Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Cамые популярные имена 2012 года--Most popular names in Russia for 2012

A new list of popular first names in Russia for 2012. 

Unsurprisingly, Alexandr (Александр) continues to be the most popular name for newborn boys, and Anastasia (Анастасия) for girls. (In Moscow, on the other hand, Aleksandr has lost out to Artyom, a name that ranks fourth in popularity in Russia as a whole.)  


Interestingly, for both sexes, "old-fashioned" and religious names are on the rise: For boys, Bogdan (Богдан), Timofei/Timothy (Тимофей), Matvei/Matthew (Матвей), Gleb (Глеб) and Zakhar (Захар). The last two in particular strike me as assertively national. 

For girls, old fashioned names like Taisia (Таисья), Arina (Арина), Varvara/Barbara (Варвара), Uliana (Ульяна), Aksinia (Аксинья), Avdotia (Авдотья), Pelegeia (Пелагея) and Vasilisa (Василисa) are on the rise. Some of those names are very old, Greek in derivation, and therefore connected directly with an Orthodox mindset. 

In recent years in America, "unique" and non-traditional first names have become popular. They remain very rare in Russia, but this article mentions the following names in Moscow as Редкие, единичные имена ("rare and singular names"): For boys, Мир, Космос и Огнеслав (Peace, Cosmos and something like Glory to the Flame, respectively). For girls, Легенда, Лёля и Челси (Legend, Lyolia and Cheslea (!)). I think Lyolia is a doll's name... 

Here's a graphic of popular names...




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