Svetlana

Actor

BIOGRAPHY

Svetlana (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian Cyrillic: Светлана; Святла́на; Світла́на) is a common Slavic female name, deriving from the Slavic root свет svet, which translates into English as light, shining, luminescent, pure, blessed, or holy, depending upon context similar if not the same as the word Shwet in Sanskrit. The name was coined by Alexander Vostokov and popularized by Vasily Zhukovsky in his eponymous ballad, first published in 1813. The name is also used in Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia, 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 φως (phos), meaning light in Greek), a name sometimes ascribed to the Samaritan woman at Jacobs well (the Bible, John 4).Etymologically, similar names to this are Lucia (of Latin origin, meaning light), Claire (light or clear in French, equivalent to Spanish Clara), Roxana (from Old Persian, little shiny star, light), and Shweta (Sanskrit, white, pure).The Ukrainian equivalent is Svitlana (Світлана), the Belarusian, Sviatlana (Святлана). The Polish variant is Świetlana.Russian language diminutives include Sveta (Света) and Lana.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).

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