nadezhda

Nadezhda is a feminine given name of Slavic origin, widely used in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and other parts of Eastern Europe. It derives from the Slavic noun nadězhda, meaning hope or expectation, reflecting the virtue of hope. The name has several transliterations and variants across languages, including Nadya, Nadiya, Nadja, and Nadia. In Russian, the formal form is Nadezhda, with familiar diminutives such as Nadya or Nadushka.

The name is common in the Russian-speaking world and in Slavic communities abroad. Diminutive and affectionate forms vary by language and culture, with Nadya and Nadiya being particularly widespread in Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking contexts. Cross-cultural variants such as Nadia are used in many countries, albeit sometimes with independent origins.

Notable people named Nadezhda include Nadezhda Mandelstam (1889–1980), a poet Osip Mandelstam’s wife and memoirist; Nadezhda Krupskaya (1869–1939), a revolutionary and wife of Vladimir Lenin; Nadezhda von Meck (1831–1894), a patroness of composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; Nadezhda Durova, a 19th-century noblewoman who served as a cavalry officer during the Napoleonic Wars; Nadezhda Obukhova (1886–1961), a celebrated Russian mezzo-soprano; and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (born 1989), an artist and activist with Pussy Riot. The name remains a common choice in Slavic cultures and is often associated with the virtue of hope in literature and personal naming.