Comments (Meaning / History Only)
The fact there is a similar word in a language of another origin is pure coincidence. Romanian has no tangency to Slavic. Besides it is a much more evolved and older language, culture and civilization than the Slavic ones, so unlikely they borrow from it. In fact, the Slavic languages and cultures have borrowed from Romanian.
The only words of Slavic origin that are part of the Romanian language are in church books and they have double Latin words in spoken Romanian, so they are what is linguistically called "redundant" words. Also, languages are not categorized by vocabulary, bur grammar and linguistic structure.
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The only words of Slavic origin that are part of the Romanian language are in church books and they have double Latin words in spoken Romanian, so they are what is linguistically called "redundant" words. Also, languages are not categorized by vocabulary, bur grammar and linguistic structure.
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The name Raluca is a Latinized diminutive of the Greek name "Rallou". Rallou is a relatively rare form of the Greek name Heraclea (or Heracleia), which arose from Heracleia (an ancient festival honoring Heracles, aka Hercules in Anglicized usage). Alternatively, Heracleia may have older roots and have its origin from the name of Hera who was Zeus's wife in Greek mythology.
The name Rallou entered Romanian culture with a Greek actress, daughter of a Wallachian prince, by the name of Rallou Caragea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domni%C8%9Ba_Rallou_Caragea). Wallachia was one of the three small kingdoms that were united at various times in history and eventually became Romania (Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia).
In Romanian language (which is a Romantic, Latin-based language with heavy Turkish influence), name diminutives often end in -ita (ie/ Doina, Doinita), or -ca (Mihai (Michael), Mitica). Raluca began as Rallou-ca and eventually became Latin-ized into Raluca. In fact, in common usage, a variant of Raluca is Ralu (latinized version of the Greek Rallou).
The meaning of the name itself can therefore be traced back to Heraclea (http://www.behindthename.com/name/heraclea/submitted) or Heracleia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleia_(festival), with more ancient roots to the name Heracles and perhaps even Hera (http://www.behindthename.com/name/hera)
Please change the meaning of the name to reflect this.
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The name Rallou entered Romanian culture with a Greek actress, daughter of a Wallachian prince, by the name of Rallou Caragea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domni%C8%9Ba_Rallou_Caragea). Wallachia was one of the three small kingdoms that were united at various times in history and eventually became Romania (Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia).
In Romanian language (which is a Romantic, Latin-based language with heavy Turkish influence), name diminutives often end in -ita (ie/ Doina, Doinita), or -ca (Mihai (Michael), Mitica). Raluca began as Rallou-ca and eventually became Latin-ized into Raluca. In fact, in common usage, a variant of Raluca is Ralu (latinized version of the Greek Rallou).
The meaning of the name itself can therefore be traced back to Heraclea (http://www.behindthename.com/name/heraclea/submitted) or Heracleia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleia_(festival), with more ancient roots to the name Heracles and perhaps even Hera (http://www.behindthename.com/name/hera)
Please change the meaning of the name to reflect this.
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The likelihood that the Romanian women's name "Raluca" stems from the Church Slavonic "рало" [ralo], meaning "plow", is slim at best. Romanians are not known for giving first names based on tools or other inanimate man-made objects, agricultural in particular. Whenever cases of tools or occupations appear in names, those come in as last names with a masculine form, denoting occupations (e.g. Plugaru would mean "ploughman", Rotaru - "wheelwright", Moraru - "miller", etc.). Women's names are most often adapted versions of common Hebrew/Biblical, Greek, or Western/Latin given names, and sometimes Romanian words related to beauty (e.g. Brandusa - crocus, Oteea - linden tree, Sorina - sunny, Doina - song, Smaranda - emerald). The early records of people bearing the name was of princesses and noble folk in general, and a lot of them in that era had connections to the Greek Phanariotes. This should give extra credibility to the Greek origins enumerated above.
Raluca could also stem from relūceō, a verb in Latin derived from luceo/lucere. The name can then mean "bright, shining" - see "relucent" for a form that made it into English. The name could thus be a survivor from the Roman occupation (less probable) or reintroduced by romanticists (more so).
A similar sounding word is "naluca" (ghost, hallucination), from naluci/nalucire. Although one letter and two sounds different, this could never be adopted by any Romanian as a given name.
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Raluca could also stem from relūceō, a verb in Latin derived from luceo/lucere. The name can then mean "bright, shining" - see "relucent" for a form that made it into English. The name could thus be a survivor from the Roman occupation (less probable) or reintroduced by romanticists (more so).
