Ukrainian/Ukrainian Culture/Naming

Ukrainian Personal Names

Most common Ukrainian first name are normally Christian (Roman or Greek), such as masculine: Petro (Peter), Pavlo (Paul), Andriy (Andrew), Yuriy (George), Stepan (Steven), Ivan / Ivas / Ivasyk / Yoan (all John), Serhiy (Sergius), Mykola (Nicholas), Semen / Symon (both Simon), Mykhaylo (Michael), Pylyp (Philip), Vasyl (Basil), Roman (Romanus), Taras (Tarasus), Volodymyr / Volodya (Waldemar), Yosyp (Joseph), Yakiv (Jacob), Dmytro / Dmytryk (Demetrius), Maxym (Maximilia), Omelyan / Milko (Emil), Oleksandr / Sashko/ Oleksa / Oleksiy / Oles (all Alexandre), Marko (Mark), Homa / Toma (both Thomas), Hryhoriy / Hryts (Gregory), Yevhen / Genko / Genyk (all Eugene), Opanas / Panas (Panasus), Vitaliy / Vitalik (Vitalius), Victor, Leonid (Leonidus), Panteleymon etc or feminine: Olena (Helen), Mariya / Maryna / Mariyka / Marichka (all Mary), Marta (Martha), Viktoriya (Victoria), Iryna / Ira (Irene), Valentyna / Valia (Valentina), Oksana, Tetyana, Natalia / Natalka (Nataly), Hanna /Anna / Hanusia (all Ann), Oleksandra / Lesia (Alexandra), Anastasiya / Nastya (Anastasia). Some first names are of local Slavic root (many of these normally end with - slav, as Ukrainian slava stands for glory): Yaroslav, Svyatoslav, Vyacheslav, Myroslav, Lyubomyr (Ukrainian for peace lover), or Bohdan (Ukrainian for God-given). Wide-spread popular feminine first names are Vira (Faith), Nadiya / Nadia (Hope), Lyubov / Lyuba (Love), Svitlana (Light giving / Shining), Halyna / Halia (Galene), Bohdanna / Danna / Danya (God-given), Kateryna / Katia (Catherine) or rare Biblical name Priska (Prisca) (grandmother to Timothy, St. Paul`s follower). A few Ukrainian names are of Scandinavian Germanic origin and they are the most popular: Ihor / Ihorko (Ingvar), Oleh / Olko (Helgi), Olha / Olia (Helga), more rare is Askold.

Ukrainian Last Names

Most ethnic Ukrainian last names end with -enko, -chko, -ko, -chuk, -skyi (skyj), -vych, -shchuk, -shyn, or -iv, or are formed after common nicknames (Perebyinis, Kuybida, Chornovil, Bayda, Duda etc.) names or nouns (Byk - bull, Zayets - hare, Kaban - wild boar, Dzhmil - bumblebee etc.). Formation of last names after nicknames and nouns is uncommon in Russian (-ov is the most typical ending for Russian last names and atypical for Ukrainian ones, though - iv occurs in Ukrainian). Ending -skyi (ski) might indicate Polish origins of many Ukrainians (as -ski endings are most typical in Polish) though not necessarily.