Rare Ukrainian names. Ukrainian female names

Ukrainian female names formed over many centuries, reflecting the history of everyday life, beliefs of Ukrainians and their interaction with other peoples. Nowadays, the basis of female Ukrainian names is christian names church calendar, and the first names come from the pagan period.

Origin

Old Slavonic

Christian

With the advent of Christianity, women began to be called by Christmas time. The new names were Greek (Vasilisa, Antonina), Latin (Varvara, Valentina), Germanic (Alice, Inga, Irma), and Jewish (Anna, Martha). For a long time two names were used in parallel - the church one, given at baptism, and the pagan one, used in everyday life.

Coming from Europe

As a result of the interaction of peoples, the Catholic names of the West Slavic countries were borrowed:

1. Wanda.
2. Theresa.
3. Power.
4. Ruzhen.
5. Kvitoslav.

From other cultures came names that began to be pronounced in the Ukrainian manner: Zlata, Darina.

Borrowings in the 20th century

IN Soviet time influenced Western culture V Ukrainian language Names included:

• Snezhana.
• Karina.
• Angelica.
• Angela.
• Diana.
• Camilla.
• Caroline.
• Christina.

Modification

Christian names were alien to the Ukrainian ear, and did not carry meaning for people.

Over time, sounds that were uncomfortable for pronunciation were crowded out or changed to others:

Some forms of calendar names became independent: Oksana (from Xenia), Alena (from Elena), Arina (from Irina). At the same time, the changed names retained their meanings.

How to name a girl - features of choice

In ancient times

The name laid down the qualities that they wanted to see in the child. A female Ukrainian name was usually more beautiful than a male one, and served as an adornment for girls, along with jewelry and clothes. The names emphasized the qualities that were valued in women - softness, tenderness, beauty.

Currently

Today, parents call girls based on personal preferences, trying to choose a beautiful name that is consonant with the surname. To choose a name with good energy, they pay attention to the fate of the women who wore it.

fashion influence

Fashion for names is cyclical and depends on politics, music, literature, public figures. Behind Lately the popularity of simple names (Elena, Anna, Marina) was replaced by the revival of ancient Christian ones (Pelageya, Martha, Evdokia).

At the beginning of the 21st century, there was an interest in the ancient Slavic names (Bratislava, Lubomila, Miroslava). Fashion trends bring European and American names: Adele, Joanna, Monica. Currently, people are again turning to simple familiar Ukrainian female names.

By value

When choosing a name, every parent wants their daughter to be happy. When choosing a name, be sure to study its meaning, which can affect the character and fate of the girl.

Alphabetical list of options and their meaning

Ukrainian female names are distinguished by their special beauty and sincerity. To select a name, you can use lists of female Ukrainian names. It is important to evaluate not only the sound, but also the translation and meaning of the name.

Popular

It is usually easier for girls with popular Ukrainian names to go through life. They are harmonious, understandable and familiar, favorably accepted by society. Common names give more freedom to their bearers, the ability to choose their own path. The popularity of the name changes over time, but there are the most commonly used and beloved Ukrainian female names.

