Vera (given name)

Vera (Cyrillic: Ве́ра Véra, “faith”) is a female first name of Slavic origin, and by folk etymology it has also been explained as Latin vera meaning true. In Slavic languages, Vera means faith.[1] The name Vera has been used in the English speaking world since the 19th century and was popular in the early 20th century.[2]

Vera
Pronunciation/ˈvɪərə, ˈvɛrə/
GenderFemale
Origin
Word/nameSlavic
Meaning"Truth" or "Faith" Albanian: "Summer"
Region of originEurope
Other names
Nickname(s)Věrka, Věrča, Věruška
Related namesVeronica, Verena, Olivera, Severa
Popularitysee popular names

Gender: Feminine[3]

Usage: English, German, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian, Slovak, Czech, Greek, Dutch, Slovene, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian,[3] Albanian, French, Polish, Armenian, Hungarian, Romanian.

Other scripts: Вера (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian), Βέρα (Greek)

Diminutives: Veer, Veerke, Veertje (Dutch), Verica (Serbian and Croatian), Verka or Vierka (Slovakian), Verochka, Verusha (Russian).

Other languages: Verel (French), Věra (Czech), Veera (Finnish), Veer, Veerle (Dutch), Wiera (Polish), Vira (Ukrainian), Viera (Slovak)

Origin

In the Ancient Greek and Christian faith, Saint Fides (Faith or Vera), her sisters Spes (Hope) and Caritas (Love) and their mother Sophia (Wisdom), died as martyrs in the second century AD during the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire under the emperor Hadrian. The names are also the words designating the three key Christian virtues mentioned in Apostle Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13:13).

In the English language, late 13c., verray "true, real, genuine," later "actual, sheer" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French verrai, Old French verai "true, truthful, sincere; right, just, legal," from Vulgar Latin *veracus, from Latin verax (genitive veracis) "truthful," from verus "true" (source also of Italian vero), from PIE root *were-o- "true, trustworthy." Meaning "greatly, extremely" is first recorded mid-15c. Used as a pure intensive since Middle English.[4]

In Albanian the meaning of the word "vera" is summer. The Albanian male version of the name Vera is Veriu which has the meaning "north" alb. (veri, veriu).

A

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D

E
  • Vera Elkan (1908–2008), South African photographer

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

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P
  • Vera Page (1921-1931), British murder victim
  • Vera Jayne Palmer (1933–1967), birth name of Jayne Mansfield, American actress
  • Vera Panova (1905–1973), Soviet novelist, playwright, and journalist
  • Vera Pauw (born 1963), Dutch football coach and former player
  • Vera Pavlova (born 1963), Russian poet
  • Vera Pearce (1895–1966), Australian stage and film actress
  • Vera Perlin (1902–1974), Canadian humanitarian
  • Vera Pezer (born 1939), Canadian curler and academic
  • Vera Pless (born 1931), American mathematician
  • Vera Popkova (1943–2011), Soviet track and field athlete
  • Vera Popova (1867–1896), Russian chemist
  • Vera Pospíšilová-Cechlová (born 1978), Czech athlete
  • Vera Putina (born 1926), Georgian woman who claims that Vladimir Putin is her lost son

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U

V

W

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Fictional characters

See also

References
  1. Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges: Oxford Dictionary of First Names (2003)
  2. Hanks, Patrick (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press.
  3. In the Russian language, Vera may also be a diminutive of the male first names Avenir and Averky.
  4. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=very
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