Male:
Zinovi is adopted from the Russian name Zinoviy, a male form of the Greek name Zenobia (life of Zeus).
Female:
Žanna is adopted from the Russian name Zhanna, which in turn is a form of the French name Jeanne. It means “God is gracious.”
Zinaida is adopted from Russian, and a derivative of Zeus. In 2019, this was the 101st most popular female name in Estonia.
Zlata is adopted from Russian, and means “golden.”
Zoja is adopted from the Russian name Zoya, which means “life.”
Copyright Юрий Абрамочкин (Yuriy Abramochkin)
In loving memory of my favourite writer, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, on what would’ve been his 99th birthday, I decided to have a post about his lovely name. I had a previous post about my favourite forms of the name, but that didn’t include all forms, nor did it include much background information.
Alexander is the Latinized form of the Greek Alexandros, which means “defender of man.” It’s composed of the elements alexo (to defend/help) and aner (andros in the genitive case) (man). As almost everyone knows, its most famous bearer has been Alexander the Great of Macedonia, who rose to become emperor of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India.
Alexander the Great’s fame and popularity was such that his name became widespread through many of the areas he’d conquered and ruled. Through the ages, famous bearers of the name in its various forms have included kings, emperors, tsars, popes, politicians, writers, scientists, inventors, explorers, artists, philosophers, and athletes.
Alexander the Great was also a fellow lefty!
Alexander was in the lower reaches of the U.S. Top 100 from 1880–96, and crept back into those ranges a number of times again over the years. It slowly began sinking in popularity in 1918, with a few years when it slightly rose in popularity. Its lowest rank was #233 in 1959.
After this, it began a nearly uninterrupted steady climb into the Top 10. Its highest rank was #4 in 2009. In 2011, it was #11.
The name is also popular in Iceland (#2), Canada (#6), Sweden (#7), Scotland (#8), Austria and Australia (#9 in both), Mexico (#13), Denmark (#16), England and Wales (#21), Belgium (#22), Norway and New Zealand (both #30), Switzerland (#35), Ireland and Northern Ireland (#46 in both), Chile (#56), The Netherlands (#79), Poland (#93), the Czech Republic (#94), Hungary (#98), and Italy (#109).
Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, the future Empress Aleksandra of Russia, before so much sadness began invading her life
The feminine form Alexandra is also quite common, though not as much as its male counterpart. It entered the U.S. Top 100 at #945 in 1915, immediately dropped out the next year, returned at #992 in 1934, again dropped out, was #941 in 1936, and finally entered long-term at #866 in 1938.
The name slowly climbed to the Top 100, with some quite large leaps in the early Eighties. Its highest rank was #26 in 1995 and 1996. Alexandra’s popularity slowly diminished, and by 2016, it was #110.
Alexander is used in English, Greek, the Scandinavian languages, Icelandic, Hungarian, German, Dutch, and Slovak. Alexandra is used in English, German, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Spanish, the Scandinavian languages, Slovak, Czech, and Romanian.
U.S. inventor Alexander Graham Bell
Other forms of Alexander:
1. Aleksandr is Russian, Ukranian, and Armenian. Russian nicknames include Sasha, Sanya (my favourite writer’s own nickname), Shura, Sanyechka, Sashenka, Shurik, Sashura, and Shuryenka.
2. Aleksander is Polish, Estonian, Slovenian, Danish, and Norwegian. The variation Aleksandër is Albanian. Nicknames include Aleks and Olek (Polish); Sander and Alex (Norwegian and Danish); Sašo, Saša, Sandi, Aleks, and Aleš (Slovenian); and Skender (Albanian).
3. Alyaksandr is Belarusian.
4. Alexandru is Romanian, with the nicknames Sandu and Alex.
5. Aleksandar is Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, and Croatian. Nicknames include Sasho (Bulgarian and Macedonian); Saša (Serbian and Croatian); Sandi (Croatian); Ace (Macedonian); and Aco and Aca (Serbian and Macedonian).