• Alexandra (Greek)- protector, courageous. The contradictory character combines masculine strength and femininity.
• Alena (Greek)- radiant, sunny. Cheerful, cheerful, has a high self-esteem.
• Alina (lat.)- different from others. Proud, stubborn, with a good memory and creativity.
• Anastasia (Greek)- resurrected, resurrected. Sincere and sympathetic, at the same time strong-willed and principled.
• Anna (Heb.)- God's mercy. Kind, independent, has an analytical mindset.
• Antonina (Greek)- opposing, competing. Cheerful, good-natured, with good organizational skills.
• Bela (glor.)- white, clean. Sweet, soft, emotional nature, prone to the exact sciences.
• Bogdan (fam.)- Given by God. Kind, soft, sensitive and sentimental.
• Valeria (lat.)- strong, healthy Complex, impulsive, erratic.
• Barbara (Greek)- foreigner, foreigner Closed, slow, with a strong intuition and a penchant for creativity.
• Faith (Greek) faith, service to God. Smart, truthful, practical, has organizational skills.
• Veronica (lat.)- bringing victory. Sociable, emotional, loves comfort and beautiful things.
• Victoria (Greek)- goddess of victory. Combines perseverance, stubbornness with kindness and shyness.
• Vlad (famous)- possessing glory. Combines practicality and good imagination, material and creative.
• Galina (Greek)- calm, serene. Sociable, kind, knows how to find the golden mean in everything.
• Dana (glory) given, gifted. Contradictory, modest and persistent, with good intuition.
• Daria (Greek)- rich, wealthy. Artistic, decisive, easily adapts to new conditions.
• Evgenia (Greek)- high-born, noble. Passionate, unrestrained, high intelligence and artistic taste.
• Catherine (Greek)- immaculate, pure. Smart, ambitious, with a good imagination.
• Elena (Greek)- sunny, radiant Cheerful, smart, with a rich inner world.
• Elizabeth (Hebrew)- worshiping God. Domineering, capricious, direct in communication.
• Jeanne (Heb.)- God's grace. Stubborn, resourceful, with high self-esteem and leadership qualities.
• Zinaida (Greek) belongs to Zeus. Assertive, arrogant, smart, with penetrating abilities.
• Gold (Heb.)- golden, valuable. Serious, modest, tactful, a good hostess.
• Zoya (Greek)- life. balanced, with strong will and leadership abilities.
• Inna (lat.)- stormy stream. Lightweight, reliable, flexible, analyst-minded.
• Irina (Greek)- peace, peace. Sensitive, strong-willed, smart, loves a busy life.
• Karina (lat.)- dear, dear. Purposeful, capable, easily finds a common language with people.
• Christina (lat.)- a Christian. Capable, sociable, thoughtfully makes decisions.
• Xenia (Greek)- hospitable. Attractive, sociable, with developed intuition and high intelligence.
• Lera (lat.)- strong, healthy Bright, authoritarian, freedom-loving, self-confident.
• Love (glor.)- Love. sociable, straightforward, with analytical warehouse mind.
• Ludmila (famous)- dear to people. Emotional, active, attached to home and family.
• Marina (Greek)- marine. Bold, free-spirited, developed imagination and intuition.
• Mary (Heb.)- desirable, serene. Active, dynamic, critical, loves freedom.
• Hope (Greek)- hope. Independent, bright, does not accept restrictions.
• Natalia (lat.)- born on Christmas, Christmas. Stubborn, straightforward, gifted in many areas.
• Nina (Hebrew)- great granddaughter. Proud, tactful, well-read and responsible.
• Oksana (Greek)- a foreigner, a foreigner. Sensitive, calm, loves children.
• Olesya (Ukrainian)- girl from the forest, forest. Independent, eccentric, yet soft and affectionate.
• Olga (Scand.)- wise, holy. It has a strong will, high intelligence and great capacity for work.
• Polina (Greek)- solar, dedicated to the god of the sun. Determined, active, kind and sympathetic.
• Rada (glor.)- joyful, beautiful. Energetic, responsible, leader by nature, humanitarian mindset.
• Ruslana (Turk.)- a lioness. A mixture of energy and strength with doubt and caution.
• Svetlana (famous)- the light of the earth, luminous. Accurate, persistent, spiritual, with a subtle intellect.
• Snezhana (glor.)- winter, snow. Sensitive, vulnerable, receptive to other people's opinions.
• Sophia (Greek)- wise, prudent. Active, inquisitive, loves to be the center of attention.
• Taisia ​​(Greek)- fertile. Decisive, independent, active, with developed intuition.
• Tatiana (Greek)- Founder, organizer Wayward, unpredictable, independent, loves order.
• Ulyana (lat.)- owned by Julia. Energetic, strong, open to people, defends justice.
• Julia (Greek)- curly, wavy. Sociable, changeable, with creativity and intuition.
• Yana (Heb.)- God's mercy. Combines indecision and confidence, mind and intuition.

And when you finally find out the sex of the child, you immediately begin to sort through popular baby names to find the one that is ideal for the baby. We will tell you how boys and girls were most often called in 2017 in Ukraine. Maybe you want to choose a less common name, or, conversely, fall in love with one from the list?

What do the statistics say?

According to the Ministry of Justice, most often newborn babies are still called Sophia. This name has been leading the girls for more than a year. Well, it sounds beautiful in all languages ​​and means "wise" a good option for a little Ukrainian princess. The frequently chosen girls' names in Ukraine 2017 also included Anna and Maria. Eva, Darina, Katerina and Zlata became no less popular names for girls.

