Names by Origin
Russian Names
Names from the Russian tradition, with Slavic, Greek and Latin origins.
Alexander
defender of the people
Alexei
defender
Alina
Alla
Anastasia
resurrection
Andrei
manly
Anton
Arkady
from Arcadia
Artem
safe, unharmed
Boris
Daniil
God is my judge
Daria
wealthy
Denis
follower of Dionysus
Dina
Dmitri
follower of Demeter
Egor
farmer
Ekaterina
pure
Elena
bright, shining light
Fyodor
gift of God
Galina
calm
Gennady
noble, generous
Grigory
watchful
Igor
warrior
Ilya
the Lord is my God
Russian given names and their sources
Russian given names come from several streams: native Slavic names, Orthodox Christian names taken from Greek and Latin via the church, and a smaller layer of older Norse-derived names. The forms here are the established Russian shapes — Pyotr rather than Peter, Yelena rather than Helen. This page focuses on given names rather than the patronymic and surname system, which is a separate topic.
Transliteration
Russian is written in Cyrillic, so the Latin spellings here are transliterations and can vary (Yulia and Julia, Mikhail and Michael are not the same name). Where a meaning is shown it rests on a recognised Slavic, Greek or Latin root. Several names have etymologies that are genuinely uncertain, and those are shown without a meaning rather than given a speculative gloss.
Meanings are included where reliable information is available. These names reflect a naming tradition, not current popularity in any country.