The Armenians are an ancient nation, whose lot has befallen many trials. Being in the center of the region, where armed conflicts have been smoldering and erupting for several millennia, they were able to maintain their identity. Even the Armenian female names to which this article is devoted bear the imprint of the history of this people.
Anahit
It is believed that the most beautiful Armenian female names are those that were used in the pre-Christian era. For example, one of the oldest is Anahit. This name was given to the girls in honor of the Zoroastrian supreme goddess, who was considered the mother of knowledge, a healer and was portrayed with a baby in her arms. When in the first century AD, the country began to Hellenize, Anahit began to be identified with the Greek goddess Artemis.
Astghik
Talking about the beautiful Armenian female names of the pagan period, one cannot but mention Astghik, which means "asterisk" in translation. This name is also associated with the pagan pantheon. That was the name of the ancient Armenian goddess, who in the Hellenistic era began to be identified with Aphrodite and the planet Venus.
In honor of Astghik, a rose festival was held every year. It has survived to the present day and is known as Vardavar (from the word "ward", that is, a rose). On this day, both old and young sprinkle water on each other, invoking prosperity and prosperity on their families. In ancient times, the peasants thus begged the gods for the rains on which the crop depended. In addition, they showered young girls with rose petals in memory of the love of the thunder god Vagan for Astghik.
Hripsime, Gayane and Shoghakat
Most of the Armenian female names, which today are called newborn babies, are associated with Christian saints, including those who are revered by the Orthodox Church.
For people far from history, let’s say that the Armenians were the first in the world to adopt Christianity as the state religion. It happened in 301 AD, in an era when the emperor Diocletian ruled in Rome and organized the most severe persecution of Christians.
Today on the streets of Yerevan you can find many girls and women who bear the Armenian female names of Hripsime, Gayane, Shoghakat (Shoghik). They were named after the holy martyrs, whose memory the Orthodox Church celebrates on September 30.
Beauty Hripsime, along with Shoghakat and other Christians who decided to become the bride of the Lord, fled to Armenia from Diocletian. Tsar Trdat fell in love with the girl and called her to his palace with mentor Gayane. Hripsime did not give up and suffered a martyrdom with her friends. This caused Gregory the Illuminator to impose a curse on King Trdat. In order to recover from a terrible disease, the latter repented, was baptized himself and commanded the entire Armenian people to do it.
Christian Armenian Female Names
According to the tradition adopted by Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants and representatives of ancient eastern churches, which include Armenians, children are named after the biblical and New Testament characters.
The Armenian female names Mariam (Maria), Anna, Ehisabet (Elizabeth), Vergine (Eugene), Noem, Susanna and others have such an origin. Unfortunately, many of them are gradually being squeezed out of use by more “fashionable” ones.
Names with meaning
Like other nations, Armenians often named their daughters by their flower names. So the names appeared:
- Ward (rose);
- Manushak (violet);
- Asmik (jasmine);
- Shushan (lily);
- Nargiz (narcissus) and others.
Some Armenian female names, the list of which is presented below, repeat the names of precious stones and metals. It:
- Margarita (pearl);
- Almast (diamond);
- Satenik (amber);
- Gohar (gem, diamond);
- Piruz (turquoise);
- Waxes (gold), etc.
Strange Names
The meaning of some Armenian female names may shock foreigners. For example, Nubar means “first harvest” or “first fruit of a fruit tree”. Such a name could be given only to the first-born, both male and female.
Armenians have an excellent sense of humor. It is enough to recall the stars of KVN or the jokes of the Armenian radio. Even inventing names for daughters, some dads could not refrain from joking. Thus the name Bawakan arose. Translated, it means “enough”, and they called them the 5-7th daughter in a row in families where the fathers were already desperate to wait for the birth of their son.
Feature Names
In ancient times, Armenians believed that the way they called their children would have an impact on their fate and how they grow up. So the names Sirun (beauty), Amest (modest), Anush (sweet, sweet), Erdzhanik (happy) appeared. It is not known whether it is or not. However, there are many works of oral folklore, which tell about the girl Sirun, terrible as a mortal sin, or about the brawler Amest.
Derived from masculine names
Even in pre-Christian times, Armenians called their female babies, adding to their name the root “duht”, which was an altered version of the Persian word “duhtar”. Probably, many will recall the poem by Sergei Yesenin, in which the poet addresses Shagan. In fact, the girl's name was Shaandukht Hambartsumyan.
Later, female names began to receive, adding to the masculine suffix “woo”. So the names of Tigranui, Armenui, Grachui, Nairui, etc.
