A lot of people believe in the magic of the name. And for this reason, young parents begin to think about choosing a name for their child in advance, before the baby is born. It so happened that in 2010 there was a fashion for foreign names, children everywhere began to surround us, whose names are Riana, Milena, Mark, Stefan … Then it was fashionable to call children foreign names. But now more and more parents want to highlight their child with an unusual Old Slavonic name. In the article, we will talk about this.
Why Old Church Slavonic names began to be forgotten
In the modern era, a variety of sources of information are widespread - TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, and, of course, the Internet. In fact, there is nothing unusual in the fact that Old Slavonic names began to be forgotten. It is simply a matter of the historical period and the surrounding society. ATIn Soviet times, the names Olympiad (in honor of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow), Power Plant (in the heyday of the electrification of the USSR), Dazdraperma (and this is "long live the First of May"), Vilyur (Vladimir Ilyich loves his Motherland), Vladlen (Vladimir Lenin), Gertrude (heroine of labor) - the list goes on and on. These were exciting personalities and events of that time - hence the names. Therefore, it is easy to explain the phenomenon that in almost any junior class of the school you can meet Riana, Cristiano, Stephanie. But more and more parents are returning to Old Slavic names for girls by month of birth.
Fashion changes
Fashion is a changeable phenomenon, therefore, in the stream of modern names, Old Slavic names again become noticeable. And one cannot but agree that they sound beautiful and unusual for our ears. Old Slavic names for girls are more popular than for boys. There is no exact explanation for this yet, but the statistics of the state records authorities say so.
Church traditions
No matter what anyone says, no matter how secular our state is, old habits and traditions make people turn to the church, and more and more people are again choosing names for their children according to the church calendar. The custom of giving a child a name in honor of a saint has been going on since ancient times - after Orthodoxy was adopted in Russia. At that time, people believed that someone who had the same name as a saint had a special connection with him. Old Slavic names were chosen according tomonths according to a specially compiled calendar. In Orthodoxy, almost every day is the day of a saint. At the same time, one canonized person can have several days on the calendar at once, that is, a person will celebrate name days several times a year. There are more than 1000 not only Russian Old Slavonic names in the calendar, but also Greek, Latin, Hebrew ones.
Examples of female names according to the church calendar
For future parents, Saints can be a real source of inspiration when looking for an unusual name. There are a lot of beautiful options, below we give ancient Greek and Old Slavonic female names:
- January - Juliana, Antonia, Martina, Tatiana, Nina;
- February - Inna, Agnia, Evsevia, Berta, Evdoxia;
- March - Anfisa, Asfeya, Theodora;
- April - Ilaria, Efimia, Aglaida, Jonah, Praskovya;
- May - Ida, Mavra, Akilina, Faina;
- June - Zosima, Archelaus, Artemia, Kaleria;
- July - Aurora, Euphrosyne, Agrippina, Isabella, Angelina;
- August - Anna, Anfisa, Agniya, Elesa, Christina;
- September - Adeline, Rosa, Elizabeth, Rufina;
- October - Ariadne, Rebekah, Aurelius, Justina;
- November - Capitalina, Anastasia, Afanasia;
- December - Ada, Alexandra, Adelaide, Aza.
Examples of male names according to the church calendar
The Saints are rich not only in female names, but also in male ones. The choice for future parents is very large. Below is a list of Old Church Slavonic names andAncient Greek:
- January - Daniel, Timothy, Aris, Procopius, Efim;
- February - Arseny, Makar, Gabriel, Klim, Ignat;
- March - Roman, Leo, Stepan, Yakov;
- April - Kondrat, Pavel, Ilya, Benjamin;
- May - Semyon, Philip, Valentin, George;
- June - Sergey, Timofey, Sevastyan, Robert, Elizar;
- July - Sevier, Demyan, Kuzma, Arseniy;
- August - Trofim, George, Stepan, Vasily, Maxim;
- September - Fedor, Ivan, Victor;
- October - Igor, Konstantin, Savva, Denis, Nikanor;
- November - Evsevy, Artemy, Sarvil, Herman;
- December - Anatoly, Naum, Semyon.
