Ukrainian names and their meaning

The history of Slavic names

During the times before Christianity, Slavic children would wear names that would protect them from evil because many of them die at a young age. After the age of 10, children would get a permanent Slavic name and become adults. After Slavic people converted to Christianity, they were baptised and received names of saints. Many new Slavic names of saints entered the church calendar. After the 17th century, a big decline of traditional Slavic names happened and people received only the names from the calendar of the Orthodox Church. Examples of common Slavic names are Borislav, which comes from "boriba" - battle and "slava" - fame. Liubomir is another common Slavic name, that is formed from "lyubit" and "mir" and translates as "to love the world". The name of Vladimir translates as "to have power over the world". It is the name of Vladimir Putin. Many of the Greek names became traditional in the Slavic world after the growing influence of the Greek Church: Konstantin, Nikolai, Alexandr.

Ukrainian names

Common Ukrainian names are Ivanna and its masculine form - Ivan. Ivanna is a name with Hebrew origins that came into use after the conversion to Christianity and means "pardoned by God". A beautiful Ukrainian girl name is Roksolana. It is a traditional Ukrainian name and means "woman from the Roksolan tribe". Some of the most common Ukrainian names are Bohdana and Bohdan - Slavic names that translate as "given by God". Mykhailo is the Ukrainian version of Mikhail or Michael that translates from Hebrew as "equal to God". Children born close to the day of Archangel Michael receive this name. One of the most traditional Ukrainian first names is Vera. It comes from Old Slavonic and means "hope". The meaning of Lidyia name is "a woman from the kingdon of Lydia". This Ukrainian name has a Greek origin. There's so much more to learn about the Ukrainian names and their meanings! If you're curious to know more about the Ukrainian boy names and girl names, this is the perfect lesson for you! Master these names and proceed to our other interesting lessons on Slavic names: Common Russian names for boys and Common Russian names for girls.