Top 50 Most Common Russian Names

Russian names originate from many sources, with new names usually appearing during the most important historical periods, including the advent of Christianity to ancient Rus, the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the Soviet years. Ancient Slavic Names Ancient Slavs were very creative in naming their children. First names often described a babys character or the parents hopes for their childs future. For example, a loud baby could be named Ð ¨Ã'Æ'Ð ¼Ã µÃ »Ã ¾ (shooMYEla)—loud one, and a baby whose parents wished him to be strong and successful could give him the name of Ð ¯Ã'€Ð ¾Ã' Ã »Ã °Ã ² (yaraSLAF)—bright, strong. Ancient Slavs believed in bad spirits and names reflected that, too, with many names meaning ugly one(Ð Ã µÃ ºÃ'€Ð °Ã'  - nyKRAS), mean one (Ðâ€"Ð »Ã ¾Ã ± - zlop), or unlucky one (Ð Ã µÃ'Æ'Ã' Ã'‚Ã'€Ð ¾Ã ¹ - nyeoosTROY). These were called protection names and helped ward off bad energies and protect the name bearer. Nicknames were also very popular and aptly described someones personality. Many names, including descriptive names, protection names, and nicknames, evolved into surnames, many of which are still used in modern Russia. Christian Names With the advent of Christianity in the 10th century, most Slavic names were forbidden. Instead, the Church insisted on giving children the names of saints. However, many people continued to secretly name their children the ancient way. The Revolution and Soviet Names More new names appeared in Russia in the 20th century after the 1917 Revolution. These usually reflected the new communist ideals, for example, БÐ ¾Ã'€Ð µÃ'† (baRYETS)—fighter, ИÐ ´Ã µÃ'  (eeDYEya)—idea, or ПÐ ¾Ã ±Ã µÃ ´Ã ° (paBYEda)—victory. Some names were also abbreviations of famous communist slogans. Post-Soviet Russia Contemporary Russians have been adopting foreign names, inspired by movies and music artists. The following list includes 50 of the most popular