Gender Feminine & Masculine
Usage Georgian (Rare), Russian (Archaic)
Scripts მამიკა(Georgian) Мамика(Russian)
Meaning & History
In both Georgia and Russia, the use of this name probably started in honour of the 4th-century female martyr Mamika (also known as Kamika), who is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church. She was one of the 26 Gothic Christians who were martyred under king Athanaric. She was an ethnic Goth, but her name may not necessarily be, since the Christians of that time tended to take a foreign name as their baptismal name (not necessarily a Greek or Latin one).In Georgia, Mamika can also be an authentic Georgian given name, in which case it is a masculine name that consists of the Georgian noun მამა (mama) meaning "father" and the Georgian diminutive suffix -იკა (-ika). In other words: it is basically a variant of Mamuka.Mamika as a feminine name has fallen out of use in Georgia, but as a masculine name it still survives (albeit barely).