6. Alessandro is Italian.
7. Aleksandro is Esperanto, with the nickname Aleĉjo.
8. Alexandre is French, Galician, Catalan, and Portuguese.
9. Aleksandrs is Latvian.
10. Aleksanteri is Finnish, with nicknames including Ale, Samppa, Santeri, and Santtu.
French writer Alexandre Dumas père
11. Alesander is Basque.
12. Aleksandras is Lithuanian.
13. Alasdair is Scottish. It’s most often Anglicized as Alastair.
14. Aleksandur is Faroese.
15. Aleksantare is Greenlandic.
16. Alagsantere is also Greenlandic.
17. Alekanekelo is Hawaiian.
18. Alessandru is Sardinian.
19. Alexandro is Brazilian–Portuguese and Spanish.
20. Alissandru is Sicilian.
Pope Alexander VII, né Fabio Chigi, 13 February 1599–22 May 1667
21. Alyksandr is Abkhaz and Ossetian.
22. Alyok is Mordvin.
23. Alastar is Irish.
24. Aleksandre is Georgian, with the nickname Sandro.
25. Alexandr is Czech, with the nickname Aleš.
26. Alexandros is Greek, with the nickname Alekos.
27. Eskender is Amharic.
28. Iskandar is Arabic, Indonesian, and Malaysian.
29. Sándor (SHAHN-dor) is Hungarian. One of the nicknames is Sanyi.
30. Sikandar is Pashto and Urdu.
Tsar Aleksandr II of Russia
31. Eskandar is Persian.
32. Alejandro is Spanish.
33. Sender is Yiddish.
34. Oleksandr is Ukrainian, with nicknames including Olek, Oles, and Sasha.
35. Chandy is Malayalam, a language spoken in India.
36. Eskendir is Kazakh.
37. Isgandar is Azeri.
38. Îskenderê is Kurdish.
39. Jinoquio is Romany Caló.
40. İskender is Turkish.
King Alexander of Greece, 1 August 1893–25 October 1920
41. Lixandro is Aragonese.
42. Lisandru is Sardinian and Corsican.
43. Lexu is Swiss–German.
44. Santӑr is Chuvash.
45. Xandru is Maltese.
Other forms of Alexandra:
1. Aleksandra is Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovenian, Serbian, Macedonian, Estonian, Latvian, Albanian, and Croatian. Its Russian nicknames are the same as those for Aleksandr. Sasha is also a Ukrainian nickname. Others include Sanda (Croatian), Saša (Slovenian and Croatian), Lesya and Alesya (Ukrainian), Ola (Polish), and Sashka (Macedonian and Bulgarian).
Queen Alexandra of England, née Princess of Denmark
2. Alexandrine is French and German.
3. Alexandrie is French.
4. Alessandra is Italian.
5. Alesandere is a rare, modern Basque name.
6. Alejandra is Spanish.
7. Aletsandra is Occitan.
8. Alyaksandra is Belarusian.
9. Alissandra is Sicilian.
10. Oleksandra is Ukrainian.
11. Alexandria is English. I always preferred this name with long As.
In honour of John Lennon’s 37th Jahrzeit (death anniversary), I felt it would be fitting to do a post about this most historically common of all male names, in just about every single language.
John comes from the Hebrew Yochanan, which means “God is gracious.” Its massive popularity over the ages originated thanks to John the Baptist and John the Apostle (traditionally-attributed author of the fourth Gospel and Book of Revelations).
Initially, the name was more common among Eastern Christians in the Byzantine Empire, but it took off like wildfire in the West after the First Crusade. It was particularly popular in England, where roughly a fifth of all boys received this name during the Late Middle Ages.
U.S. President John Quincy Adams, 11 July 1767–23 February 1848
Over the centuries, the name John, in all its linguistic variations, has been borne by countless writers, musicians, artists, scientists, philosophers, emperors, kings, popes, military leaders, politicians, and countless other types of people.
John was #1 in the U.S. from 1880–1923, and remained in the Top 5 until 1972. It was in the Top 10 until 1986, and the Top 20 until 2008. As of 2016, it was #28, a rank it previously held in 2012. The name has never charted any lower than this, though it feels like a breath of fresh air and original choice these days.
