Meanings
- A female given name from Russian, Ukrainian, or Belarusian.
Olga was named after a Russian ballerina whose picture had once appeared in a local advertisement for a ballet company that was to perform in Philadelphia during the weeks of her impending conception, and who was shown pirouetting on a point of light, impressing their mother.
1993, Oscar Hijuelos, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, →ISBN, page 6 - A transliteration of the Russian female given name О́льга (Ólʹga).
1 more example
OLGA YOURIEVNA SOLENSKY and I followed the black-veiled nun through the chaste, white, highly polished salons of the convent while she explained to me the origin of her curious name, with which certain highly considered Russian saints had had to do. In Russia, it seems, they called her Olga, daughter of Youri.
1910, Lucy de Grasse Martin, “Magnificent Olga”, in The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, volume LXXX, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co.; London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., page 130, column 1
Origin
- Old Norseheilagr“holy; inviolable, sacred”
- Old East SlavicО́льга
- EnglishOlga
Borrowed in the 19th century from Old East Slavic О́льга (Ólĭga), name of a Kievan knyaginya (Saint Olga of Kiev), a medieval form of Helga, Old Norse heilagr (“holy; inviolable, sacred”). Doublet of Helga.
More words from Old East Slavic, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Chinese Mandarin 奧莉加 /奥莉加
- 奧莉加 /奥莉加 (Àolìjiā)female given name
Danish Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Finnish Oili
- Oilifemale given name
German Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Greek Όλγα
- Όλγα (Ólga)female given name
Hebrew אולגה
- אולגה (ólga)female given name
Italian Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Latin Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Latvian Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Norwegian Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Polish Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Portuguese Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Russian О́льга
- О́льга (Ólʹga)female given name
Slovak Oľga
- Oľgafemale given name
Spanish Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Swedish Olga
- Olgafemale given name
Ukrainian О́льга
- О́льга (Ólʹha)female given name
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Olga. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Olga
“Olga.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Olga. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Olga,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Olga.
Source: Olga on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.