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 fashion for foreign names started to go around, children everywhere named Riana, Milena, Mark, Stefan began to surround us ... Then it was fashionable to call children foreign names. But now more and more parents want to distinguish their child with an unusual Old Slavonic name. In the article we will talk about this.
Why Old Slavic names began to be forgotten
In the modern era, a wide variety of sources of information are widespread - TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, and, of course, the Internet. In fact, the fact that the Old Slavonic names began to be forgotten is not unusual. This is simply a matter of the historical period and the surrounding society. In Soviet times, the names Olympics (in honor of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow), Power Station (in the heyday of the electrification of the USSR), Dazdraperma (which is "Long live the First of May"), Vilur (Vladimir Ilyich loves the Motherland), Vladlen (Vladimir Lenin) were popular. , Gertrude (heroine of labor) - the list goes on and on. These were exciting personalities and events of that time - from there the names. Therefore, the phenomenon of the fact that in almost any junior class of the school you can meet Rihana, Cristiano, Stefania can easily be explained. But more and more parents are returning to Old Slavonic names for girls by month of birth.
Fashion is changing
Fashion is a variable phenomenon, therefore, in the stream of modern names, Old Slavonic names again become noticeable. And one cannot but agree that they sound beautiful and unusual for our ears. Old Slavonic names for girls are more popular than for boys. There is no exact explanation for this yet, but the statistics of the state record authorities say so.
Church traditions
Whoever says anything, no matter how secular our state may be, old habits and traditions make people turn to the church, and more and more people are choosing names for their children again on the church calendar. The custom to give a child a name in honor of the saint went from the old times - after Orthodoxy was adopted in Russia. At that time, people believed that one who has the same name as the saint has a special connection with him. Old Slavonic names were selected by months according to a specially compiled calendar. In Orthodoxy, almost every day is a saint's day. Moreover, one canonized person can have several days on the calendar at once, that is, a person will celebrate a name day several times a year. There are more than 1000 not only Russian Old Slavonic names in the holiest, but also Greek, Latin, Hebrew.
Examples of female names in 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, here are the ancient Greek and Old Slavonic female names:
- January - Juliania, Anthony, Martina, Tatyana, Nina;
- February - Inna, Agnia, Eusebius, Berta, Eudoxia;
- March - Anfisa, Asfey, Theodore;
- April - Hilaria, Euphemia, Aglaid, Jonah, Praskovya;
- May - Ida, Moor, Akilin, Faina;
- June - Zosima, Archelaus, Artemia, Kaleria;
- July - Aurora, Efrosinia, Agrippina, Isabella, Angelina;
- August - Anna, Anfisa, Agniya, Eles, Kristina;
- September - Adeline, Rose, Elizabeth, Rufina;
- October - Ariadne, Rebekah, Aurelius, Justin;
- November - Kapitalina, Anastasia, Athanasius;
- December - Ada, Alexander, Adelaide, Aza.
Examples of male names in the church calendar
Not only female names are rich in Saints, but also male ones. The choice for future parents is very large. Below is a list of Old Slavonic names and ancient Greek:
- January - Daniel, Timothy, Aris, Procopius, Efim;
- February - Arseny, Makar, Gabriel, Klim, Ignat;
- March - Roman, Leo, Stepan, Jacob;
- April - Kondrat, Paul, Ilya, Benjamin;
- May - Semyon, Philip, Valentine, George;
- June - Sergey, Timofey, Sevastyan, Robert, Elizar;
- July - Sevir, Demyan, Kuzma, Arseny;
- August - Trofim, George, Stepan, Vasily, Maxim;
- September - Fedor, Ivan, Victor;
- October - Igor, Konstantin, Savva, Denis, Nikanor;
- November - Eusebius, Artemy, Sarvil, German;
- December - Anatoly, Naum, Semyon.
Military names
Old Slavonic names for boys in many cases originated from hostilities. Many new ones appeared precisely as a designation of character traits, behavior during the battle, as well as an attitude to power and the world. For example, such Old Slavonic male names:
- Boeslav - glorious in battle.
- Branibor - wins the battle.
- Branipolk - commands the regiments.
- Wenceslas - crowned with power.
- Goodimir - 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 - triumphing over the nomads.
- Lyubor - experiencing a love of struggle.
- Lutebran - fierce in battle.
- Maribor - fighting death.
- Revenge - a warrior fighting in the name of revenge.
- Mechislav is a warrior who gained fame in a sword battle.
- Mstislav - well avenged.
- Pakislav - increasing glory.
- Pereyar is the most furious.
- Peroslav - shoots great.
- By the way - a freely wandering warrior.
- Ratibor - fighting the army and defeating it.
- Stanimir - sets the world.
- Hard-faced - a stern warrior.
- Hotibor - wanting to fight.
- Yarobor is a furious fighter.
- Yaropolk is a furious commander.
And how did the names appear?
The emergence of human names goes back in time and is covered in many legends and versions. It is not known for certain when exactly they began to single out a separate group of proper names, but there are facts that already in the 3rd century BC they stood out in a separate class of words. The very first names that arose among ancient people were not specially invented. The most ordinary everyday words were used, physical characteristics or character traits were simply taken into account. Maybe? at that time, people still did not understand that this was a “character,” but it was by that means that they were judged and given a name to a person. For example, the Mouse could be called the most quiet and calm, and Thunder could be called the noisiest. If we take a more understandable time for us, for example, Ancient Russia, then some Old Slavonic names for girls corresponded to this principle:
- Bueslava - assertive.
