Elena - Olena - Alena - Alina

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone!

Can someone help me figure out with ethnicity/language these names are from?

It seems to me that Elena is Russian, Olena is Ukrainian, Alena/Alyona is also Russian, and Alina seems to be cross-linguistic.

Is there a Belarussian version of these names?

Thanks for your help!

Comments

[algyschit.livejournal.com]

AFAIR, Alina means "beautiful" in Arabic (ism).
AFAIR-2, Belorussian Elena is Alena.

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

That's nice to know, thank you!

Is "Alena" Belorussian pronounced "Алена" or "Алёна"?

[arnold3.livejournal.com]

Алёна

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Are there any languages that actually say "Алена"?

[arnold3.livejournal.com]

Maybe she: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alena_%C5%A0eredova

[la-dy-ashley.livejournal.com]

Nothing to say about Belarussian names, but just a note: the use od the names in Russia was regional: Alyona was originally used in the North, like in Novgorod, for instance.

[onlyfreedigits.livejournal.com]

Алина - different name.
Лена, Алёна, Ленка, Ленок, Ленусик, Ленчик, Алёнушка, Алёнка - forms of Елена.
Олёна - Elena in Ukrainian.
Алена - Elena in Byelorussian. (the last may be wrong)

[fischele.livejournal.com]

Elena in Ukrainian is Олена, not Олёна (it's my name :)).

[onlyfreedigits.livejournal.com]

I can only be sure in russian variants. Олёна is taken from rambler.ru from some phrase in Ukrainian

[wire-shock.livejournal.com]

Ленка, Ленок, Ленусик, Ленчик, Алёнушка, Алёнка are not normal forms of Елена. They're just diminutives that some people use...I personally find most of them (except Ленка & Алёнушка) quite repulsive.

[ester-n.livejournal.com]

All this diminutives can be used only between friends or in family, for example the grandmother can call the granddaughter "Алёнка", "Ленчик, Ленусик" - are normal between friends. "Ленка" - little roughly, "Ленок, Алёнушка" - out-of-date forms, they are seldom used in usual speech.

[ex-denisie.livejournal.com]

>> Алена - Elena in Byelorussian. (the last may be wrong)

wrong
there are two different names in Belarussian

[sofa-m.livejournal.com]

there's also Олеся, but I'm not sure which ethnicity it's from

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Sounds Ukrainian to me.

[ex-denisie.livejournal.com]

Олеся - ukr
Алеся - blr

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

There's also Олександр either in Ukranian or Belarussian.

[ex-denisie.livejournal.com]

belarussian is Aliaksandr (Аляксандр)

[mashysya.livejournal.com]

As i know Алина - it`s tatarian name. It`s more useful in Tataria, Bashkortostan.

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Ah...that makes sense! I did meet more Alinas in Bashkiria than in the north, for sure.

[mashysya.livejournal.com]

My friends told me, that it is usual name in Tataria since XIX centure.

[pascendi.livejournal.com]

So you are saying that in Pushkin's "Но в старину княжна Алина, ее московская кузина" referred to some person of Tatarian origin?

In fact, Алина is a popular (sometimes) short form for Александра.