Cinnabar's Personal Name List

Russian form of Aemilianus (see Emiliano).

Russian form of Elizabeth. This was the name of an 18th-century Russian empress.

Russian form of Katherine. This name was adopted by the German princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst in 1744 shortly before she married the future Russian emperor Peter III. She later overthrew her husband and ruled as empress, known as Catherine the Great in English.

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-).

Russian form and Modern Greek transcription of Bessarion.

Serbian and Croatian diminutive of Vera 1.

Feminine form of Vedran.

Means "clear, cheerful" in Croatian and Serbian.

Russian form of Basil 1.

Russian, Greek, Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Barbara.

Macedonian form of Evangelos.

Bulgarian and Georgian form of Valerius, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Валерий (see Valeriy).

Probably derived from the Slavic element tomiti "to torment" combined with slava "glory". This was the name of the first king of Croatia (10th century).

Georgian form of Terentius (see Terence). It is also an alternate transcription of Russian Терентий (see Terentiy).

Short form of Dorothea, Theodora and other names containing a similar sound.

Derived from Croatian and Serbian tajiti "to keep secret".

Derived from Russian свет (svet) meaning "light, world". It was popularized by the poem Svetlana (1813) by the poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It is sometimes used as a translation of Photine.

From Croatian sunčan meaning "sunny", a derivative of sunce meaning "sun".

Russian form of Sebastian.

Alternate transcription of Russian/Bulgarian Сергей (see Sergey).

Form of Seraphinus (see Seraphina) in various languages.

Means "shadow, shade" in Serbian and Croatian. It can also be a diminutive of Ksenija.

Alternate transcription of Russian Савелий (see Saveliy).

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.

Derived from Czech růže meaning "rose".

Alternate transcription of Bulgarian Румяна (see Rumyana).

Derived from Slavic radovati meaning "to make happy, to gladden".

Originally a diminutive of names beginning with the Slavic element radŭ meaning "happy, willing". In Poland it is usually a diminutive of Radosław.

Originally a short form of Radovana, now used independently.

Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Peter.

Alternate transcription of Russian/Bulgarian Николай (see Nikolay).

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).

Derived from South Slavic neven meaning "marigold".

Masculine form of Nevena.

Latinate form of Natalia (see Natalie).

Diminutive of Michaela.

Short form of Miroslava and other names beginning with Mir (often the Slavic element mirŭ meaning "peace, world").

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.

Czech form of Matthias (via Hungarian Mátyás).

Croatian feminine form of Mateo.

Probably a Polish variant of Marianna.

Czech form of Margaret.

Croatian diminutive of Marija.

Polish, Czech and Slovak form of Mark.

Hungarian variant of Mária, and a Croatian and Serbian variant of Marija.

Alternate transcription of Russian Макарий (see Makariy).

Form of Maia 1 in various languages.

Macedonian, Slovene and Albanian form of Lillian.

Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian cognate of Lily.

Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian and Macedonian form of Lazarus. This name was borne by a 14th-century Serbian ruler who was killed at the Battle of Kosovo.

Either a short form of Květoslava or directly from Czech květ "flower, blossom".

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Xenia.

Russian feminine form of Cyrus.

Russian form of Cyrus.

Russian diminutive of Yekaterina.

Means "viburnum tree" in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Polish.

Masculine form of Kalina.

Diminutive of Karolína.

Feminine form of Jiří.

Czech form of George.

Means "maple tree" in South Slavic.

Derived from the Slavic elements jarŭ "fierce, energetic" and mirŭ "peace, world". This name was borne by an 11th-century duke of Bohemia.

Diminutive of names beginning with the Slavic element jarŭ meaning "fierce, energetic", such as Jarosław or Jaroslav. It is sometimes used independently.

Croatian, Serbian and Slovene form of Agnes. It also may be inspired by Serbo-Croatian janje meaning "lamb".

Diminutive of Jadwiga.

Czech, Slovak and Latvian form of Yvette.

Newer form of the Old Church Slavic name Іѡаннъ (Ioannŭ), which was derived from Greek Ioannes (see John). This was the name of six Russian rulers, including the 15th-century Ivan III the Great and 16th-century Ivan IV the Terrible, the first tsar of Russia. It was also borne by nine emperors of Bulgaria. Other notable bearers include the Russian author Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883), who wrote Fathers and Sons, and the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), who is best known for his discovery of the conditioned reflex.

Form of Irene in several languages.

Feminine form of Iliya.

Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Hilarion.

Feminine form of Ilan.

Derived from South Slavic gora meaning "mountain". It was popularized by the Croatian poet Ivan Goran Kovačić (1913-1943), who got his middle name because of the mountain town where he was born.

Polish form of Felicia.

Polish, Slovak, Romanian and Lithuanian form of Esther.

Czech and Slovak diminutive of Elizabeth.

Derived from the Slavic element dorgŭ (South Slavic drag) meaning "precious" combined with mirŭ meaning "peace, world".

Feminine form of Dragan.

Derived from the Slavic element dorgŭ (South Slavic drag) meaning "precious".

Alternate transcription of Russian Дмитрий (see Dmitriy).

Croatian, Serbian, Slovene and Macedonian form of Diana.

Feminine form of Dejan.

Meaning uncertain, possibly from an old Slavic exclamation expressing joy or sorrow. This was the name of a supposed Slavic war god. His name was the basis for the word davorije, a type of patriotic war song popular in the 19th century [1].

Feminine form of Darius. Saint Daria was a 3rd-century woman who was martyred with her husband Chrysanthus under the Roman emperor Numerian. It has never been a particularly common English given name. As a Russian name, it is more commonly transcribed Darya.

Medieval short form of Durante. The most notable bearer of this name was Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the Italian poet who wrote the Divine Comedy.

From a Slavic word meaning "morning star, Venus". This name occurs in Slavic folklore as a personification of the morning star. It has sometimes been used in the English-speaking world since the 1970s.

Bulgarian form of Damian.

Slovene, Croatian, Serbian and Macedonian form of Damian.

Possibly derived from the Slavic elements danŭ "given" and mirŭ "peace, world". Otherwise, it might be of Turkic or Russian origin (see Damir 2). It was popularized by a character from Marija Jurić Zagorka's novel Gordana (1935).

Polish form of Caesar.

Polish form of Cecilia.

Russian form of Abner.

Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Athanasius.

Alternate transcription of Russian Аркадий (see Arkadiy).

Russian diminutive of Anna.

Czech form of Agnes.

Alternate transcription of Russian Алексей (see Aleksey).