Popular female Polish names

Polish culture has always been fed by many sources. On the one hand, they were Slavic beliefs, customs and traditions, on the other - the influence of Western European countries and eastern neighbors (Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia), the third - Christianity in the Roman Catholic tradition (and, as a consequence, the influence of the Latin language). That is why the Polish women's names represent a special Interest for the language researcher.

Slavic roots are found in Bozhena and Miroslava, Casimir, Vislava, Czeslava. But such female Polish names as Beata, Lucina, Felicia, Sylvia or Marcellina are of Latin origin. Many popular anthroponyms (Anna, Maria, Natalia) sound the same in almost all languages. From other cultures came such names as Olga (Russian Scandinavian origin), Ilona (from Hungarian), Aneta, Bernadette (from French). By the way, it's worth paying attention (especially this is important when translating) that very often the writing of double or single consonants does not coincide with the rules of our orthography - for example, Isabela.

Very interesting are women's Polish names of Greek and Jewish origin. Their interest lies in the fact that they, having correspondences in the Russian language, sound quite differently. For example, the Greek by birth name Agnieszka coincides in meaning with Agnia. And Katarzyna is Catherine. Even more unusual for the Russian ear is Malgorzata (Margarita in our opinion) or Elzbieta (Elizabeth). The diminutive and caressing female Polish names, unlike the norms of our language and etiquette, have the suffix -k- in the composition. Lidka, Elka, Olka - this is not disregard for Polish speakers, but, on the contrary, benevolence. Or the suffix "-yus-" (-uś): Anus, Gali, Agus. By the way, another interesting feature: Polish female names that are homonymous (sound exactly the same) Russian, can have a completely different origin. For example, Lena is a diminutive not from Elena, but from Magdalena. Or Olya - not from Olga, as in Russian, but from Alexandra. Asya - from John, and not from Anastasia.

We have such Polish women's names in our country as Irena, Agnieszka, Vislava. But our western neighbors have different preferences. Now such names as Zofia, Julia, Maya, Lena (as complete), Alexander and Zusann became very popular. A few years ago, the five most frequently selected for newborns included Alicia and Victoria. But the older generation (20-30-year-olds) is popular with Katarzyna, Joanna, Anna.

It is also interesting how the names of the Poles in Russia changed. On the one hand, there were several centuries of exile to Siberia even in tsarist times. On the other hand, forced relocations under Stalin. And then Josef became Lucy (more accustomed to the Russian ear), Albert - Oleg, Jan - Ivan ... More often than not the "everyday" name of a person, but also the official one. And only later, after returning to the historical homeland, the name was restored. Although it was not always easy to do on documents. It is worth noting that in Poland it is customary to give double names that are not written through hyphens (Bogdan Michal, Julia Patricia), but next. In everyday life a person uses, as a rule, only one and often the first. However, he may well be called a second, and even an entirely different name, if he does not like the fact that his parents awarded him.