English poet John Keats, as painted by William Hilton, Halloween 1795–23 February 1821
Though it’s been a good many years since John was as common and popular as it once was, its continued presence in the Top 30 is a credit to its enduring appeal. It also still enjoys respectable popularity in Ireland (#28), Northern Ireland (#44), Scotland (#56), Canada (also #56), New Zealand (#85), Sweden (#87), Australia (#97), and England and Wales (#120).
John also used to be very popular in Norway, with a high rank of #10 in 1947. It fluctuated in popularity over the years, fell off the Top 100 in 2003, came back the next year, and then fell off again.
King John of England, 24 December 1166–19 October 1216, painted by Matthew Paris
Other forms of the name include:
1. Ivan is Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovenian, Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Belarusian, Bosnian, Italian, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. The variation Iván is Spanish and Hungarian. The proper pronunciation, Ee-VAHN, is so beautiful, but the Anglo EYE-vinn just throws this gorgeous name away.
Nicknames include Vanya, Vanyechka, Vanyushka, Vanyusha, Vanyushechka, and Ivanko (Russian); Ivo, Vancho, Yanko (Bulgarian); Ivica, Ivo (Serbian and Croatian); and Vančo, Ivo (Macedonian).
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, my fourth-favourite writer, 28 October/9 November 1818–3 September 1883
2. Ioann is the older Russian form.
3. Iwan is Polish and Welsh. The Polish one pronounces the W like a V.
4. Ivane is Georgian. The nickname is Vano.
5. Ioane is the older Georgian form.
6. Giannis is modern Greek.
7. Giovanni is Italian. Nicknames include Gianni, Gian, Vanni, and Giannino.
8. Gjon is Albanian.
9. Ion is Romanian and Basque. Romanian nicknames include Iancu, Ionuţ, Ionel, and Nelu.
10. Jon is Basque and Scandinavian. The variation Jón is Icelandic and Faroese. This is #4 in Iceland.
11. Ioan is Welsh and Romanian.
12. Joan is Catalan and Occitan.
13. Ganix is Basque.
14. João is Portuguese. This name is #2 in Portugal.
15. Yoan is Bulgarian.
Giovanni Boccaccio, author of The Decameron, 16 June 1313–21 December 1375, engraved 1822 by Raffaello Sanzio Morghen in the style of Vincenzo Gozzini
16. Jowan is Cornish.
17. Yahya is Persian, Arabic, and Turkish.
18. Janusz is Polish. One of the nicknames is Janek.
19. Johan is Dutch and Scandinavian. Nicknames include Hans, Hannes, Janne (Swedish); Hanke, Hanne, Hannes, Hans, Joop, Jo (Dutch); Jannik, Jannick, Hans (Danish); and Hans (Norwegian).
20. Jens is Scandinavian.
21. Jan is Scandinavian, Dutch, Catalan, Czech, Slovenian, German, and Polish. The variation Ján is Slovak, with the nickname Janko.
22. Yann is Breton, with the nickname Yannig.
23. Johann is German, with the familiar nickname Hans. The variation Jóhann is Icelandic.
24. Johannes is German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Estonian, and Finnish. The variant Jóhannes is Icelandic and Faroese.
25. Juhan is Estonian. The alternate form Juhán is Northern Sami.
German scientist and mathematician Johannes Kepler, 27 December 1571–15 November 1630
26. Juanne is Sardinian.
27. Giuanne is also Sardinian.
28. Yohanes is Indonesian.
29. Hovhannes is Armenian. Nicknames include Hovik and Hovo.
30. Ohannes is also Armenian.
31. Ghjuvan is Corsican.
32. Ean is Manx.
33. Juan is Spanish and Manx, with different pronunciations.
34. Xuan is Asturian.
35. Jaan is Estonian.
German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, 21/31 March 1685–28 July 1750, painted by Elias Gottlob Haussmann
