Vera (Cyrillic: Вера: Véra, "faith") is a female given 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] In Turkish Vera means piety.[3]

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

Gender: Feminine[4]

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

Diminutives: Verica (Serbian and Croatian), Verka or Vierka (Slovakian), Verochka (Russian).

Other languages: Véra (French), Věra (Czech), Veera (Finnish), Wiera (Polish), Vira (Ukrainian), Viera (Slovak), فيرا (Arabic)

Origin

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In the Ancient Greek 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[citation needed]. 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.[5]

In Albanian, the word "verë" ([ˈvɛɾə]) denotes summer. The Albanian masculine version of the name is Veriu which has the meaning "North" (as in the cardinal direction), Alb. (veri, veriu).

  • Vera Dajht-Kralj (1928–2014), Croatian Jewish sculptor
  • Vera Day (born 1935), British film and television actress
  • Vera Micheles Dean (1903–1972), Russian-American political scientist
  • Vera Djatel (born 1984), Ukrainian footballer
  • Vera Dua (born 1952), Belgian politician
  • Vera Duarte (born 1952), Cape Verdean human rights activist and politician
  • Vera Ducas (1912–1948), Czechoslovak Jewish woman murdered in Israel reportedly for spying
  • Vera Dulova (1909–2000), Russian harpist
  • Vera Ðurašković (born 1949), Yugoslav basketball player
  • Vera Dushevina (born 1986), Russian tennis player
  • Vera Duss (1910 — 2005), American-born French medical doctor and Roman Catholic nun
  • Vera Elkan (1908–2008), South African photographer


Fictional characters

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See also

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References

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  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. ^ "Vera".
  4. ^ In the Russian language, Vera may also be a diminutive of the male first names Avenir and Averky.
  5. ^ "Very | Origin and meaning of very by Online Etymology Dictionary".