Return to the origins: female Slavic names

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Our ancestors treated naming very carefully, believing that it leaves its mark on the fate of a person. As in the proverb: "As you call a yacht, so it will float." However, the names were formed under the influence of several cultures - Proto-Slavic, Varangian, Greek, and later - Mongol-Tatar and Western.

Depending on the origin, ancient Slavic names are divided into the following groups:

• from the names of the gods - Veles, Lada;



• bibasic - Yaropolk, Lubomila, Velimudr, Dobrogneva, Lyudmila, Radomir, Svyatoslav, Bogdan, as well as their derivatives - Tishilo, Dobrynya, Putyata, Yarik;
• created from the names of minerals, animals and plants, natural phenomena - Zlata, Hare, Veshnyanka, Pike, Eagle;
• in order of birth - Vtorak, Pervusha;
• created from the sacraments - Nezhdan, Zhdana, Khoten;
• from character traits - Brave, Wise;
• a special group is the names that were used in the upper classes - Vyacheslav, Yaropolk, Vsevolod, Vladimir.

Derived names are created by cutting off part of a complex name and adding a suffix to the stem,graduation.

Before Christianity came to Russian lands, male and female Slavic names were used in everyday life. With the new religion came new customs. For example, newborns were given the names of saints and martyrs, but until the thirteenth century they were used only in churches. In everyday life there were pagan names and nicknames. Since the fourteenth century, male and female Slavic names have been supplanted by Christian ones. Many surnames originate from nicknames: Volkov, Sidorov, Bolshov.

Today there are such Slavic names of girls that cannot be called national. So, Faith, Love and Hope, which are popular today, are tracing papers from the Greek variants - Pistis, Agape, Elpis. The male Lion also has a prototype - Leon.

The Slavs had another custom that is becoming more and more popular today. However, many mistakenly believe that the tradition of giving a child two names came to us from the West. Our ancestors gave the child a false name that was revealed to strangers, as well as a secret one that only the closest knew. It reflected the inner world of a person, his views on life and character traits. This practice seemed to protect the child from unrighteous people and evil spirits. Often a false name was unpleasant to the ear - Malice, Kriv, Nekras, Nesmeyana. This was done on purpose for a better protective effect. A second name was given to a person already in adolescence.

Many male and female Slavic names have been forgotten by now. The church is also involved in this, because it issued lists of prohibited names. These included the names of gods, magi, pagan customs. This practice has led to the fact that today on the lands belonging to the Slavic tribes, no more than five percent of national names are found. So, such once popular female Slavic names as Gorislava, Yarina, Vesta, Zabava, Svetlana are quite rare today. Sometimes even those around are surprised why the child was named such an exotic name. However, it was originally used in Russia, and Ksyusha, Katya or Masha came to us not so long ago.

How to name a child is decided, of course, by parents. But today is just the perfect time to return to our roots, renew the lost connection with the family, revive the rich Slavic culture in all its greatness.