Slavic Names for Girls

Nadezhda is more familiar in the English-speaking world by its short forms, Nadia or Nadya. Well-used through the Slavic countries and Russia, Nadezhda was the name of Lenin's wife. Viewers of The Americans learned that this was the original Russian name of the spy known as Elizabeth Jennings, played by Keri Russell.

Nadia, an accessible Slavic favorite, has a strong run of popularity in the US in the early 2000s, partially thanks to the character on Lost called Nadia but actually named Noor, but it's since slumped down the rankings. An earlier inspiration was Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who won the 1976 Olympics.

The French version of this name, Natalie, is most popular in the U.S., but all variations are appealing and this one is a fresh twist. Pronunciation is like Natalia.

Ukrainian figure-skating champion Oksana Baiul made it known here.

This Slavic form of the Norse name Helga is a classic in many Slavic countries, including Russia and Poland, where it currently ranks within the Top 100 girl names. It has historically ranked among the most popular names in countries including Ukraine, Latvia, Spain, France, Serbia, Greece, the US, and many more. Olga is a common name even in Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden and Norway, despite Helga being a more traditional choice. Olha is the uniquely Ukrainian variation.

Makes the intriguing Olga even more so.

Friendly Slavic rarity.

Distinctive Slavic choice.

This version of the more familiar Paulina is occasionally used in the US, though some may see it as relating more to the word pole than to the classic Paul.

A perfectly fine Eastern European girls' name, tainted slightly by its use as the name of a village near Chernobyl in Ukraine that has been devastated by radiation.

Raja is a widely-used Arabic or Sanskrit name that works for girls as well as boys. Five baby girls were named Raja and seven given the Rajah spelling in the US last year, where for boys the popularity of the spellings was reversed: 18 Raja to ten Rajah.