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Russian Names for Girls

Russian names for girls are a high-fashion choice right now — literally! There’s been a real influx of top models from Russia in recent years, boasting not only beauty but also beguiling Russian names like Irina, Natalia, and Tatiana. Although spelling and pronunciation can sometimes be a challenge, many exotic Russian girls’ names actually feel perfectly wearable in the West: try Alisa or Anastasia, Katia or Katerina, Zoya or Zenovia.

Along with Natalia and Anastasia, other Russian girls’ names in the US Top 1000 include Angelina, Annika, Kira, Mila, Nadia, Nina, Sasha, and Vera. Baby girl names popular in Russia include Elizaveta — the Russian variation of Elizabeth — Polina, Varvara, Ksenia, Alina and Yulia.

It’s striking how many of the names in this list feature the "typical" Russian endings -ka, -sha and -ya. It's worth noting that these are actually diminutive (nickname) suffixes in Russian, meaning that names like Anya (from Anna) or Natasha (from Natalia) are not generally given as formal names in their own right in Russia itself.

Browse all of our beautiful Russian baby girl names, plus notes on meaning and usage, here. The top names below rank among the current US Top 1000 Baby Names and are ordered by popularity. Unique names rank below the Top 1000 and are listed alphabetically.

Yelena

Meaning: bright, shining one

Origin:Russian variation of Helen
2104
Viera

Meaning: truth

Origin:Czech and Russian variation of Vera
3085
Palasha

Meaning: open sea

Origin:Russian, diminutive of Pelagia
8438
Oksana

Meaning: praise to God

Origin:Russian from Hebrew
1859
Alisa

Meaning: great happiness

Origin:Hebrew
998
Rena

Meaning: joyous melody

Origin:Hebrew
1136
Pasha

Meaning: of the ocean

Origin:Greek
11249
Irini The meaning of Irini is ‘peace’. The name Ir...
Origin:Greek
10006
Varya

Meaning: foreign

Origin:Russian
2356
Fanya

Meaning: from France; free man

Origin:Slavic and Russian diminutive of Frances
6212
Luba

Meaning: love, lover, dear

Origin:Russian, Slavic, Yiddish, "love, lover, dear"
4739
Sascha

Meaning: defending warrior

Origin:German variation of Sasha
5198
Shura

Meaning: defending men

Origin:Russian, diminutive of Alexandra
6865
Panya

Meaning: mouse, tiny one; or, crowned one

Origin:African, Swahili; or, Russian, diminutive of Stephania
10118
Nada

Meaning: dew at sunrise

Origin:Arabic
3079
Katerina The name Katerina is of Slavic origin. The m...
Origin:Macedonian, Czech, Russian, Bulgarian, and Greek form of Katherine
1558
Bela

Meaning: white

Origin:Czech
6187
Katia

Meaning: pure

Origin:Russian diminutive of Ekaterina
2109
Arkadina

Meaning: from Arcadia

Origin:Feminine variation of Arkady
10581
Fedora The meaning of Fedora is 'God's gift' and th...
Origin:Greek variation of Theodora
7736