Svetlana

Svetlana is a common Orthodox Slavic feminine given name, deriving from the East and South Slavic root svet, meaning "light", "shining", "luminescent", "pure", "blessed", or "holy", depending upon context similar if not the same as the word Shweta in Sanskrit.

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. In the Russian Orthodox Church Svetlana is used as a Russian translation of Photina (derived from phos (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" ).

Variants
The Ukrainian equivalent of the name is Svitlana (Світлана), the Belarusian is Sviatlana (Святлана), the Polish variant is Świetlana, and the Czech is Světlana. The Serbo-Croatian speaking area has three pronunciations: Ijekavian Svjetlana (Свјетлана), Ekavian Svetlana (Светлана) and Ikavian Svitlana (Свитлана) are used according to local customs.

Diminutives
Russian language diminutives include Sveta (Света), used in Russian-speaking countries, and Lana (the latter is mainly used outside the former USSR).

Sveta also means "saint" in Bulgarian. The Slavic element Svet means "blessed, holy, bright".

Serbian language diminutives of the name are Sveta (Света), and Ceca (Цеца, pronounced Tsetsa).

People

 * Svetlana Abrosimova, Russian professional basketball player
 * Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist, writer, 2015 Nobel laureate in Literature
 * Svetlana Alliluyeva, the youngest daughter of Joseph Stalin
 * Svetlana Biryukova (born 1991), Russian long jumper
 * Svetlana Boiko, Russian fencer
 * Svetlana Boginskaya, Soviet Belarusian gymnast
 * Svetlana Bolshakova, Belgian triple jump athlete
 * Svetla Bozhkova (or Svetlana), Bulgarian discus thrower
 * Svetlana Broz, Bosnian author and physician
 * Svjetlana Bukvich, American/Bosnian-Herzegovinian music composer/artist
 * Svetlana Cherkasova, Russian middle-distance runner
 * Svetlana Chmakova, Russian-born comics artist
 * Svetlana Gladysheva, Russian alpine skier
 * Svetlana Gorshenina, Uzbekistani historian of Central Asia
 * Svetlana Ishmouratova, Russian biathlete and soldier
 * Svetlana Kapanina, Russian aerobatic pilot
 * Svetlana Khodchenkova, Russian actress
 * Svetlana Khorkina, Russian gymnast
 * Svetlana Kitić, Bosnian retired professional handball player
 * Svetlana Koroleva (model), Russian model
 * Svetlana Koroleva (water polo), Kazakhstani waterpolo player
 * Svetlana Koroleva-Babich, Soviet javelin thrower
 * Svetlana Krachevskaya, Soviet Olympic silver medalist in shot put
 * Svetlana Nikolaevna Kryuchkova, Russian actress
 * Svetlana Valentinovna Kryuchkova, Russian volleyball player
 * Svetlana Kulikova, Russian ice dancer
 * Svetlana Kuzina, Russian water polo player
 * Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russian tennis player
 * Svetlana Loboda, Ukrainian singer
 * Svetlana Lunkina, Russian ballet dancer
 * Svetlana Masterkova, Russian middle-distance runner
 * Svetlana Matveeva, Russian chess player
 * Svitlana Maziy, Ukrainian rower
 * Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev
 * Svetlana Melnikova, Soviet discus thrower and shotputter
 * Svetlana Moskalets, Russian heptathlete
 * Svetlana Nageykina, Soviet/Russian cross-country skier
 * Svetlana Pankratova, world record-holder for longest female legs
 * Svetlana Paramygina, Soviet Belarusian biathlete
 * Svetlana Petcherskaia, Russian biathlete
 * Svetlana Pletneva, Russian archeologist and historian
 * Svetlana Ražnatović, Serbian pop-folk singer from Serbia
 * Svetlana Roudenko, Russian-American mathematician
 * Svetlana Savitskaya, Soviet cosmonaut
 * Svetlana Smirnova, Soviet and Russian actress
 * Svetlana Smirnova (sport shooter), Soviet and Russian sport shooter
 * Svetlana Staneva, Bulgarian boxer
 * Svetlana Surganova, Russian rock musician, singer and poet
 * Svetlana Ulmasova, Soviet long-distance runner
 * Svetlana Vysokova, Russian speed skater
 * Svetlana Zainetdinova, Soviet-Estonian chess player and coach
 * Svetlana Zakharova (athlete), Russian long-distance runner
 * Svetlana Zakharova (dancer), principal dancer with the Bolshoï Ballet