 Svetlana is often used in reference to the Samaritan woman at the well in the Biblical Gospel of John. It is the Russian version of the Greek saint name Photini, meaning "enlightened" | |
| Gender | female (feminine) |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Russia |
| Meaning | "light", "pure" |
| Region of origin | Russian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Circassian |
| Other names | |
| Nickname(s) | Sveta, Lana, Ceca, Svetla, Svetka, Svetochka, Svetlanka, Svetulya, Svetik, Svetti |
| Related names | Svitlana, Sviatlana, Svjetlana, Świetlana |
Svetlana (Cyrillic: Светлана) is a common Orthodox Slavic feminine given name, deriving from the East and South Slavic root svet (Cyrillic: свет), meaning "light", "shining", "luminescent", "pure", "blessed", or "holy", depending upon context similar if not the same as the word Shweta in Sanskrit.[1]
Particularly unique among similar common Russian names, this one is not of ancient Slavic origin, but was coined by Alexander Vostokov in 1802 and popularized by Vasily Zhukovsky in his eponymous ballad "Svetlana", the latter first published in 1813. The name is also used in Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Macedonia, and Serbia, with a number of occurrences in non-Slavic countries.[2]
In the Russian Orthodox Church Svetlana is used as a Russian translation of Photina (derived from phos (Greek: φως, "light")), a name sometimes ascribed to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (the Bible, John 4).
Semantically similar names to this are Lucia (of Latin origin, meaning "light"), Claire ("light" or "clear" in French, equivalent to Spanish and Portuguese Clara), Roxana (from Old Persian, "little shiny star, light"), and Shweta (Sanskrit, "white, pure"[3]).