Statistics from the Ministry of Justice states that the situation is different among male names. If last year the popular names of boys were headed by Artem, then this year Timofey came out on top. No less common names for boys in Ukraine in 2017 are Mikhail, Dmitry, Maxim, Alexander, Matvey and Mark.

Our hit parade of popular baby names

We also want to contribute to the choice of a name for the child! Based on the photo contest, which takes place on the site "Your Baby", we have compiled our rating of popular baby names in our country.

Here is our selection of the most beloved boy names by parents in Ukraine 2017:

• Timur
• Kirill
• Vlad (Vladislav)
• Nikita
• Myron
• George
• Artem
• Daniel

Judging by our observations, little defenders are often named in accordance with the name day. Very common and continued family traditions: give your son a name in honor of dad or grandfather. Some call the boys in a Western manner, such as Eric or Louie.

How are things with the names of girls in Ukraine 2017? Here is our list:

• Veronica
• Elsa
• Emilia
• Sofia
• Arina
• Milan
• Zlata
• Pauline

As you can see, when it comes to babies, parents can afford to be creative! Popular names girls are sometimes borrowed from their favorite cartoon (often eldest daughter, which also takes part in choosing a name for the child), are sometimes given in honor of favorite stars or book characters. This is how one can explain such rare and beautiful names as Aurora, Patricia, Elizabeth or Vanessa.

Russian name- Ukrainian name? Passport problem

In Soviet times, the names of residents of the Union republics were recorded in passports in two languages ​​- Russian and national language republics. At the same time (in the case of Ukraine and Belarus), the name and patronymic were not transcribed, as is customary throughout civilized world, and were replaced by the corresponding analogs: Pyotr Nikolaevich - Petro Mikolayovich, Nadezhda Vladimirovna - Nadia Volodimirivna. The nationality of a person had no influence: the Ukrainian Petro in the Russian-language documents still appeared as Peter, and the Russian Nadezhda in the Ukrainian-language documents as Nadia.

In modern Ukrainian legislation, this practice is theoretically abolished: according to the Constitution, a citizen has the right to a transcribed record of the name and surname in accordance with his national traditions. However, in reality, in order to achieve the desired spelling of the name, people have to overcome many bureaucratic obstacles. The same thing happens with the entry of the name on the birth certificate. For a long time, parents who wanted to name their daughter Anna encountered stubborn resistance from registry office workers who claimed that there was no such name in the Ukrainian language, but there was Hanna (which is blatant illiteracy: the Anna variant has existed in the Ukrainian language for many centuries). Recently, resistance has subsided - not in last turn because legally savvy parents began to challenge these actions in higher instances.

How to pronounce Ukrainian names

Ukrainian alphabet very close to Russian, but there are several differences between them:

e reads like Russian uh;
є - like Russian e:
і - like Russian And;
And- as an average between Russian s And And;
ї - How " yi"
yo- like Russian yo after consonants: Stas yo- Stas yo(but not Stasio).
yo- like Russian yo at the beginning of a word or after hard consonants.

Unlike the Russian yo, which is always stressed, Ukrainian yo/yo may be unfortunate.

Letter " G" denotes a voiced guttural or back lingual fricative (as in Russian literary pronunciation Bo's words G)

letters s,b,yo,uh not in the Ukrainian alphabet. Together separating solid mark an apostrophe is used ( ’ ).

Unstressed vowels in Ukrainian are pronounced as clearly as they are under stress (unlike in Russian, where unstressed o usually turns into a, and e into i: k A row, t And l And background).

ABOUT V closed syllable in Ukrainian often turns into і , hence the paired variants of names arise: Anton And Antin, Tikhon And Tikhin. But both options are inclined the same way: Anton,Anton,Anton,Tikhon,Tikhon, Tikhon.

Ukrainian male names ending in - O, are inclined according to the second declension: Danilo-Danila, Danila, Danil, Petro-Petra,Peter, Peter.

Ukrainian names have much in common with Russians and Belarusians. This is not surprising, because our peoples have common roots and one story. The intertwining of destinies has led to the fact that now in Ukraine they are asked to write down children in the Russian-language form of the name, while in mother tongue it may sound very different. What is the peculiarity of Ukrainian names?

