Avgustina

Avgustina (Russian: Августи́на) is an uncommon Russian female first name.[1] Its masculine versions are Avgustin[2] and Avgust.[1] The name is derived from the Latin word augustus, which means majestic, sacred, and was borrowed by Russians from Byzantine Christianity.[1] Its colloquial forms are Avgusta (А́вгуста) (which can also be a separate, albeit related, name) and Gusta (Гу́ста).[2]

The name was included into various, often handwritten, church calendars throughout the 17th–19th centuries, but was omitted from the official Synodal Menologium at the end of the 19th century.[3] In 1924–1930, the name was included into various Soviet calendars,[4] which included the new and often artificially created names promoting the new Soviet realities and encouraging the break with the tradition of using the names in the Synodal Menologia.[5]

Its diminutives include Ava (А́ва),[6] Avgustinka (Августи́нка), Avgusta (Авгу́ста), Gusta (Гу́ста), Gustya (Гу́стя), Ustya (У́стя), Gusya (Гу́ся), Gutya (Гу́тя), and Tina (Ти́на).[2]

  1. ^ a b c Nikonov, p. 63
  2. ^ a b c Petrovsky, p. 32
  3. ^ Superanskaya [2], pp. 23 and 277
  4. ^ Superanskaya [2], pp. 22 and 277
  5. ^ Toronto Slavic Quarterly. Елена Душечкина. "Мессианские тенденции в советской антропонимической практике 1920-х - 1930-х годов" (in Russian)
  6. ^ Superanskaya [1], p. 250