Sometimes Ukrainian names sound very unusual and their usage is not completely clear for those who make their first steps in discovering the Slavic world. So let’s try to find out the main secrets of Ukrainian women’s names.
People in Ukraine have three names –the first name, the second name and the patronymic.
First name is a name which is given after the birth. In the ancient Ukraine every child had two different first names– the personal name and the one which was given by the church. People believed that two names mislead the evil spirits and they couldn’t interfere in a child’s life.
First names in Ukraine mostly originate from two sources: Orthodox church tradition (which is itself of Greek origin) and Catholic church tradition (which is itself of Latin origin).
The popular Ukrainian names with Greek origin are Aleksandra, Alena, Alla, Anastasia, Veronika, Galina, Ekaterina, Elena, Inna, Katarina, Irina, Kseniya, Sophia and Tatyana. The well-known names with Latin origin are Valeria, Marina, Victoria, Angelina, Yuliya.

Second name represents a person as a part of generation. The interesting fact – most people in Ukraine (particularly farmers) didn’t have them till the cancellation of the serfdom in 1861. Ukrainian second names have very interesting source–they could mean the ancestors’ professions, habits, districts where they lived, their hobbies and funny nicknames.Ukrainian women as usual change their second names after the marriage.

Patronymic – is a name, derived from the father’s first name. Patronymics have special genetic code for a child so they are very important for Ukrainians. Patronymics are not the middle names – they are used after the first and the second names!
Patronymics are used in official negotiations and documents, in polite conversations. People use patronymics to show the respect and reverence, to stress the age and social status of a person.

Pet names are very popular in Ukraine. Sometimes it is hard to believe that they are just variants of the first name and not the absolutely different names! For example, Alexandra has the pet names Sasha, Shura, Elena – Lena, Victoria – Vika, Anastasia – Nastya, Stasya, Margarita – Rita, Larisa – Lora, Lorik, Eugenia – Genya, Angelina – Lina, Maria – Masha, Nadejda – Nadya, Polina – Polya.

Affectionate names are used quite often to emphasize the gentle and kind attitude to a person. Ukrainian and Russian languages have a lot of suffixes which could be used in the affectionate names. For example, Anastasia – Nastusha, Nastenka, Nastena, Maria – Mashulya, Mashenka, Marusya, Anna – Anuta, Anechka, Annyshka, Svetlana – Svetoshka, Victoria – Vikochka, Vikusha, Elena – Lenochka, Lenusya, Lenchik, Ekaterina – Katusha, Katenka, Elizaveta – Lizochka. The affectionate names are very tender and could be used only if you know the Ukrainian woman very well and want to show her your good attitude. Of course, you may create your own affectionate name, Russian and Ukrainian languages have so many “tender” suffixes, so it could be very easy.
The most popular women names in Ukraine in 2012 were Anastasia, Anna, Alexandra, Sophia, Polina, Elena, Dariya, Elizaveta, Marina, Nataliya.
Russian and Ukrainian names have their own history and interesting meanings, no wonder that they are very popular all over the world.
Ukrainian names are almost the same unusual, beautiful and wise as Ukrainian ladies, so if you want to know more about the woman you like – try to find out the history of her name and may be it would show you the secret of your future!