Let's look into the past

Now in Ukraine the fashion is returning to name children Old Slavic names. So in kindergartens and schools you can meet girls Bogdana, Miroslava, Bozhedana, Velena, Bozena. The boys are named Dobromir, Izyaslav, Lubomir. But this is only modern tendencies, although they were observed for almost the entire centuries-old history of the fraternal people.

When Christianity was adopted in Rus', they began to baptize everyone in the church and give the names of the holy great martyrs. This tradition continues to this day. But we still continue to name children exactly as it is written in the certificate? And why is this happening?

It turns out that this phenomenon is more than a thousand years old. Ever since the first Christian years, people who were accustomed to this continued to call their children. And what the church demands from them simply remained on paper. So the names could actually be different. Bogdan was baptized as a child under the banner of St. Zenobius, and Ivan as Istislav.

Examples of names of Christian origin

But the language of the people is great and powerful, so some Ukrainian names were still borrowed from Christian faith. Over time, they were changed and adapted to the gentle sound of the colorful language. By the way, there are also native Russian analogues. For example, Elena in Ukraine sounds like Olena, Emilian - Omelyan, Glykeria - Licker (Russian Lukerya).

IN Old Russian there were no names that would begin with the first letter of the alphabet A. This rule was later transferred to Ukraine, with the exception of the name Andrey (Andriy, although in some villages you can hear Gandriy) and Anton. But Alexander and Alexey, more familiar to us, had the first O and turned into Oleksandr and Oleksiy. By the way, dear Anna in Ukraine sounds like Ganna.

Another phonetic feature ancient language- the absence of the letter F. Almost all words with F are borrowed from other countries. That is why the Christian versions of Thekla, Philip and Theodosius turned into Tesla, Pilip and Todos.

Ukrainian male names

It is simply impossible to name all the names suitable for boys and which will be considered primordially Ukrainian. There are a great number of them, and all of them have Old Slavonic roots. We propose to consider the most common Ukrainian male names and their meaning.

Women's names

Many female names are derived from male ones. List of Ukrainian given names in feminine form:

The meaning of Ukrainian names can be understood from the very name. Originally Ukrainian words were used to display their meaning on the character of the child. Therefore, if you read Miloslav, then you mean that this sweet creature will certainly become famous.

How to read Ukrainian names correctly

In the Ukrainian language, almost all letters are similar to Russian. Except for a few. They are especially difficult for people from other countries, because the language requires them to be pronounced smoothly and softly.

So, the letter g is in two versions. The first ordinary is read gutturally, softly, and the second with a tail is more firmly. Besides:

• e is read like Russian e;
• her:
• i - and;
• and - similarly s;
• ї - like "yi"
• yo - like Russian ё.

Features of modern names

Modern Ukrainian names have already lost their uniqueness. Of course, the parents of the western regions and some of the central regions still preserve ancient traditions, but the rest, and especially big cities prefer to use Russified forms. By the way, data about a person is written in two languages ​​- national and Russian.

On modern territory Ukraine is inhabited by many peoples: Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Bulgarians, Georgians. This diversity of nations is due historical development of this state. Ukrainian female names have an ancient and original history.

Brief information about the history of the appearance of Ukrainian names

In ancient times, the lands of Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Chernihiv and other central regions of Ukraine were inhabited by tribes of pagan Slavs. With the advent of the state of Kievan Rus, a legend is connected about the arrival of the Vikings, who were the first rulers of Rus': Rurik, Igor, Olga, Oleg - all these names are of Scandinavian origin.

After the Christianization of Rus' by Prince Vladimir, the original Slavic and Scandinavian pagan names began to be gradually replaced by Greek ones. However, fortunately, the people did not abandon their culture. Newborns began to be given two names: one - Slavic (pagan), and the other - Greek (Christian). It was the stability of tradition that made it possible to preserve the original flavor of Slavic names.

With the further division of Rus' into the Kievan and Moscow principalities, with the expansion of the territory of the state and the settlement of the Slavs from Moscow to the coast Sea of ​​Azov, Russian and Ukrainian female names that historically have common origin, began to differ.

The difference between Russian and Ukrainian names

When the center Kievan Rus moved to the Principality of Moscow, Christianity became a truly native religion for the people of Rus', estates appeared in society (peasants, boyars, princes), cultural interaction of the state with other countries of Europe and Asia began to develop. As a result of the strengthening of Christianity as the state religion, newborns were given two names: one was chosen according to the calendar (this name was often advised by the priest), and the second was Slavic, used in the home circle.