Military names
Old Slavic names for boys in many cases originated from military operations. Many new ones appeared precisely as a designation of character traits, behavior during battle, as well as attitudes towards power and the world. For example, such Old Slavonic male names:
- Boeslav is glorious in battle.
- Branibor - wins the battle.
- Branipolk - commands regiments.
- Wenceslas - crowned with power.
- Gudimir - calling for peace.
- Dalebor - able to fight at a great distance.
- Zaruba is a simple fighter.
- Zlatoyar - experiencing rage, like the sun.
- Kolovrat is a warrior who uses many movements during the battle.
- Kochebor - victorious over nomads.
- Lyubor is in love with wrestling.
- Lyutobran - fierce in battle.
- Maribor -fighting death.
- Vengeful is a warrior who fights in the name of revenge.
- Mechislav is a warrior who gained fame in sword fighting.
- Mstislav is a good revenger.
- Pakislav - multiplying glory.
- Pereyar is the most furious.
- Peroslav - great shooter.
- Putivoy is a free-roaming warrior.
- Ratibor - fighting with the army and defeating it.
- Stanimir - sets the world.
- Hardface is a stern warrior.
- Hotibor - willing to fight.
- Yarobor is a fierce wrestler.
- Yaropolk is a furious commander.
How did the names come about?
The appearance of human names goes back to the distant past and is covered with many legends and versions. It is not known for certain when exactly a separate group of proper names began to be distinguished, but there are facts that already in the 3rd century BC they were distinguished into a separate class of words. The very first names that arose among ancient people were not invented on purpose. The most common everyday words were used, just physical features or character traits were taken into account. Maybe? at that time, people did not yet understand that this was a "character", but it was by him that they judged and gave a name to a person. For example, the most quiet and calm could be called Mouse, and the noisiest - Thunder. If we take a more understandable time for us, for example, Ancient Russia, then some Old Slavic names for girls corresponded to this principle:
- Bueslava is assertive.
- Zlatoslava - with golden hair.
- Zoreslava is very beautiful compared todawn.
- Milolika - with very cute features.
- Sineoka is light-skinned and has blue eyes.
The connection between the name and fate of a person
Since ancient times, people have a belief that a person's name largely affects his life, happiness, success. Therefore, the Indians gave their children terrible and in many ways repulsive names, which, according to their faith, scared away evil spirits and protected them. Some tribes, on the contrary, gave names that meant good, in order to attract good luck. A fairly common case was such a situation that the child had two names - only the parents knew one, and the second was called by all the other people around him. China generally distinguished itself among all - one person had three names at once. The first he received when he was born. The second - when he came to study at school. And the third - during the transition to adulthood. In Greece, names were held in high esteem, which were called famous personalities, heroes or gods. The Greeks believed that along with the name, the child would acquire the dignity of the person who also bore that name.
Interesting Ancient Russia
Ancient Russians also believed that a person's name influences his fate. Old Slavic names for girls were often those that attracted happiness and good luck:
- Vedayana - the one that spiritually ascends the rest.
- Dobrovlad - receiving and giving good.
- Ladomira - having peace.
- Radovlad - possessing great joy.
- Yanina - possessing harmony.
Besides, people believedthat a name chosen with love helps a lot in life. And if it is given without warm feelings, then there will be no happiness for a person. Before Christianity was adopted in Russia, there were their own original names, truly Old Slavonic. They were given according to different criteria:
- According to the properties and qualities of people, characteristic features, for example, a boy could be called Clever, Brave.
- According to the peculiarities of behavior and speech, Molchan is an Old Slavonic name, and its meaning is clear - a person does not have the habit of talking a lot.
- By physical strengths and weaknesses. To a modern person, these names will seem more like nicknames. Funny names in Old Slavonic for us now are Oblique, Lame, Krasava, Belek and others.
- According to the time and order of the birth of a child in the family - Menshak, Senior. They even called it simply First or Fourth.
- By profession. This is perhaps one of the most common and initial criteria for giving a name to a person, precisely by occupation. For example, a man named Kozhemyaka was engaged in leather business.
