Russian names: our top 20 for girls and boys

Russian first names for girls

The Russian language offers you a wide range of timeless girl names . The following beautiful first names made it into our top 20:

1. Irina is a popular Russian girl name, which translates to “peaceful” or “quiet”. It originated from Greek mythology, because in it Irene was the goddess of peace.
2. Anastasija comes from the Greek word “anastasis” and means “the resurrection”.
3. Lyudmila is of Old Slavic origin and is a common Russian given name. It is made up of the words “lud” (= the people) and “mil” (= dear). The girl’s name therefore means “dear people”.
4. Ekaterina probably comes from the ancient Greek word “katharos” (= pure). Literally translated, “Ekaterina” means “the pure”.
5. Marija is the Slavic version of “Maria”. The girl’s name means “the untamed”, “the unruly” or “loved by God”.
6. Nadia is the shorter version of “Nadeschda”. Translated from Russian, the two female first names stand for “hope”.
7. Tatjana stands for “the believer”, “the creator” or “the creative”. The beautiful girl’s name probably originated from the old Roman family name “Tatianus”.
8. Zlata derives from the Old Slavic word “zlato” which means “gold”. “Zlata” means “the golden one”.
9. Carina comes from Latin and means “pretty” or “love”. Appropriate pet names are: Cari, Cara and Rina.
10. Aljona is short for “Alexandra” and is often given to girls as a separate name. Depending on the translation, the sonorous first name means “the beautiful”, “the protector of men” or “the well-fortified”.
11. Daria / Darija  is the female variant of the boy name “Darius”. “Daria” has ancient Greek or ancient Persian roots, depending on the interpretation. The name stands for “owner of the good”, “the knowing” or “the powerful”.
12. Tamara is a popular Russian girls name, but also known in Germany. It has an Aramaic-Hebrew origin and means translated “life” or “the date palm”.
13. Ksenia / Ksenija  is derived from ancient Greek. Translated, the rare girl’s name means “the stranger” or “the hospitable”.
14. Jelena , “the equal of the sun” or “the radiant”, has its name origin in ancient Greek. The name derives from “Helena”, who was the daughter of Zeus in Greek mythology.
15. Mikayla is the feminine variant of “Michael” and means “Who is like God?”. The girl’s name developed from Hebrew.
16. Galina derives from the ancient Greek word “galene”, which means “quiet”. “Galina” is therefore interpreted as “the quiet one” or “the peaceful one”.
17. Kira means “the sun” or “the lady”. The name originated from the ancient Greek term “kyrios”, which translated means “the Lord”.
18. Larisa has ancient Greek roots, possibly deriving from the word laros, meaning lovely. “Larisa” means “the lovely”.
19. Anushka , “the graced one”, is a Russian variant of the name “Anna”. It came from the Hebrew word channah, which means grace.
20. Lidija derives from “Lydia”, the Greek name of a region that is now part of Turkey. The beautiful name therefore simply stands for “the Lydian”.

Russian first names for boys

For boys, too, there are many beautiful, both modern and traditional,  boy names in Russian . Our 20 favorite names are:

1. Dimitrij is a popular Russian boy name. Derived from Greek mythology, it means “dedicated to the goddess Demeter”.
2. Alexej has its roots in ancient Greek and means “the protector”. Other popular spellings of the name are “Aleksey” and “Aleksej”.
3. Ruvim is the Russian version of the boy’s name “Ruben”. Composed of the Hebrew words “ra’ah” (= to see) and “ben” (= the son), the name means “Behold the son”.
4. Fjodor comes from ancient Greek and is the Russian version of “Theodor”. “Fyodor” has the beautiful meaning “the gift of God”.
5. Artjom has its origins in Greek mythology and developed from the Greek name “Artémios”. The name means “invulnerable” and “belonging to the goddess Artemis”.
6. Luminor carries the beautiful meaning “the shining one”. The first name came from the Latin word “lumen” (= light).
7. Miron originally comes from Old Slavic. Derived from the word “me”, the boy’s name means “the bringer of peace” or “he is the world”.
8. Leonid is a Russian given name with ancient Greek roots. He is the short form of “Leonidas” and means “son of Leon” or “the lion-like”.
9. Sergej developed from the old Latin family name “Sergius”. Translated, it stands for “the strong”, “the great” or “the highly respected”.
10. Ilya is a popular Russian boy name and a variant of ‘Elias’. Translated from Hebrew, it means “My God is Yahweh”.
11. Jurij is the Slavic version of the name “Georg” and simply means “the farmer” or “the farmhand”.
12. Konstantin is a Russian first name, which is also known and popular in Germany. Derived from Latin, it means “the steadfast” or “the constant”.
13. Yakov derives from the Hebrew name of God: “Yahweh”. The boy’s name has the religious meaning “May Yahweh protect”. In the Old Testament, “Jacob” was the son of “Isaac”.
14. As a Russian first name, Stepan goes back to the ancient Greek word “stephanos”, which means “the wreath” or “the crown”. So Stepan is “the crowned one”.
15. Sascha is a unisex given name popular in both German and Russian. As a pet form of “Alexander” or “Alexandra” it has the meaning “the protector” or “the protector”.
16. Genrich comes from Old High German and is the Russian version of the name “Heinrich”. “Genrich” means “ruler of the home”.
17. Vitali stands for “the healthy”, “the strong” or “the vital”. The name has its origin in the Latin word “vitalis”, which means “alive”.
18. Maxim evolved from the ancient Roman nickname “Maximus”. Literally translated, the beautiful first name means “the greatest” or “the oldest”.
19. Nika is a unisex first name that is known in various language areas. From its ancient Greek origin comes the meaning “the winner” or “the victor”. In Greek mythology, “Nike” was the goddess of victory.
20. Demid comes from ancient Greek and consists of “dios” (= of Zeus) and “medomai” (= to think). The two words result in the meaning “thought of Zeus”.