Russian Girl Names
Russian girl names manage to sound both regal and warm. Many belonged to empresses and saints (Yekaterina, Yelizaveta, Anastasia), others are native Slavic words for light, love and snow, and nearly all of them come with a string of tender nicknames: Anastasia is Nastya at school and Nastenka to her grandmother.
Here are 100 Russian girl names with their meanings and origins, grouped by style. For boys, see our Russian male names; to understand patronymics and surnames, visit the Russian names guide. Many of these names are shared with Ukrainian girl names, often with a slightly different spelling.
Popular Russian girl names today
These names are among the most common choices for baby girls in Russia in recent years, led by international favorites like Sofia and Alisa.
| Name | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Sofia | Wisdom | Greek |
| Maria | Russian form of Mary | Hebrew |
| Anna | Grace, favor | Hebrew |
| Alisa | Noble (Alice) | Germanic |
| Viktoria | Victory | Latin |
| Eva | Life | Hebrew |
| Polina | From Apollinaria, “of Apollo” | Greek |
| Varvara | Foreign woman (Barbara) | Greek |
| Kseniya | Hospitality | Greek |
| Anastasia | Resurrection | Greek |
| Darya | Possesses good | Persian |
| Vasilisa | Queenly, royal | Greek |
| Yelizaveta | God is my oath (Elizabeth) | Hebrew |
| Yekaterina | Pure (Catherine) | Greek |
| Arina | Peace (from Irina) | Greek |
| Ulyana | Of the Julii (Juliana) | Latin |
| Milana | Dear, gracious | Slavic |
| Veronika | Bringer of victory | Greek |
| Kira | Lady; or from Kirill, “lordly” | Greek |
| Alyona | Folk form of Yelena, “torch” | Greek |
| Alina | Uncertain; possibly “noble” or “bright” | Germanic / Slavic |
| Margarita | Pearl | Greek |
| Valeriya | Strong, healthy | Latin |
| Diana | Divine | Latin |
Classic Russian girl names
Names of mothers and grandmothers born in the Soviet decades. Some, like Irina and Tatiana, are now considered timeless; for similar English picks see our classic girl names.
| Name | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Olga | Holy, blessed (Old Norse Helga) | Norse |
| Tatiana | From the Sabine king Titus Tatius | Latin |
| Natalia | Born on Christmas Day | Latin |
| Irina | Peace | Greek |
| Yelena | Torch, bright light (Helen) | Greek |
| Galina | Calm, serene | Greek |
| Nadezhda | Hope | Russian |
| Lyubov | Love | Russian |
| Valentina | Strong, healthy | Latin |
| Marina | Of the sea | Latin |
| Larisa | Possibly from the Greek city of Larissa, or “seagull” | Greek |
| Nina | Possibly from Georgian St. Nino, or a form of Anna | Georgian / Hebrew |
| Tamara | Date palm | Hebrew, via Georgian |
| Zoya | Life | Greek |
| Raisa | Easygoing, or possibly “rose” | Greek / Yiddish |
| Alla | Other, different | Greek |
| Oksana | Hospitality (Ukrainian form of Kseniya) | Greek |
| Inna | Uncertain; possibly a male saint’s name | Greek |
Slavic girl names with native meanings
Unlike church names, these are built from Slavic words for light, love, gold and snow, so their meanings are clear to any Russian speaker. See also Polish girl names for close cousins.
| Name | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Svetlana | Light, bright | From svet, “light” |
| Lyudmila | Dear to the people | St. Ludmila of Bohemia |
| Yaroslava | Fierce glory | Feminine of Yaroslav |
| Miroslava | Peaceful glory | Nickname Mira |
| Vladislava | Glorious ruler | Nickname Vlada |
| Bogdana | Given by God | Feminine of Bogdan |
| Snezhana | Snowy | From sneg, “snow” |
| Zlata | Golden | From zoloto, “gold” |
| Radmila | Happy and dear | Also Serbian |
| Stanislava | Becoming glorious | Nickname Stasya |
| Milena | Dear, gracious | Across Slavic lands |
| Lada | Harmony; a Slavic goddess of love | Also a Soviet car brand |
| Dobrava | Good, kind | Old Slavic and rare |
| Vesna | Spring | More common in the Balkans |
Russian girl names of empresses and saints
The Romanov court favored grand, many-syllabled names. They suit parents who like names with a crown on them; see our names that mean queen for more.
