Awesome Russian Names

A Slavic classic, as common as Jane or Joan here.

An overly elaborate version for use in this country.

One of many international versions of this classic.

A Top 10 name in Moscow. In Russian, the emphasis is put on the first syllable.

This is the Armenian version of the familia Julia, which has a rich and evocative sound. Other variations are Iuliya, and the diminitive Yulya.

Julia is a name that's ancient and hallowed enough to not only have many variations, but for its variations to have variations. Juliana has been consistently used in the US and Europe, sometimes spelled Julianna. Yuliana or Yulianna is the Russian version. That Y at the beginning makes the name sound distinctly more exotic in the US.

Common Russian name familiarized here via cosmonaut Yury Gagarin and a character in Dr. Zhivago, but we don't see it ever gaining permanent resident status.

Makes Jane anything but plain.

Now that Zoe is getting wildly popular in the U.S. and the U.K. -- one poll puts it at number one in Wales -- parents may start hunting down fresh twists like this.