Eastern European Names

Plausible literary name to honor upbeat Armenian-American playwright and prose writer William Saroyan.

May cut it in Budapest, but not in Boise. Just Fritz would be preferable.

Popular in Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Russia, and familiar in the UK too, Bogdan is a rugged and strong sounding choice with a similar meaning to US favorite Theodore. Made up of the Slavic elements bogŭ and danŭ, it means "gift from God".

Writer Jerzy Kosinski put this foreign variation on the U. S. name map.

Tassia is an obscure short form used mostly in Russia and Eastern Europe, where the name Anastasia as in the executed Russian princess is common. Rarely found in the English-speaking world, Tassia could make a distinctive and attractive nickname for this elegant royal name and can easily stand on its own.

The Biblical Salome has not ranked in the US Top 1000 for more than a century, perhaps because most people associate the name with the seductive dancer. But Salomea might make the name different enough for contemporary use.