Form of Channah (see Hannah) used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament. Many later Old Testament translations, including the English, use the Hannah spelling instead of Anna. The name appears briefly in the New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin Mary.

In England, this Latin form has been used alongside the vernacular forms Ann and Anne since the late Middle Ages. Anna is currently the most common of these spellings in all English-speaking countries (since the 1970s), however the biblical form Hannah is presently more popular than all three.

The name was borne by several Russian royals, including an 18th-century empress of Russia. It is also the name of the main character in Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1877), about a married aristocrat who begins an ultimately tragic relationship with Count Vronsky.

Russian diminutive of Anna.

Form of Antonius (see Anthony) used in various languages. A notable bearer was the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904).

Feminine form of Antoninus.

Russian diminutive of Anna.

Spanish, Catalan, Russian and Polish form of Ariadne.

Russian variant of Irina.

From a Bulgar Turkic name, also recorded as Bogoris, perhaps meaning "short" or "wolf" or "snow leopard". It was borne by the 9th-century Boris I of Bulgaria, who converted his realm to Christianity and is thus regarded as a saint in the Orthodox Church. To the north in Kievan Rus it was the name of another saint, a son of Vladimir the Great who was murdered with his brother Gleb in the 11th century. His mother may have been Bulgarian.

Other notable bearers of the name include the Russian emperor Boris Godunov (1552-1605), later the subject of a play of that name by Aleksandr Pushkin, as well as the Russian author Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), the Bulgarian king Boris III (1894-1943), and the Russian president Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007).

Diminutive of Boris.

Means "son of Carl".

Russian and Ukrainian form of Damian.

Means "divine, goddesslike", a derivative of Latin dia or diva meaning "goddess". It is ultimately related to the same Indo-European root *dyew- found in Zeus. Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests and childbirth, often identified with the Greek goddess Artemis.

As a given name, Diana has been regularly used since the Renaissance. It became more common in the English-speaking world following Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817), which featured a character named Diana Vernon. It also appeared in George Meredith's novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). A notable bearer was the British royal Diana Spencer (1961-1997), the Princess of Wales.

The name was first used by Oscar Wilde in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), which tells the story of a man whose portrait ages while he stays young. Wilde may have taken it from the name of the ancient Greek tribe the Dorians.

Form of Helen used in various languages, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Елена (see Yelena).

Contraction of Russian электрификация мира (elektrifikatsiya mira) meaning "electrification of the world". This name was created by communist parents who were eager to reject traditional names.

Latinate form of Aveline. It was revived by the author Fanny Burney for the heroine of her first novel Evelina (1778). It is often regarded as a variant of the related name Evelyn or an elaboration of Eve.

Modern Greek form of Eugenia. It is also an alternate transcription of Russian Евгения (see Yevgeniya) or Bulgarian Евгения (see Evgeniya).

Diminutive of Grigoriy.

Russian and Belarusian form of Elijah.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Yolanda.

Meaning unknown. This name was borne by Saint Ia of Persia, a 4th-century martyr who is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Feminine form of Iulianus (see Julian). This was the name of a 4th-century saint and martyr from Nicomedia, and also of the Blessed Juliana of Norwich, also called Julian, a 14th-century mystic and author. The name was also borne by a 20th-century queen of the Netherlands. In England, this form has been in use since the 18th century, alongside the older form Gillian.

Elaborated form of Karin.

Macedonian and Albanian form of Katherine, a Russian short form of Yekaterina, a Bulgarian short form of Ekaterina, and a Greek variant of Aikaterine.

Russian diminutive of Yekaterina.

Diminutive of Yekaterina. This is the name of a 1938 Soviet song, which became popular during World War II.

Diminutive of Nikolai.

Form of Constantine in several languages.

Russian diminutive of Konstantin.

Short form of Alana (English) or Svetlana (Russian). In the English-speaking world it was popularized by actress Lana Turner (1921-1995), who was born Julia Jean Turner.

Russian short form of Larisa. It was introduced to the English-speaking world by a character from Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago (1957) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1965). Between 1965 and 1969 it increased by almost 2,000 percent in the United States, however it is currently much more popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. Another famous fictional bearer is Lara Croft, first appearing in video games in 1996 and movies in 2001.

Possibly derived from the name of the ancient city of Larisa in Thessaly, which meant "citadel". In Greek legends, the nymph Larisa was either a daughter or mother of Pelasgus, the ancestor of the mythical Pelasgians. This name was later borne by a 4th-century Greek martyr who is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Church. The name (of the city, nymph and saint) is commonly Latinized as Larissa, with a double s. As a Ukrainian name, it is more commonly transcribed Larysa.

Meaning unknown, probably of Etruscan origin. In Roman legend Lavinia was the daughter of King Latinus, the wife of Aeneas, and the ancestor of the Roman people. According to the legend Aeneas named the town of Lavinium in honour of his wife.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Leonidas.

Means "lion" in Russian, functioning as a vernacular form of Leo. This was the real Russian name of both author Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) and revolutionary Leon Trotsky (1879-1940).

Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of Lydia.

Spanish and Italian form of Lily, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Лилия or Ukrainian Лілія (see Liliya).

Alternate transcription of Russian Лилия or Ukrainian Лілія (see Liliya).

Short form of Yelizaveta.

Russian and Bulgarian form of Ludmila. This was the name of a character in Aleksandr Pushkin's poem Ruslan and Lyudmila (1820).

Russian, Belarusian and Macedonian form of Maximus, as well as an alternate transcription of Ukrainian Максим (see Maksym).

Russian form of Maximilianus (see Maximilian).

Latinate form of Margaret. This is also the Spanish word for the daisy flower (species Bellis perennis, Leucanthemum vulgare and others).