History of some names
It is unrealistic to consider the full history of all the beautiful Old Slavonic names. Therefore, let's study in detail only the meaning of some of them:
- Alexandra. There is a widespread belief that women who are given a male name by their parents receive some traits of the opposite sex in character. Alexandra is a tomboy, assertive and tireless. It is not known for sure whether this name is Slavic or Greek, but many translate it as"protector". In Russia, a lot of women in the Rurik dynasty were called by this name. Alexandra has long been considered a privileged name for nobles, and only in the 19th century did it go to the common people and gain great popularity.
- Anna. According to historians and linguists, this name is one of the most common names on the planet. This fact is associated with the sacred and church meaning of the name in many religions. The name Anna is found in any monarchical dynasty and noble class. The church calendar contains thirty saints named Anna. Since the eighteenth century, this name has been gaining popularity among the peasant population of Europe, which makes it one of the most popular.
- Zinaida. It would seem that this is a primordially Russian and Old Slavonic name - Zina. But no. In fact, the origin of this name is associated with such a god as Zeus. That is, Zinaida is a descendant of Zeus. People believed that a woman named by this name would definitely have assertiveness and natural strength in the future. Agility, directness and even stubbornness are typical features of Zinaida. During early Christianity, Zinaida was the name of a relative of the Apostle Paul, who in many ways helped to convert a large number of pagans to Christianity, for which she was classified as a saint. The name begins to be mentioned for the first time in history at the end of the eighteenth century among the nobility. This name gained its greatest popularity in the twentieth century, namely in the thirties with the advent of fashion for rare church names.
- Mary. You can talk about this name endlessly. ExistThere are many versions of the origin of the name Maria. According to various opinions, it means "sadness", "love", "desire", "bitterness". The very first mention of Mary in history is the Most Holy Theotokos (the Islamic counterpart is Mariam). The name Maria was especially fond of the representatives of the nobility, and they became the first bearers of it in Ancient Russia. In the Romanov family, Mary became the first lady. Mary - for high society, for the people - Masha. Very often in fairy tales and legends this name was used. However, during the revolution, it was forgotten, as it was considered too simple. And only fifty years after the revolution, it again hits the top of the most popular.
- Svetlana is a monument of Slavic culture. The root of this name, according to old Russian traditions, means "light", that is, pure and bright in soul. Therefore, this name was valued until recently. Now it is no longer so popular, although it has one of the most surprisingly kind meanings. Came from paganism, but one of the few survived after the adoption of Christianity.
- Julia. This name sounds soft. Its owners are most often endowed with susceptibility to the emotions of other people, they can sympathize even with people they barely know. Julia was referred to the saints in the days of early Christianity, when, at a young age, the girl was captured by the Persians, but remained true to her conviction and did not betray the faith. Until the nineteenth century, the name Julia did not appear in any sources. Later this name is distributed among the nobility and he is awarded the status of a noble. It became very popular in the 1970sthroughout the USSR.
- Tatiana. Another one of the list of the most popular names, there are several versions of its appearance in the science of studying proper names. According to the first version, Tatyana comes from the ancient Greek "equipping". The second - connects Tatiana with the ruler Tatian (Ancient Rome). Authority, purposefulness, stubbornness are typical features of the representative of this name. Tatiana of Rome was canonized after she renounced worldly life, and later she became the patroness of all students. On the twenty-fifth of January, namely on Tatyana's Day, Empress Elizabeth signed a decree, according to which the first Russian university was founded.
- Polina. She was originally Apollinaria. In the masculine form, it means "belonging to Apollo." Polina inherited the features of Apollo - a stately, revered and beautiful patron of art. The desire for the ideal always accompanies Polina through life. The canonized Apollinaria gained fame for becoming a pilgrim under the guise of a man. Among the Slavs, the name became widespread in the variant of Polinarya. And the short Polina became popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, along with the fashion for everything French. There was also a variant of Paulina in use, which later turned into Polina anyway.
The history of names is insanely interesting, and sometimes unexpected. You never know where a particular name came from. You are surprised that there are male forms when only the female version is clearly fixed in the mind. There are certain beliefs that a name affects a person's personality. Butthe choice always remains with the parents: is it worth programming the fate of the child, or should it be left to chance? One way or another, you need to take the choice of a name seriously. It depends on how a person will feel in society. Many advise choosing a name taking into account the patronymic and surname. Of course, everything together should sound beautiful.
