Russian Names

An accessible Russian nickname...but could "cost ya".

This common Russian name has a somewhat effete pencil-thin-moustached image here.

Short form of the Russian Varvara, a feistier version of Barbara.

Makes Jane anything but plain.

See ZOE.

A sweet and gentle-sounding Russian name with a sunny meaning, typically nicknamed Tolya in Russia. It can also be written as Anatoli or Anatoliy.

For lovers of Pasternak's great doctor, a lively middle name choice, one made by actress Nia Long.

Shura is a unisex Russian nickname for Aleksandr or Aleksandra, themselves forms of Alexander. Less known in the English=speaking world than Sasha, it's also more assertive -- probably because of that "sure" sound.

This unusual name belonged to a character played by Kirsten Dunst in an early film.

What a difference a couple of letters make: Old World version of most popular name never quite made it out of the shtetl.

Concise Nada is a cross-cultural choice with pleasant meanings. In Arabic, it is derived from nadan meaning "dew, moisture", though other possible translations include "caller" and "goodness". As a Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian name, it means "hope".