[name_m]Hi[/name_m] berries!
A special berry reminded me of my grandma tonight, and I’m in a nostalgic, sappy mood. One of my favorite things about my grandma was her love for Russia; she went on a mission trip there when I was a teenager and [name_f]Russia[/name_f] truly was the country of her heart; long after she left, she maintained friendships with the people she met and sent money to help those in need there. One of my favorite ways to honor my grandma is through Russian names - [name_f]Vera[/name_f] is on my short list and I love that it reminds me of both her love of [name_f]Russia[/name_f] as well as her virtue middle. She would’ve been a big supporter of having a great-granddaughter named a Russian name meaning “truth”, I think. Maybe one day I’ll get to use her.
But I’ve been thinking today, what are some other Russian-light names? Not so heavy they’d be hard to bear in [name_f]America[/name_f] (like [name_f]Nadezhda[/name_f] or Evgeniy) but not so international they don’t feel Russian at all (like [name_f]Maria[/name_f], [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], etc.)? [name_f]Nadia[/name_f] is my first thought and may one day soon make it to my girls’ list… but beyond her, what names would you classify as “Russian-light”? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you have any favorites?
Thank you!
3 Likes
I really like [name_f]Vera[/name_f]!
Maybe [name_f]Katia[/name_f], [name_f]Kira[/name_f] or [name_f]Irina[/name_f]?
1 Like
Hi! Your story about your grandma is so touching. I think [name_f]Vera[/name_f] is a beautiful choice. Here are some of my favorite Russian-light names:
[name_f]Nastya[/name_f]
[name_f]Sveta[/name_f]
[name_f]Mila[/name_f]
[name_f]Darya[/name_f]
[name_f]Alina[/name_f]
[name_f]Olga[/name_f]
[name_f]Dasha[/name_f]
[name_f]Lilia[/name_f]
[name_f]Ulyana[/name_f]
[name_f]Tatiana[/name_f]
[name_m]Lev[/name_m]
[name_m]Aram[/name_m]
[name_m]Ruslan[/name_m]
[name_m]Arkady[/name_m]
[name_m]Boris[/name_m]
[name_m]Pavel[/name_m]
[name_m]Luka[/name_m]
[name_m]Maksim[/name_m]
[name_m]Kirill[/name_m]
[name_m]Ivan[/name_m]
1 Like
Russian girl names:
[name_f]Anastasia[/name_f]
[name_f]Katia[/name_f]
[name_f]Annika[/name_f]
[name_f]Anya[/name_f]
[name_f]Dasha[/name_f]
[name_f]Irina[/name_f]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]
[name_f]Odessa[/name_f]
[name_f]Theodosia[/name_f]
[name_f]Yelena[/name_f]
Russian boy names
[name_m]Dmitry[/name_m]
[name_m]Alexei[/name_m]
[name_m]Gogol[/name_m]
[name_m]Anatoly[/name_m]
[name_m]Ilya[/name_m]
[name_m]Lev[/name_m]
[name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]
[name_m]Andrey[/name_m]
[name_m]Viktor[/name_m]
[name_f]Yuri[/name_f]
1 Like
I love [name_f]Vera[/name_f] and [name_f]Nadia[/name_f]!
Maybe…
[name_f]Anya[/name_f]
[name_f]Anastasia[/name_f]
[name_f]Natasha[/name_f] / [name_f]Natalya[/name_f]
[name_f]Elena[/name_f] / [name_f]Yelena[/name_f] / [name_f]Lena[/name_f]
[name_f]Sonya[/name_f]
[name_f]Masha[/name_f]
[name_f]Tatiana[/name_f]
[name_f]Ksenia[/name_f]
[name_f]Oksana[/name_f]
[name_f]Yulia[/name_f]
[name_f]Katerina[/name_f] / [name_f]Ekaterina[/name_f]
[name_f]Lana[/name_f]
[name_f]Tonya[/name_f]
[name_m]Ivan[/name_m]
[name_f]Sasha[/name_f]
[name_m]Alexei[/name_m]
[name_m]Misha[/name_m]
[name_f]Nikita[/name_f]
[name_m]Ilya[/name_m]
[name_m]Igor[/name_m]
[name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]
[name_m]Anton[/name_m]
[name_m]Roman[/name_m]
1 Like
What about…
Galina / Galya
Oksana
Zoya
Margarita
Tatyana / Tanya
Anastasiya
Lidiya / Lida
Nina
Elizaveta / Yelizaveta
Valentina / Valya
Zhenya
Kseniya / Ksenya
Leonid
Nikolay
Isidor
Nikita
Maksim
Ilya
Daniil
Makar
Matvey
Dima
Akim
Anton
Valentin
Artyom
Roman / Roma
1 Like
I love your story so very much 
A few Russian names that I like myself (I like “lighter” names in general so I hope this helps) …
[name_f]Yeva[/name_f]
[name_f]Kirra[/name_f] & [name_f]Kira[/name_f]
[name_f]Masha[/name_f]
[name_f]Irina[/name_f] & [name_f]Arina[/name_f]
[name_f]Lilia[/name_f]
[name_f]Neva[/name_f] (name of a river in Russia)
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]
[name_f]Alla[/name_f]
[name_f]Yana[/name_f]
Klava (diminutive of Klavdia)
