Inspiration From Eastern Europe

 I have a personal fondness for names hailing from Eastern Europe. I feel that they have a certain exotic appeal and many have beautiful meanings. I left out ethnic variations of popular names, mainly focusing on names deriving from specific languages, often actual words that are used for names.

The ladies.....

• Darina - "gift" - Bulgarian
• Kalina - "rowan tree" - Bulgarian
• Lala - "tullip" - Bulgarian
• Mira - "peace" - Bulgarian
• Zora - "dawn" - Bulgarian
• Eha - "dusk" - Estonian
• Kaja - "echo" - Estonian (kah-yah)
• Laine - " wave" - Estonian (lah-eh-neh, from what I understand
• Luule - "poetry" - Estonian (From what I understand, looh-leh might be a close pronunciation, I'm not positive, I couldn't find an official one anywhere).
• Ilma - air" - Finnish (eel-ma)
• Minttu - "mint" - Finnish (meen - too)
• Satu - "fable" - Finnish (sah-too)
• Hella - "gentle" - Finnish 
• Kielo -"lily of the valley" - Finnish (key-a-low, from what I'm understanding"
• Taru - "legend" - Finnish ( Tar-oo)
• Lumi - "snow" - Finnish (loo-mee)
• Sirpa - "small piece" - Finnish (seer-pa)
• Lempi - "love" - Finnish (lehm-pay)
• Rahva - "peace" - Finnish 
• Ansa - "virtue" - Finnish (ahn-sa)
• Kirsikka - "cherry" - Finnish (keer-seek-ah)
• Paiva - "day" - Finnish (pie -va. Pie as in the yummy kind)
• Hilja - "silence" - Finnish (heel-ya)
• Aamu - "morning" - Finnish (ah-moo)
• Ilta - "evening" - Finnish (eel-tah)
• Lahja - "gift" - Finnish (lah-heeyah)
• Suvi - "summer" - Finnish (sue-vee)
• Meri - "the sea" - Finnish (mare-ree)
• Radana - "care" - Slovene 
• Vesna - "messenger" - Slovene (vehs-na)
• Cvetka - "blossom" - Slovene (svet-kah)
• Ziva - "alive" - Sloene
• Nada - "hope" Slovene 
• Mileca - "gracious" - Slovene (mil-eh-ka)
• Jasna - "clear" - Slovene (yahs-na)
• Danica - "morning star" - Slavic (dah-neet-sa)
• Dagny - "a new day" - Scandinavian ( dahg-nee)
• Dagrun - Scandinavian - dagr "day" and run "secret lore" (dahg-roon)
• Gry - "dawn" - Scandinavian 
• Jorunn - Scandinavian - jor "Stallion" and  unna "to love"
• Liv - "protection" - Scandinavian (leev)
• Sigrid - sigr "victory" and fridr "beautiful / fair" 
• Sunniva - "sun gift" - Norwegian, sunne "sun" and giefu "gift". (Soon-eev-ah)  

The gentlemen.....

• Kamen - "stone"  - Bulgarian (kah-men, though I worked with a guy who pronounced it Kay-man)
• Koit - "dawn" - Estonian 
• Avlis - "willing" - Finnish (ahv-lees)
• Jarek - Slavic - jury "fierce/ strong"
• Radek - Slavic - rad "care"
• Kalju - "rock" - Estonian (kahl-yu)
• Grozdan - Slavic - grozde "grape"
• Arvo - "value / worth" - Finnish
• Pyry - "snowstorm" - Finnish (pair-ree)
• Nayden - "found" - Bulgarian 
• Veselin - Slavic - vesel "cheerful"
• Armas - "beloved" - Finnish (arm-us)
• Alvar- from Old Norse Alfarr "elf army"
• Krasimir - Slavic - kras "beauty" / mir "peace"
• Rumen "ruddy / red" - Bulgarian 
• Mirek - Slavic - mir "peace"
• Jalo - "noble / gracious" - Finnish (yah-lo)
• Aimo - "generous amount" - Finnish (eye-mo)
• Milan - Slavic - mil "gracious" (mee-lon)
• Dragan - "precious" - Slavic (drah-gan)
• Ensio - Slavic - ensi "first"
• Damir - Slavic - dati "to give" / mir "peace"
• Miran - Slavic - mir "peace"
• Zoran - "dawn" - Bulgarian
• Almos - sleepy" - Hungarian
• Terho - "acorn" - Finnish (tare-ho)
• Javor - "maple tree" - Slavic 
• Goran - Slavic - gora "mountain"
• Davor - "joy" - Slavic