| Name | Meaning | Famous bearer |
|---|---|---|
| Yevdokia | Good will, favor | Tsaritsa Eudoxia Lopukhina |
| Aleksandra | Defender of men | Empress Alexandra Feodorovna |
| Olympiada | Of Mount Olympus | Olympiada, deaconess of Constantinople |
| Evpraksia | Good deeds, prosperity | Medieval princesses of Kyiv |
| Feodora | Gift of God | Rare royal form |
| Praskovya | Preparation; Good Friday | Tsaritsa Praskovia Saltykova |
| Marfa | Lady, mistress (Martha) | Marfa Sobakina, wife of Ivan the Terrible |
Russian girl names from books and ballet
Tolstoy, Pushkin and Chekhov gave these names international fame, and some remain perfect for readers.
| Name | Meaning | Where you know it from |
|---|---|---|
| Natasha | Diminutive of Natalia, “Christmas” | Natasha Rostova, War and Peace |
| Anya | Diminutive of Anna, “grace” | Anya in The Cherry Orchard |
| Lara | Diminutive of Larisa | Lara Antipova, Doctor Zhivago |
| Kitty | English-style nickname of Yekaterina | Kitty Shcherbatskaya, Anna Karenina |
| Sonya | Diminutive of Sofia | Sonya Marmeladova, Crime and Punishment |
| Masha | Diminutive of Maria | Masha in Chekhov’s Three Sisters |
| Nadia | Diminutive of Nadezhda, “hope” | Nadia Comăneci popularized it worldwide |
| Odette | French; a ballet heroine | Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky |
| Anfisa | Blooming | Nanny in Chekhov’s Three Sisters |
Short Russian girl names and nicknames
Many diminutives now work as independent first names in English. Cute nicknames are a Russian specialty.
| Name | Short for | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Mila | Lyudmila, Milana | Dear, gracious |
| Katya | Yekaterina | Pure |
| Nastya | Anastasia | Resurrection |
| Dasha | Darya | Possesses good |
| Sasha | Aleksandra | Defender of men |
| Tanya | Tatiana | From Tatius |
| Sveta | Svetlana | Light |
| Lena | Yelena | Torch, light |
| Ira | Irina | Peace |
| Galya | Galina | Calm |
| Lyuba | Lyubov | Love |
| Zhenya | Yevgenia | Well-born |
Rare and vintage Russian girl names
These old-fashioned names, common in 19th-century villages, are being rediscovered by Russian parents, much as Americans revived Hazel and Mabel. Browse old-fashioned girl names for the English equivalent.
| Name | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Agafya | Good (Agatha) | Greek |
| Glafira | Elegant, refined | Greek |
| Serafima | Fiery ones (seraphim) | Hebrew |
| Taisia | Possibly “belonging to Isis” or “fertile” | Greek |
| Pelageya | Of the sea | Greek |
| Antonina | From the Roman family Antonius | Latin |
| Zinaida | Of Zeus | Greek |
| Klavdiya | From the Roman family Claudius | Latin |
| Agniya | Pure, chaste (Agnes) | Greek |
| Aglaya | Splendor; one of the three Graces | Greek |
| Yevgeniya | Well-born | Greek |
| Fekla | Glory of God (Thecla) | Greek |
| Matryona | Lady, matron | Latin |
| Avdotya | Folk form of Yevdokia, “good will” | Greek |
| Akulina | Eagle (Aquilina) | Latin |
| Lukerya | Sweet (from Glykeria) | Greek |
How to choose a Russian girl name
- Say the stress correctly. It’s ah-nah-STAH-see-yah, TAHN-yah and nah-TAH-shah. Getting the stress right makes the name sound authentic.
- Think about the nickname first. In Russia, Yekaterina will be Katya and Anastasia will be Nastya almost every day.
- Pair with a patronymic. Russians add the father’s name + -ovna/-evna: Anna Sergeyevna, Vera Nikolayevna. Check how it sounds.
- Choose a spelling for English. Tatiana or Tatyana, Yelena or Elena, Kseniya or Ksenia: all are correct, so pick the one that is easiest to read.
- Look for crossover names. Mila, Vera, Nina, Nadia and Alisa feel natural in English while remaining unmistakably Russian.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most popular Russian girl name?
Sofia, Maria, Anna, Alisa and Viktoria are among the most popular names for baby girls in Russia in recent years.
What Russian girl name means light?
Svetlana means “light” or “bright,” from the Russian word svet. Yelena (Helen) is also traditionally linked to a torch or bright light.
What Russian girl name means hope?
Nadezhda means “hope,” and its short form Nadia is used worldwide. Its sister names Vera (“faith”) and Lyubov (“love”) complete a trio of virtue names.
What are unique Russian girl names?
Snezhana (“snowy”), Zlata (“golden”), Glafira, Aglaya, Taisia and Vasilisa are distinctive Russian names rarely heard in the US.
Is Natasha a full name?
Traditionally no. Natasha is the diminutive of Natalia, though in English-speaking countries it is often given as a full first name.