A similar sounding word is "naluca" (ghost, hallucination), from naluci/nalucire. Although one letter and two sounds different, this could never be adopted by any Romanian as a given name.
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The woman who wore this name first was GREEK.
There's a Female Greek name "Rallou" [Ralu] which is the hypocoristic version of Herakleios.
Please change the meaning - didn't someone say you fact-check this stuff?
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There's a Female Greek name "Rallou" [Ralu] which is the hypocoristic version of Herakleios.
Please change the meaning - didn't someone say you fact-check this stuff?
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The name "Raluca" is directly etymologizable in Slavic languages, Russian in particular. It consists of two words "Ra"+"luca", pronounced as "rah-luch", Ra is the Sun, and the name of god, and luca - is "luch" (Rus.), ray. Thus the meaning of Raluca is "ray of the Sun", and metaphorically "ray of light". Compare with other Slavic words - Raduga, rainbow, the bow of Ra, Radost', happiness, the abundance of Ra. As such, Raluca is probably of Indo-European origin, as it is not common in the Slavic languages, it was probably borrowed by the Greeks and Romans a while ago.
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This name most certainly has nothing to do with the Ancient Egyptian god Ra. Raduga has nothing to do with Ra either, it's derived from the Proto-Germanic *regnabugô, (regnaz - water, moisture and bugô - bow), and Radost is from the Proto-Slavic *radostь, nothing to do with Ra either. This name being derived from a long dead god from a distant land is highly improbable.
Ralu means plough in Serbo-Croatian and Slovene and has origins in the Proto-Slavic *ordlo 'plough'. Raz is from Proto-Slavic *rъžь 'rye'. There is no Latin 'raz' at all. Lus, however, is correct. It's Romagnol for 'light', from the Latin lucem or lux 'light'.
The most likely etymology would probably be ralu 'plough', as explained above, and possibly úcha 'to learn, to study, to teach' in Bulgarian, likely from a similar Proto-Slavic source. Or it's possibly from the suffix *-uca, found in Romanian words.
The most probably source of the name however, is from the users who mention the Princess Ralu. Raluca being a pet form of Ralu is most likely. Ralu most likely derived from the Slavic word ralu/ralo meaning 'plough'. [noted -ed]
Either way the site can't update the name with the meaning because all of this is just guesswork by random people, not anyone educated in linguistics or etymology. BTN isn't a baby name site that just picks a meaning, it strives to be accurate.
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Ralu means plough in Serbo-Croatian and Slovene and has origins in the Proto-Slavic *ordlo 'plough'. Raz is from Proto-Slavic *rъžь 'rye'. There is no Latin 'raz' at all. Lus, however, is correct. It's Romagnol for 'light', from the Latin lucem or lux 'light'.
The most likely etymology would probably be ralu 'plough', as explained above, and possibly úcha 'to learn, to study, to teach' in Bulgarian, likely from a similar Proto-Slavic source. Or it's possibly from the suffix *-uca, found in Romanian words.
The most probably source of the name however, is from the users who mention the Princess Ralu. Raluca being a pet form of Ralu is most likely. Ralu most likely derived from the Slavic word ralu/ralo meaning 'plough'. [noted -ed]
Either way the site can't update the name with the meaning because all of this is just guesswork by random people, not anyone educated in linguistics or etymology. BTN isn't a baby name site that just picks a meaning, it strives to be accurate.
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I agree with the guesswork part, we should be accurate.
For that matter, because of the geographical distance, I think it's highly unlikely that it is Serbo-Croatian since the place we first know it from is right on the other side of Romania, closer to Asia, the Greek-influenced cities and such.
The Latin is actually accurate. I have 5 years of Latin studies.
Could come from:
"radius, -ii" which means ray of light, ray.
And "lux, lucis" which means light or light of the sun.
It could also be Greek, like from Rallou.
And what several of my Bulgarian friends keep reminding me, could be like Ralica. Which is a name for Orion.
I doubt a name that is solely found in one territory on the entire planet could have morphed naturally in its current form. Aside from the "-uca" part which looks very much like a Romanian suffix, the "Ralu" name seems to have been invented on the Romanian territory. The parents of the first person to have worn this name could not have named their child from some random word for "plough", they were actually very wealthy and their daughter was a princess. Because of their status, they must have been somehow connected with the Phanariotes, which makes them knowledgeable in Greek, Latin languages. And even Egyptian.
You have to have knowledge of Romanian history as well and from what I can tell, you are just assuming as well. You can tell that from the fact that you're very off with the Serbian-Croatian influence which couldn't have happened despite the geographical closeness. Romanian language is 80% Latin. Some Slavic influence comes from Russia and Bulgaria. Even the Hungarians that have ruled Transylvania with their Austro-Hungarian empire, with their remaining Magyar population, STILL haven't influenced the language.