36. Jean is French.
37. János is Hungarian, with nicknames including Jani and Jancsi.
38. Juhana is Finnish, with nicknames including Juho, Juha, Jussi, Jukka, Hannes, and Hannu.
39. Janne is also Finnish.
40. Joni is Finnish and Fijian.
41. Jani is also Finnish.
42. Juhani is another Finnish form.
43. Jouni is also Finnish.
44. Johano is Esperanto, with the nickname Joĉjo.
45. Yan is Belarusian.
French philosopher and writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 28 June 1712–2 July 1778, painted by Maurice Quentin de La Tour
46. Yann is Breton and French.
47. Jovan is Macedonian and Serbian.
48. Xoán is Galician.
49. Jóannes is Faroese.
50. Keoni is Hawaiian.
51. Jānis is Latvian.
52. Jonas is Lithuanian.
53. Sjang is Limburgish.
54. Sjeng is also Limburgish.
55. Chuan is Aragonese.
Spanish artist Joan Miró, 20 April 1893–25 December 1983
56. Gensch is Sorbian.
57. Ghjuvanni is Corsican.
58. Gian is Romansh and Swiss–German.
59. Gioann is Piedmontese.
60. Ġwann is Maltese.
61. Hoani is Maori.
62. Hone is also Maori.
63. Jardani is Caló Romany.
64. Jeian is Filipino.
65. Sione is Tongan.
Romanian writer Ion Creangă, 1837/39–31 December 1889
66. Tihoti is Tahitian.
67. Xán is Galician.
68. Yehya is Uyghur.
69. Yohana is Swahili.
70. Yohannes is Amharic.
71. Jaqiya is Kazakh.
72. Iefan is Welsh. The more familiar Anglicization is Evan.
73. Ifan is also Welsh, with the nickname Ianto.
74. Ioannis is modern Greek.
75. Eoin is Scottish and Irish.
Polish sci-fi writer Janusz Andrzej Zajgel, 15 August 1938–19 July 1985
76. Seán is Irish.
77. Iain is Scottish.
78. Ian is also Scottish.
79. Siôn is Welsh.
80. Yoann is Breton and French.
81. Giuàn is Lombard.
82. Giuvanni is Sicilian.
83. Yovaan is Tamil.
84. Hankin is a Medieval English nickname.
85. Jankin is another Medieval English nickname.
86. Jackin is a variation of Jankin, and the origin of the nickname Jack.
I love how versatile the Indo–European names are. They have so many versions across widely differing languages, able to translate into all these languages and cultures. One of those universal names is Lucia/Lucius, which comes from the Latin word lux, “light.”
Male forms:
1. Lucius is Latin and English.
2. Loukios is Greek.
3. Lucio is Italian and Spanish. The Portuguese variant is Lúcio.
4. Lucjusz is Polish.
5. Lūcijs is Latvian.
6. Lucijus is Lithuanian.
7. Luciu is Sicilian.
8. Lucillus is an alternate Latin form.
9. Luzius is Swiss–German.
10. Lutsiy is Russian, Bulgarian, and Ukrainian.
11. Lucije is Serbian, Slovenian, and Croatian.
12. Lucianus is another Latin form.
13. Luciano is Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
14. Lucien is French.
15. Łucjan (WOOTS-yahn) is Polish.
16. Lucian is English and Romanian. The Czech and Slovak form is Lucián.
17. Luken is Basque.
18. Luciaan is Dutch.
19. Lučiano is a rare Croatian form.
20. Lucijano is the more common Croatian form.
21. Lukyan is Russian and Ukrainian.
22. Luzian is German.
23. Lyutsian is Russian.
24. Lyuksen is Russian.
25. Lukian is Russian.
26. Lučano is Slovenian.
Female forms:
1. Lucia is Latin in origin, and is used in English, Romanian, Italian, German, Slovakian, and the Scandinavian languages. The Spanish variation is Lucía, the Portuguese form is Lúcia, and the Icelandic variation is Lúcía.
2. Lucilla is an Italian and Latin diminutive form.
3. Lucie is Czech and French, though with a pronunciation difference. Czech pronounces the last two vowels separately, instead of as one.
