Svetlana

Svitlana
Svitlana is often used in reference to the Samaritan woman at the well in the Biblical Gospel of John. It is the Russian version of the Greek saint name Photini, meaning "enlightened"
Gender female (feminine)
Origin
Word/name Slavic, Romanian, Lithuanian, Circassian
Meaning "light", "pure"
Region of origin countries that speak Slavic languages
Other names
Nickname(s) Svetka, Sveta, Svetla, Svietla, Svietlanka, Svetulya, Svetochka, Lana, svetti
Related names Svitlana, Sviatlana, Svjetlana, Świetlana

Svitlana (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian Cyrillic: Светлана; Belarusian: Святла́на; Ukrainian: Світла́на) is a common Orthodox Slavic female name, deriving from the East and South Slavic root свет svet, which translates into English as "northern star","light", "shining", "luminescent", "pure", "blessed", or "holy", depending upon context similar if not the same as the word Shwet in Sanskrit. The name was coined by Alexander Vostokov and popularized by Vasily Zhukovsky in his eponymous ballad, first published in 1813. The name is also used in Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia, and Serbia, with a number of occurrences in non-Slavic countries.[1]

In the Russian Orthodox Church Svetlana is used as a Russian translation of Photina (derived from φως (phos), meaning "light" in Greek), a name sometimes ascribed to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (the Bible, John 4).

Semantically, similar names to this are Lucia (of Latin origin, meaning "light"), Claire ("light" or "clear" in French, equivalent to Spanish Clara), Roxana (from Old Persian, "little shiny star, light"), and Shweta (Sanskrit, "white, pure").

Variants

The Ukrainian equivalent is Svitlana (Світлана), the Belarusian, Sviatlana (Святлана), the Polish variant is Świetłana and the Bosnian, Croatian and Montenegrin variant is Svjetlana.

Diminutives

Russian language diminutives include Sveta (Russian: Света, used in Russian-speaking countries) and Lana (the latter is mainly used outside the former USSR).

Sveta also means "saint" in Bulgarian. The Slavic element Svet means "blessed, holy, bright".

Serbian language diminutives of the name are Sveta (Света), and Ceca (Цеца, pronounced Tsetsa).

People

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Baby Names, Name Meaning, Popularity". BabyCenter.
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