Russian first names, their Russian spellings, shortened variations, and meanings. Girl Names Name in English Name in Russian Shortened Form Shortened Form in Russian Meaning Sofia Ð ¡Ã ¾Ã'„Ð ¸Ã' /Ð ¡Ã ¾Ã'„Ã'Å'Ã'  Sonya Ð ¡Ã ¾Ã ½Ã'  Wisdom (Greek) Anastasia Ð Ã ½Ã °Ã' Ã'‚Ð °Ã' Ã ¸Ã'  Nastya Ð Ã °Ã' Ã'‚Ã'  Ressurection (Greek) Victoria Ð’Ð ¸Ã ºÃ'‚Ð ¾Ã'€Ð ¸Ã'  Vika Ð’Ð ¸Ã ºÃ ° Victory (Latin) Ksenia/Xenia КÃ' Ã µÃ ½Ã ¸Ã'  Ksyusha КÃ' Ã'ŽÃ'ˆÐ ° Hospitality (Greek) Arina Ð Ã'€Ð ¸Ã ½Ã ° Arisha Ð Ã'€Ð ¸Ã'ˆÐ ° Russian equivalent of Irina, meaning Peace (Greek) Yelizaveta/ Elizaveta ЕÐ »Ã ¸Ã ·Ã °Ã ²Ã µÃ'‚Ð ° Liza, Veta ЛÐ ¸Ã ·Ã °, Ð’Ð µÃ'‚Ð ° Russian equivalent of Elizabeth, meaning "My God is an oath" (Hebrew) Adelina Ð Ã ´Ã µÃ »Ã ¸Ã ½Ã ° Lina ЛÐ ¸Ã ½Ã ° Noble (French) Irina ИÃ'€Ð ¸Ã ½Ã ° Ira ИÃ'€Ð ° Peace (Greek) Yelena/Elena ЕÐ »Ã µÃ ½Ã ° Lena ЛÐ µÃ ½Ã ° Light (Greek) Polina ПÐ ¾Ã »Ã ¸Ã ½Ã ° Polya ПÐ ¾Ã »Ã'  Russian form of Appolinaria, meaning of Apollo (Greek) Daria ДÐ °Ã'€Ã'Å'Ã'  Dasha ДÐ °Ã'ˆÐ ° Queenly (Persian/Greek) Natalia Ð Ã °Ã'‚Ð °Ã »Ã'Å'Ã'  Natasha Ð Ã °Ã'‚Ð °Ã'ˆÐ ° Christmas Day (Latin) Svetlana Ð ¡Ã ²Ã µÃ'‚Ð »Ã °Ã ½Ã ° Sveta Ð ¡Ã ²Ã µÃ'‚Ð ° Light, blessed, holy (Slavic) Vera Ð’Ð µÃ'€Ð ° Vera Ð’Ð µÃ'€Ð °/Ð’Ð µÃ'€Ð ¾Ã'‡Ð ºÃ ° Verity (Latin) Nadezhda Ð Ã °Ã ´Ã µÃ ¶Ã ´Ã ° Nadya Ð Ã °Ã ´Ã'  Hope (Slavic) Galina ГÐ °Ã »Ã ¸Ã ½Ã ° Galya ГÐ °Ã »Ã'  Bright, calm, healer (Slavic) Lyubov ЛÃ'ŽÐ ±Ã ¾Ã ²Ã'Å' Lyuba ЛÃ'ŽÐ ±Ã ° Love (Slavic) Aleksandra/ Alexandra Ð Ã »Ã µÃ ºÃ' Ã °Ã ½Ã ´Ã'€Ð ° Sasha, Sanya Ð ¡Ã °Ã'ˆÐ °, Ð ¡Ã °Ã ½Ã'  Defender (Greek) Maria ÐÅ"Ð °Ã'€Ð ¸Ã'  Masha, Marusya ÐÅ"Ð °Ã'ˆÐ °, ÐÅ"Ð °Ã'€Ã'Æ'Ã' Ã'  Rebellion, Sea of Sorrow (Hebrew) Anna Ð Ã ½Ã ½Ã ° Anya Ð Ã ½Ã'  Grace (Hebrew, Greek, Latin) Angelina Ð Ã ½Ã ³Ã µÃ »Ã ¸Ã ½Ã ° Gyela ГÐ µÃ »Ã'  Messenger (Latin) Marina ÐÅ"Ð °Ã'€Ð ¸Ã ½Ã ° Marina ÐÅ"Ð °Ã'€Ð ¸Ã ½Ã ° The sea (Latin) Yekaterina/ Ekaterina ЕÐ ºÃ °Ã'‚Ð µÃ'€Ð ¸Ã ½Ã ° Katya КÐ °Ã'‚Ã'  Pure (Greek) Ludmila ЛÃ'ŽÐ ´Ã ¼Ã ¸Ã »Ã ° Lyuda ЛÃ'ŽÐ ´Ã ° Beloved of the people (Slavic) Tatiana Ð ¢Ã °Ã'‚Ã'Å'Ã' Ã ½Ã ° Tania Ð ¢Ã °Ã ½Ã'  From Tatius (Latin) Boy Names Name in English Name in Russian Shortened Form Shortened Form in Russian Meaning Artyom Ð Ã'€Ã'‚Ã'‘Ð ¼ Tyoma Ð ¢Ã'‘Ð ¼Ã ° Dedicated to Artemis (Greek) Aleksandr/ Alexander Ð Ã »Ã µÃ ºÃ' Ã °Ã ½Ã ´Ã'€ Sasha, Sanya Ð ¡Ã °Ã'ˆÐ °, Ð ¡Ã °Ã ½Ã'  Defender (Greek) Roman Ð  Ã ¾Ã ¼Ã °Ã ½ Roma Ð  Ã ¾Ã ¼Ã ° Citizen of Rome (Latin) Yevgeny ЕÐ ²Ã ³Ã µÃ ½Ã ¸Ã ¹ Zhenya Ðâ€"Ð µÃ ½Ã'  Noble (Greek) Ivan ИÐ ²Ã °Ã ½ Vanya Ð’Ð °Ã ½Ã'  God is gracious (Greek/Hebrew) Maksim/Maxim ÐÅ"Ð °Ã ºÃ' Ã ¸Ã ¼ Max ÐÅ"Ð °Ã ºÃ'  The Greatest (Latin) Denis ДÐ µÃ ½Ã ¸Ã'  Deniska ДÐ µÃ ½Ã ¸Ã' Ã ºÃ ° From Dionysius (Greek) Alexey Ð Ã »Ã µÃ ºÃ' Ã µÃ ¹ Lyosha ЛÃ'‘Ã'ˆÐ ° Defender (Greek) Dmitry ДÐ ¼Ã ¸Ã'‚Ã'€Ð ¸Ã ¹ Dima ДÐ ¸Ã ¼Ã ° Earth-lover (Greek) Danyl ДÐ °Ã ½Ã ¸Ã ¸Ã » Danya ДÐ °Ã ½Ã'  God is my judge (Hebrew) Sergey Ð ¡Ã µÃ'€Ð ³Ã µÃ ¹ Seryozha Ð ¡Ã µÃ'€Ã'‘Ð ¶Ã ° Servant (Latin) Nikolai Ð Ã ¸Ã ºÃ ¾Ã »Ã °Ã ¹ Kolya КÐ ¾Ã »Ã'  Victory of the people (Greek) Konstantin КÐ ¾Ã ½Ã' Ã'‚Ð °Ã ½Ã'‚Ð ¸Ã ½ Kostya КÐ ¾Ã' Ã'‚Ã'  Constant (Greek) Nikita Ð Ã ¸Ã ºÃ ¸Ã'‚Ð ° Nikita Ð Ã ¸Ã ºÃ ¸Ã'‚Ð ° Unconquerable (Slavic/Greek) Mikhail ÐÅ"Ð ¸Ã'…Ð °Ã ¸Ã » Misha ÐÅ"Ð ¸Ã'ˆÐ ° Who is like God (Greek) Boris БÐ ¾Ã'€Ð ¸Ã'  Borya БÐ ¾Ã'€Ã'  Battle (Slavic) Victor Ð’Ð ¸Ã ºÃ'‚Ð ¾Ã'€ Vitya Ð’Ð ¸Ã'‚Ã'  Victory (Latin) Gennady ГÐ µÃ ½Ã ½Ã °Ã ´Ã ¸Ã ¹ Gyena ГÐ µÃ ½Ã ° Generous, noble (Greek) Vyacheslav Ð’Ã' Ã'‡Ð µÃ' Ã »Ã °Ã ² Slava Ð ¡Ã »Ã °Ã ²Ã ° Glory (Slavic) Vladimir Ð’Ð »Ã °Ã ´Ã ¸Ã ¼Ã ¸Ã'€ Vova, Volodya Ð’Ð ¾Ã ²Ã °, Ð’Ð ¾Ã »Ã ¾Ã ´Ã'  Renowned prince (Slavic) Andrey Ð Ã ½Ã ´Ã'€Ð µÃ ¹ Andrusha Ð Ã ½Ã ´Ã'€Ã'ŽÃ'ˆÐ ° Warrior (Greek) Anatoly Ð Ã ½Ã °Ã'‚Ð ¾Ã »Ã ¸Ã ¹ Tolya Ð ¢Ã ¾Ã »Ã'  Sunrise (Greek) Ilya ИÐ »Ã'Å'Ã'  Ilyusha ИÐ »Ã'ŽÃ'ˆÐ ° My God is Yahu (Hebrew) Kirill КÐ ¸Ã'€Ð ¸Ã »Ã » Kirusha КÐ ¸Ã'€Ã'ŽÃ'ˆÐ ° Lord (Greek) Oleg ОÐ »Ã µÃ ³ Olezhek ОÐ »Ã µÃ ¶Ã µÃ º Holy (Old Norse)