- Zlatoslav - with golden hair.
- Zoreslava is very beautiful, compared to zorya.
- Milolika - with very cute features.
- Sineoka - fair-skinned and with blue eyes.
The relationship of the name and fate of man
Since ancient times, people had beliefs that the name of a person in many respects affects his life, happiness, success. Therefore, the Indians gave their children terrible and largely repulsive names, which, by their faith, scared away evil spirits and protected them. Some tribes, on the contrary, gave names that denoted good to attract good luck. A fairly common case was such a situation that the child had two names - only parents knew one, and all the other people around him called the second. 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, there were names held in honor by famous personalities, heroes or gods. The Greeks believed that along with the name the child will acquire the dignity of a person who also bore this name.
Interesting Ancient Russia
Ancient Rusichs also believed that the name of a person affects his fate. Old Slavonic names for girls were often those that attracted happiness and luck:
- Vedayana is the one who spiritually ascends the rest.
- Good will - receiving and giving good.
- Ladomira - having peace.
- Radovlada - with great joy.
- Ioannina - possessing harmony.
In addition, people believed that 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 man. Before Christianity was adopted in Russia, its original names existed, 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 a 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.
- According to physical strengths and weaknesses. To modern man, these names will seem more like nicknames. Funny names in the Old Slavonic language for us now are Kosoy, Khromoi, Krasava, Belek and others.
- By the time and the order of the birth of the child in the family - Menshak, Elder. 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 leatherwork.
History of some names
To consider the full history of all the beautiful old Slavonic names is unrealistic. Therefore, let us examine in detail only the meaning of some of them:
- Alexandra. There is a widespread belief that women whom their parents have named a man get some traits of the opposite sex in character. Alexandra is a tomboy, assertive and tireless. It is not exactly known to the end whether this name is Slavic or Greek, but many translate it as a "protector." In Russia, a lot of women in the Rurik dynasty called this name. Alexandra was for a long time considered a name for noblemen, privileged, and only in the 19th century it became a common people and gained 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 estate. The church calendar contains thirty saints named Anna. Since the eighteenth century, this name has gained popularity among the peasant population of Europe, which makes it one of the most popular.
- Zinaida. It would seem that this is an original 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 will certainly have assertiveness and natural strength in the future. Quickness, directness and even stubbornness are typical features of Zinaida. During early Christianity, Zinaida was called the relative of the Apostle Paul, who in many ways helped to bring 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 the greatest popularity in the twentieth century, namely in the thirties with the advent of fashion for rare church names.
- Maria. You can talk about this name endlessly. There are many versions of the origin of the name Mary. According to various opinions, it means "sadness", "love", "desire", "bitterness". The very first mention of Mary in history is the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Islamic analogue is Mariam). The name Maria was especially fond of the representatives of the nobility, they became the first bearers in Ancient Russia. In the Romanov family, Mary became the first lady. Mary is for the upper world, for the people - Masha. Very often in tales and legends this name was used. However, during the time of the revolution, it was forgotten, since it was considered too simple. And only fifty years after the revolution, it again falls into 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 soul. Therefore, this name was appreciated until recently. Now it is not so popular, although it has one of the most surprisingly good values. It came from paganism, but one of the few survived after the adoption of Christianity.
- Yulia. This name sounds soft. Its owners are most often endowed with receptivity to the emotions of other people, they can even sympathize with people with whom they are barely familiar. Julia was referred to saints during the time of early Christianity, when at a young age the girl was captured by the Persians, but remained faithful to her conviction and did not betray faith. Until the nineteenth century, the name Julia did not appear in any sources. Later this name is distributed among the nobility and it is awarded the noble status. In the 1970s, it became very popular throughout the USSR.
- Tatyana. Another of the list of the most popular names, in the science of studying proper names there are several versions of its appearance. According to the first version, Tatyana comes from the ancient Greek "equipping". The second - connects Tatyana with the ruler Tatian (Ancient Rome). Power, determination, stubbornness are typical features of the representative of this name. Tatiana of Rome was canonized after she gave up worldly life, and later she became the patroness of all students. On January 25, namely on Tatyana’s Day, Empress Elizabeth signed a decree by which the first Russian university was founded.
- Pauline. Initially, it was Apollinaria. In masculine form means "belonging to Apollo." Pauline inherited the features of Apollo - stately, revered and beautiful patroness of art. The pursuit of ideal always accompanies Pauline through life. The canonized Apollinaria gained fame due to the fact that it became a pilgrim under the guise of a man. Among the Slavs, the name became widespread in the Polinar variant. A short Pauline became popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, along with fashion for everything French. In use was also a variant of Pauline, which later still turned into Polina anyway.
The history of names is incredibly interesting, and sometimes unexpected. You never know where this or that 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. But parents always have the choice: is it worth programming the fate of the child, or is it left to chance. One way or another, one must take the choice of name seriously. How a person will feel in society depends on this. Many are advised to choose a name based on middle name and last name. Of course, everything together should sound beautiful.