[name_f]Anya[/name_f]
[name_f]Uliana[/name_f]
[name_f]Lana[/name_f] (diminutive of Svetlana)
[name_f]Inna[/name_f]
Avrora
[name_m]Savva[/name_m]
[name_f]Mischa[/name_f] & [name_f]Sasha[/name_f] & [name_m]Pasha[/name_m]
[name_m]Roman[/name_m] & [name_f]Roma[/name_f]
[name_m]Daniil[/name_m]
[name_m]Yakov[/name_m]
[name_m]Lukyan[/name_m]
[name_m]Rodion[/name_m]
[name_m]Gavriil[/name_m]
[name_m]Andrey[/name_m]
[name_m]Nikolai[/name_m] & [name_m]Kolya[/name_m] & [name_f]Nikita[/name_f]
[name_m]Timur[/name_m]
[name_m]Aronoa[/name_m]
[name_m]Vova[/name_m] (diminutive of Vladimir)
[name_m]Dmitri[/name_m] & [name_m]Dimka[/name_m]
[name_m]Matvey[/name_m]
[name_m]Ilyan[/name_m] & [name_m]Ilya[/name_m]
[name_m]Leonid[/name_m]
[name_m]Ruvim[/name_m]
[name_m]Veniamin[/name_m] & [name_m]Venedikt[/name_m]
1 Like
[name_f]Alena[/name_f]
[name_f]Alexandra[/name_f]
[name_f]Anastasia[/name_f]
[name_f]Anya[/name_f]
[name_f]Lana[/name_f]
[name_f]Marina[/name_f]
[name_f]Mila[/name_f]
[name_f]Milena[/name_f]
[name_m]Misha[/name_m]
[name_f]Natalya[/name_f]
[name_f]Natasha[/name_f]
[name_f]Olga[/name_f]
[name_f]Sasha[/name_f]
[name_f]Tatiana[/name_f]
[name_f]Viktoria[/name_f]
[name_m]Alek[/name_m]
[name_m]Dimitri[/name_m]
[name_m]Joseph[/name_m]
[name_m]Misha[/name_m]
[name_m]Nicholas[/name_m]
[name_m]Nicolai[/name_m]
[name_f]Sasha[/name_f]
[name_m]Viktor[/name_m]
[name_m]Vlad[/name_m]
1 Like
[name_f]Tatiana[/name_f]
[name_f]Natalia[/name_f]
[name_f]Natasha[/name_f]
[name_f]Lara[/name_f]
[name_f]Larissa[/name_f]
[name_m]Ivan[/name_m]
[name_m]Dimitri[/name_m]
[name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]
1 Like
[name_f]Love[/name_f] [name_f]Nadia[/name_f]!
Maybe…
[name_f]Anya[/name_f]
[name_f]Sasha[/name_f]
[name_m]Abram[/name_m]
[name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]
[name_f]Alisa[/name_f]
[name_f]Elmira[/name_f]
[name_f]Mira[/name_f]
[name_f]Alina[/name_f]
[name_m]Emil[/name_m]
[name_f]Eva[/name_f]
[name_f]Natasha[/name_f]
[name_f]Irina[/name_f]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]
[name_m]Ivan[/name_m]
[name_f]Klara[/name_f]
[name_m]Pasha[/name_m]
[name_m]Lev[/name_m]
[name_f]Larisa[/name_f]
[name_f]Lilia[/name_f]
[name_m]Maxim[/name_m]
[name_m]Misha[/name_m]
1 Like
I love how you want to remember your grandmother like this! [name_f]Beautiful[/name_f]. [name_f]Vera[/name_f] in Russian actually means “faith” (it’s my daughter’s name and that’s why we chose it for her). [name_f]Vera[/name_f] meaning “truth” is from Latin veritas.
1 Like
Nadia is also an Arabic name. I have a Bangla aunt with the name (Almost everyone I know is from Bangladesh)
Vera is an awesome idea! Maybe Vera Nadia? (Truth + Hope)
Agata
Ekaterini
Yulia
Yelizavetta
Yekaterina
Aikaterini
Fanya
Dusana
Ivana
Zarya
Zoya
Zora
Zorina
Zvezda
Zuzanna
Zivanka
Nastya
Marusya
1 Like
I like [name_f]Tatiana[/name_f] and [name_f]Natasha[/name_f]! I like your idea of [name_f]Vera[/name_f], too.
1 Like
Thank you everyone! I wasn’t expecting so many comments on my story about her, but she was an amazing lady and I miss her a lot.
Lots to think about, I’m especially loving these:
[name_m]Anton[/name_m]
[name_m]Dmitri[/name_m]
[name_m]Lev[/name_m]
[name_m]Kirill[/name_m]
[name_m]Misha[/name_m]
[name_f]Sasha[/name_f] (although I don’t think I’d use [name_m]Misha[/name_m] or [name_f]Sasha[/name_f] as standalones)
[name_f]Anastasia[/name_f]
[name_f]Anya[/name_f]
Ksenia/Xenia
[name_f]Masha[/name_f] (again, probably wouldn’t use it on its own)
[name_f]Mira[/name_f] (I just don’t think I could do [name_f]Vera[/name_f] AND [name_f]Mira[/name_f], and of the two, [name_f]Vera[/name_f] is definitely my favorite)
[name_f]Nadia[/name_f]
[name_f]Natalia[/name_f]
[name_f]Tatiana[/name_f]
[name_f]Zora[/name_f]
Tippy top favorites in bold… I’ll have to give them more thought, some might be middles only, but thank you for all the ideas, lovelies!
@danilib - doh, you’re right… I link [name_f]Vera[/name_f] and [name_f]Verity[/name_f] so much in my head that I forgot that “faith” was the Russian meaning. tbh I’m sure she’d love either meaning but she’d probably love the “faith” meaning even more than “truth”, religious as she was.
2 Likes