The Romanian core language is made of Latin + the ancestors of Romans' language. Otherwise known as the Dacii. Even the Vatican has the biggest statue in Rome of a Dacii person because they are the ancestors of the Roman people.
But they had words containing "z" and "s". Like Sarmisegetuza or Zamolxis. Hence why it's not off to suggest that "Ras" or "Lus" is probable as a variant of Latin.
But then again something tells me we'll never know what those parents were thinking when they named their daughter "Raluca" or a variant of it.
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For that matter, because of the geographical distance, I think it's highly unlikely that it is Serbo-Croatian since the place we first know it from is right on the other side of Romania, closer to Asia, the Greek-influenced cities and such.
The Latin is actually accurate. I have 5 years of Latin studies.
Could come from:
"radius, -ii" which means ray of light, ray.
And "lux, lucis" which means light or light of the sun.
It could also be Greek, like from Rallou.
And what several of my Bulgarian friends keep reminding me, could be like Ralica. Which is a name for Orion.
I doubt a name that is solely found in one territory on the entire planet could have morphed naturally in its current form. Aside from the "-uca" part which looks very much like a Romanian suffix, the "Ralu" name seems to have been invented on the Romanian territory. The parents of the first person to have worn this name could not have named their child from some random word for "plough", they were actually very wealthy and their daughter was a princess. Because of their status, they must have been somehow connected with the Phanariotes, which makes them knowledgeable in Greek, Latin languages. And even Egyptian.
You have to have knowledge of Romanian history as well and from what I can tell, you are just assuming as well. You can tell that from the fact that you're very off with the Serbian-Croatian influence which couldn't have happened despite the geographical closeness. Romanian language is 80% Latin. Some Slavic influence comes from Russia and Bulgaria. Even the Hungarians that have ruled Transylvania with their Austro-Hungarian empire, with their remaining Magyar population, STILL haven't influenced the language.
The Romanian core language is made of Latin + the ancestors of Romans' language. Otherwise known as the Dacii. Even the Vatican has the biggest statue in Rome of a Dacii person because they are the ancestors of the Roman people.
But they had words containing "z" and "s". Like Sarmisegetuza or Zamolxis. Hence why it's not off to suggest that "Ras" or "Lus" is probable as a variant of Latin.
But then again something tells me we'll never know what those parents were thinking when they named their daughter "Raluca" or a variant of it.
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The name first appeared in the 18th century, it was worn by a famous Romanian princess called domnita Ralu. Hence, the form 'Raluca' is actually the diminutive of the name and not the other way around as it is perceived today. The name 'Ralu' comes from Late Latin, 'raz' (ray) and 'lus' (light) meaning 'ray of light'.
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Raluca - Sunlight, The light of the sun
Ra - The Egyptian Sun God
Luca - derived from the Latin word lux (, -cis)= light, is the feminine form for Lucius.
At the same time,"Luca" can be derived from the Greek word "Loukas". The meaning of Loukas is "from Lucania". Lucania was the ancient name of an area of Italy (today known as Basilicata). This name is the source form of Luke, Lucas, Luca.
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Ra - The Egyptian Sun God
Luca - derived from the Latin word lux (, -cis)= light, is the feminine form for Lucius.
At the same time,"Luca" can be derived from the Greek word "Loukas". The meaning of Loukas is "from Lucania". Lucania was the ancient name of an area of Italy (today known as Basilicata). This name is the source form of Luke, Lucas, Luca.
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It's a Romanian name with Greek origins which means "Glory to Ralle" (Ralle + kleos). Ralle being a hypocorism for Hera the meaning would be "Glory to Hera".
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"Raluca" is composed of 2 words: "Ra" and "Luca". Ra refers to the Egyptian sun god, while "Luca" is the translation of Luke (St Luke). The name Raluca could be of Coptic origin.
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I also heard that it is from Herakleios. And I found this on a comment on someone's blog who claims they read this in a book they forgot the name of in a now-nonexistant library. It is possible but still.
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The name Raluca is of Greek origin. It comes from Heracles (Hercules), which comes from Hera kleios = glory of godess Hera.
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It means ray of light.
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Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.
Her parents borrowed the Finnish pet name Rallu (which is the equivalent of the pet name "Ralu" in Romanian for Raluca). This in turn comes from Raili and lastly has its origin in the Hebrew name Rachel. It means "ewe" or female sheep.
https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Rallu