With the increase in literacy in society, Slavic names began to gradually fall out of use and were replaced by Christian names, especially those mentioned in sacred texts. Old Russian, and then Russian society, especially its most prosperous stratum, increasingly adopted European culture.

At the same time, on the territory modern Ukraine in the environment common people preserved and maintained ancient traditions. If in Ancient Rus' Slavic names were used mainly in the family, and officially the person was represented by the name given to him at baptism, then in Ukraine the situation was the other way around. The main name was considered Slavic. Perhaps this is the reason why Ukrainian female names have retained their national flavor.

Phonetic features of Ukrainian names

Foreign names, once in the Old Russian environment, changed their pronunciation. For example, Greek name Anna in the Ukrainian language acquired the form of Hann, the name Xenia - Oksana, and the name Theodore - Todor.

This happened because in the Old Russian language, which was spoken 1000 years ago by the Slavs of Kievan and Moscow Rus (it was one language), the sound f- it was not at all, for the Slavs it was difficult to pronounce, and it was replaced with a more convenient sound T-. This is how the name Todor appeared.

And the sound A- in the language of the Eastern Slavs never stood at the beginning of a word (absolutely all concepts that in Russian or Ukrainian begin with A-, have foreign origin: watermelon, arba, aria, aquamarine). This is how Ukrainian forms appeared: Oleksandr, Oleksiy, Olesya, Oksana. From parallel Russians, for example Aksinya, formed from the Greek Xenia.

It must be said that the replacement of the initial A- on O- was characteristic of the entire folk environment of Rus' in general (and not just the territory of modern Ukraine). Thus, the Russian merchant from Tver, Afanasy Nikitin, in his book Journey Beyond the Three Seas (XV century) calls himself Othonasius.

Ancient monosyllabic female names

Old Ukrainian female names may consist of one root (Vera, Volya, Zhdana). Some of these ancient names are common, and some are obsolete. The monosyllabic female names of Ukrainians include, for example, those presented below.

Ancient disyllabic female names

Currently, Ukrainian female names consisting of two roots are a little more common. Vladislav - from the words "glory" and "power" - strength, courage. Zlatomir - from the concepts of "peace" and "gold" - gold. The meaning that the original Ukrainian female names have (list below) is sometimes easy to determine on your own by the root of the word. Next, consider concrete examples. Two-syllable Ukrainian female names are beautiful, melodic, colorful. They reflect the music and poetry of the people. Examples of them are the following: Bohemila, Boleslav, Brotherlyub, Dobrogora, Druzhelyuba, Zlatomir, Lyubava ("beloved"), Lyubomila, Lubomir, Lyuboslav, Mechislav, Miroslava, Wise, Radmira, Svetlana, Svetoyara.

As can be seen from this list, rare Ukrainian female names most often contain syllables - glory, -love, -sweet, -peace. It can be assumed that this principle of word formation contains the primordial values ​​of the Slavs: to be loved, feminine ("sweet"), kind ("peace") and brave ("glory").

Modern Ukrainian names

In modern Ukraine, the same names are mostly found that are used in Russia and Belarus. They are Slavic, Greek, Roman, Jewish and Scandinavian origin. However, unlike Russian society, in Ukraine there is a gradual increase in interest in ancient names, which indicates an increase in the spirit of patriotism in society and attention to one's own cultural traditions. This is especially true for the western regions of the country, where newborn girls are increasingly given Old Slavic names, which are presented above.

However, despite the fact that every year the number of newborn girls who are given Slavic names is increasing, in the whole country, the choice of names is still influenced by the general fashion from Eastern Europe.

Popular female Ukrainian names: Alina, Alice, Anna / Ganna, Bogdana, Victoria, Veronika, Darina, Diana, Elizabeth, Katerina / Ekaterina, Christina, Lyudmila, Nadezhda, Natalya, Maria, Oksana, Olesya, Sofia, Tatyana, Uliana, Julia .

Conclusion

Female names common on the territory of modern Ukraine are diverse both in meaning and in history of origin. However, of all the East Slavic peoples, Ukrainians (especially from the western regions of the country) seem to have preserved ancient Slavic names in their onomasticon more than others. Once upon a time they were used by all Slavs, but with the adoption of Christianity they were gradually replaced by Greek and European ones.