4. Lucille is the French form of Lucilla.
5. Lucinda is an elaborated form of Lucia, created by the great Miguel Cervantes in Don Quixote (1605).
6. Lucija is Slovenian, Serbian, and Croatian. The Latvian form is Lūcija.
7. Lucinde is the French form of Lucinda.
8. Łucja (WOOTS-yah) is Polish. This is the original birth name of my character Lucinda. Though she was born in the U.S., her parents were very Polish.
9. Lucila is the Spanish form of Lucilla.
10. Llúcia is Catalan.
11. Lucette is French, a diminutive of Lucie.
12. Liucija is Lithuanian.
13. Luus is Dutch and Limburgish.
14. Luce is a French and Italian variation of Lucia. This is also the Italian word for “light.”
15. Luzia is Portuguese and German. This isn’t to be confused with the very similar name Luiza! Though Lucia has long been the more common German form, Luzia is the older form, and has been gaining more popularity in recent years.
16. Luca (LOO-tsah) is Hungarian and Croatian.
17. Liùsaidh is Scottish.
18. Lucy is English, and has been used since the Middle Ages.
19. Lucetta is an English diminutive of Lucette. Shakespeare used it in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594).
20. Luciana is Spanish, Italian, Latin, and Portuguese. The Hungarian variant is Luciána, and the Brazilian–Portuguese variant is Lucianna.
21. Lucienne is French.
22. Lucina is derived from the Latin word lucus, “grove,” though it later came to be associated with all the other Luc- names. This was the name of the Roman goddess of childbirth.
23. Lucine is the French form of Lucina, and an alternate transliteration of the Armenian Lusine/Lusineh, though the Luc- root is just a coincidence in this case. It means “Moon” in Armenian.
24. Loukia is Greek.
25. Lleulu (HLYOO-loo) is Welsh.
26. Luchiya is Russian and Bulgarian.
27. Luciane is Swedish.
28. Lucienna is used in various languages.
29. Luçja is Albanian.
30. Lukene is Basque. Another Basque form is Luke, which I wouldn’t use in an Anglophone country due to the obvious pronunciation confusion.
31. Lûsîa is Greenlandic. The Finnish and Faroese form is Lusia.
32. Lusiana is Indonesian, and a rarer Romanian and English form.
33. Lukiana is Russian.
34. Lusiya is Christian Indian (i.e., Asian).
35. Lutsiya is Russian and Bulgarian.
36. Luxia is Basque and Sardinian, though very rare in the former and archaic in the latter.
37. Luziana is Basque and Brazilian–Portuguese.
38. Lukina is Russian.
39. Lyutsina is Russian.
I discovered the name Yelikonida in 2000, while reading August 1914, by my favoritest writer, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. Yelikonida, called Likonya, is one of the students in Prof. Olda Orestovna Andozerskaya’s Medieval history class for sophomores.
The nameday for Yelikonida is 28 May/10 June. According to what I found at her page at Pravoslaviye.ru, Saint Yelikonida lived in Third Century Thessaloniki, Greece. She moved to Corinth and began gaining converts. However, during her sermon, she was arrested and brought before Governor Perino. She refused to abandon her faith or worship other deities, and was tortured in some very macabre ways.
The judge stopped the torture at one point and promised Yelikonida honours and the title of priestess. She agreed, to great celebration and acclaim. Once in the temple, she broke all the idols, which naturally enraged the priests when they entered. Yelikonida was beaten and thrown into prison for five days. The faithful believe she was miraculously healed by Jesus and Archangels Michael and Gabriel during a vision. Yelikonida was then brought before three lions in the arena, but they reportedly only licked her feet, and then rushed at the crowd in the arena. Governor Perino finally beheaded her.
According to the source I finally found, Yelikonida derives from the Greek hélix (spiral) and Helikón (torturous mountain), which contained two springs sacred to the Muses. After so many years, it’s exhilarating to finally discover the name’s etymology and history!
Yulian is of course the Russian (and Bulgarian) form of Julian. It comes from the Roman family name Iulianus, which in turn derives from Julius. Julius may be derived from the Greek word ioulos (downy-bearded). It may also relate to Jupiter, which comes from Iuppiter, which in turn derives from the Indo–European Dyeu-pater (Zeus-father).
Onomastics Outside the Box 