@ VampiricaIt has nothing to do with "vrana" (apart from phonetic similarities) because we (Slavs, Serbs, etc etc) don't have a tradition of naming people after colours - especially after the colour black or a bird that is traditionally seen as a bringer of bad omens in Serbian culture. As you can see it is a diminutive of names starting with Bran (to protect) such as Branislava, Branimira etc.@ the first anonymous userIt has nothing to do with gate. If you just looked at the link you would've seen that it is a diminutive of names beginning with Bran.
I don't know about Czech, but I do know it is a Slovak name. I once met a girl whose mother was also a Branka, she was from Slovakia.
― Anonymous User 9/25/2008
0
Branka - Czech name? No way! The word "branka" means small gate (brana means gate) and you can't use names of common things here. [noted -ed]
― Anonymous User 7/10/2006
2
Well, my grandfather told me once that my name (Branka) means 'Black'. He claims it comes from 'Vranka'. 'Vranka' comes from 'Vrana' which means 'the Crow' and is also a word for 'Black' in older Serbian language. I believe he has a point.