Latin form of Greek Μαρία, from Hebrew מִרְיָם (see Mary). Maria is the usual form of the name in many European languages, as well as a secondary form in other languages such as English (where the common spelling is Mary). In some countries, for example Germany, Poland and Italy, Maria is occasionally used as a masculine middle name.

This was the name of two ruling queens of Portugal. It was also borne by the Habsburg queen Maria Theresa (1717-1780), whose inheritance of the domains of her father, the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI, began the War of the Austrian Succession.

Combination of Maria and Anna. It has been confused with the Roman name Mariana to the point that it is no longer easy to separate the two forms. It is sometimes also used as a Latinized form of Mariamne.

Feminine form of Marinus. This name was borne by a few early saints. This is also the name by which Saint Margaret of Antioch is known in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Russian and Ukrainian diminutive of Mariya.

Russian variant form of Maria.

Russian diminutive of Mariya.

Means "lady" in Late Latin, a derivative of Latin mater "mother". This was the name of three early saints.

Russian variant of Matrona 1.

From the Slavic element milŭ meaning "gracious, dear", originally a short form of names containing that element.

From the Slavic element milŭ meaning "gracious, dear", originally a short form of names that began with that element. It was originally used in Czech, Slovak, and the South Slavic languages, though it has recently become popular elsewhere in Europe.

A city in Italy bears this name, though in this case it originates from Latin Mediolanum, perhaps ultimately of Celtic origin meaning "middle of the plain". In some cases the city name may be an influence on the use of the given name.

Feminine form of Milan. It began to be used in Italy in honour of Milena Vukotić (1847-1923), mother of Helen of Montenegro, the wife of the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III. In Italy it can also be considered a combination of Maria and Elena.

Romanian, Russian and Polish form of Myron.

Russian diminutive of Mikhail.

Variant of Nadya 1 used in Western Europe, as well as an alternate transcription of the Slavic name. It began to be used in France in the 19th century [1]. The name received a boost in popularity from the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci (1961-) [2].

Latinate form of Natalia (see Natalie).

Russian form of Niketas. This form is also used in Ukrainian and Belarusian alongside the more traditional forms Mykyta and Mikita. A notable bearer was the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971).

Russian and Bulgarian form of Nicholas. A notable bearer was the Russian-Ukrainian novelist Nikolay Gogol (1809-1852).

Catalan, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Neilos (and the Nile River). This name was borne by a 15th-century Russian saint, Nil Sorsky. As a Turkish name it is feminine, and comes directly from the Turkish name for the river.

Short form of names that end in nina, such as Antonina or Giannina. It was imported to Western Europe from Russia and Italy in the 19th century. This name also nearly coincides with the Spanish word niña meaning "little girl" (the word is pronounced differently than the name).

A famous bearer was the American jazz musician Nina Simone (1933-2003).

Azerbaijani, Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of Ophelia.

Either a Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Greek form of Paulina or a short form of Apollinariya.

Alternate transcription of Russian Прасковья (see Praskovya).

Russian form of Ῥοδίων (Rhodion), a short form of Herodion, referring to Saint Herodion of Patras.

Russian and Polish form of Roxana.

Feminine form of Sabinus, a Roman cognomen meaning "a Sabine" in Latin. The Sabines were an ancient people who lived in central Italy, their lands eventually taken over by the Romans after several wars. According to legend, the Romans abducted several Sabine women during a raid, and when the men came to rescue them, the women were able to make peace between the two groups. This name was borne by several early saints.

Russian and Ukrainian diminutive of Aleksandr or Aleksandra.

Russian and Bulgarian form of Sergius.

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Juliana.

Feminine form of Valentinus (see Valentine 1). A famous bearer is the Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937-), who in 1963 became the first woman to visit space.

Alternate transcription of Russian Валерий, Ukrainian Валерій or Belarusian Валерый (see Valeriy).

Diminutive of Valentina or Valentin.

Alternate transcription of Russian Василий (see Vasiliy).

Russian diminutive of Vasiliy (masculine) or a Macedonian and Bulgarian diminutive of Vasilija (feminine).

Diminutive of Vasiliy.

Means "faith" in Russian, though it is sometimes associated with the Latin word verus "true". It has been in general use in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.

Russian diminutive of Vera 1.

Form of Veronica in several languages.

Russian diminutive of Vera 1.

Russian diminutive of Vera 1.

Form of Victor used in various languages.

Alternate transcription of Russian Виталий or Ukrainian Віталій (see Vitaliy).

Diminutive of Viktor.

From the Old Slavic name *Voldiměrŭ, derived from the elements volděti meaning "to rule" and měrŭ meaning "great, famous". The second element has also been associated with mirŭ meaning "peace, world".

This was the name of a 9th-century ruler of Bulgaria. It was also borne by an 11th-century grand prince of Kyiv, Vladimir the Great, who is venerated as a saint because of his efforts to Christianize his realm. Other notable bearers include the revolutionary and first leader of the Soviet state Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), the Russian author Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), and the Russian president and prime minister Vladimir Putin (1952-).

From the Old Slavic name *Voldislavŭ, derived from the elements volděti "to rule" and slava "glory". This name has been borne by kings, princes and dukes of Croatia, Serbia, Bohemia, Poland and Wallachia.

Feminine form of Vladislav.

Diminutive of Yana.

Diminutive of Yuriy.

Alternate transcription of Russian Юрий, Ukrainian Юрій or Belarusian Юрый (see Yuriy).

Russian diminutive of Yevgeniya or Yevgeniy or a Bulgarian diminutive of Evgeniya.

Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Bulgarian form of Zoe.