Given name & surname · Russian · Ukrainian · zle-ort
Ольга
“holy”
Ольга (Ólʹga) is a feminine given name from Old East Slavic, ultimately from Proto-Germanic. It is used in Russian, Ukrainian, and Old Ruthenian.
Russian and Ukrainian and zle-ortWritten in Cyrillic script. In English: Olha.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Ольга goes back to Old Norse Helga, meaning “holy.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Ольга comes from Old East Slavic, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Russian usage, Ольга developed from Helga.
Ольга’s family of names
In Ukrainian usage, Ольга has a diminutive in Оля. In Russian usage, Ольга developed from the Old Norse form Helga. In Russian usage, Ольга has a conventional equivalent in the German form Olga.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Ольга has relatives in 9 languages. Lines run from its Proto-Germanic roots to each of them.
9 related names in 9 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 12
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- OlgaFrench, German
- OlhaEnglish
- Helgaroot · Swedish, German
- Oljgaborrowing · izh
- ΌλγαGreek
- Олгаequivalent
- Oljaequivalent
- Օլգաequivalent
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People named Ольга
- Olga of Kievprincess of Kiev, Orthodox saint (c. 890–925)
- Olga KorbutBelarusian gymnast (*1955)
- Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of RussiaGrand Duchess of Russia (1895–1918); eldest child of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)
- Olga Constantinovna of RussiaQueen of the Hellenes (1851–1926)
- Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of RussiaGrand Duchess of Russia (1882–1960); youngest child of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)
- Olga KaniskinaRussian race walkerborn 1985
- Olga KharlanUkrainian fencerborn 1990
- Olga LadyzhenskayaRussian mathematician (1922–2004)
- Olga RypakovaKazakh female Olympic track and field athleteborn 1984
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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