Svetlana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Svetlana is a common Russian female name, deriving from the Russian word for "light", "clean" or "holy". The name was coined by Alexander Vostokov and popularized by Vasily Zhukovsky in his eponymous ballade, first published in 1813. In Russian Orthodox Church Svetlana is used as Russian translated name as Saint Photina (meaning "enlighted" in Greek), the Samaritan woman at the Jacob's well in John 4.

Etymologically, the most similar name to this is Lucia (of Latin word origin, meaning "light"), Claire (meaning Light or clear in French), Roxana (of Old Persian origin, literally: "little shiny star" or "light") or Shweta in Sanskrit which means "white" or "pure".

The short form of the name is Sveta.

People named Svetlana include:

• Svetlana Alliluyeva, the youngest daughter of Joseph Stalin
• Svetlana Boiko, a Russian fencer
• Svetlana Boginskaya, a Soviet Belarusian gymnast
• Svetlana Ceca Ražnatović, a pop-folk singer from Serbia
• Svetlana Cherkasova, a Russian middle distance runner
• Svetlana Chmakova, a Russian-born comics artist
• Svetlana Ishmouratova, a Russian biathlete and soldier
• Svetlana Khorkina, a Russian gymnast
• Svetlana Kouzina, a Russian water polo player
• Svetlana Kulikova, a Russian ice dancer
• Svetlana Kuznetsova, a Russian tennis player
• Svetlana Matveeva, a Soviet/Russian chess player
• Svetlana Moskalets, a Russian heptathlete
• Svetlana Nagejkina, a former Soviet/Russian cross-country skier
• Svetlana Nazarova, A character from Night Watch usually referred to by first name only.
• Svetlana Paramygina, a former Soviet Belarusian biathlete
• Svetlana Petcherskaia, a former Russian biathlete
• Svetlana Pletneva, a Russian archeologist and historian
• Svetlana Savitskaya, former Soviet/Russian cosmonaut, and the second woman in space and the first woman to perform a spacewalk.
• Svetlana Sotiroff MacDonald, a Canadian lawyer
• Svetlana Ulmasova, a Soviet long-distance runner
• Svetlana Vysokova, a Russian speed skater