Comments (Meaning / History Only)
Another diminutive of this name is Svetka - my Russian relative by marriage is called Sveta or Svetka by her close friends. Lana is not a traditional pet form in Russia but has become widely used by Russian immigrants to the West.
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The origin of the name is wrong. It derives from 'svetlo' meaning 'light' not 'svet' meaning 'world'. Similar looking but different words. The name means "she who is light" not literally 'light'.
Ps. One of the most beautiful and gracious names on the planet.
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Ps. One of the most beautiful and gracious names on the planet.
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'Svet' in Serbian means 'world' but 'svetlo' means light in Serbian and 'sveto' means 'holy'. Similarly 'mir' in Serbian means 'peace' but its obsolete meaning is 'world'. In Russian for example 'mir' still means 'world' or 'planet'.
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Please correct your entry:
Derived from Slavic svet meaning "light".
To read:
Derived from Slavic svetlo, or svetla, meaning "light".
PS: svet means "world" in some Slavic languages (Serbian).
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Derived from Slavic svet meaning "light".
To read:
Derived from Slavic svetlo, or svetla, meaning "light".
PS: svet means "world" in some Slavic languages (Serbian).
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The origin of this name's Slavic! I read this in babynames. I love this name!
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"Svet" means "world" in Russian, and the meaning of "light" comes from the Bulgarian word "svetlina".
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Svet means "world". It is derived from "svetlo" meaning "light".
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I never heard of any "svet-" meaning world, what is the origin of that?
My mother's name is Svetlana and svet means light in Russian. In English, she commonly uses "Lana."
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My mother's name is Svetlana and svet means light in Russian. In English, she commonly uses "Lana."
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"Svet" is Serbian word meaning "World". This is from Wikipedia: Boris Rybakov argued for identification of the faces with the gods Perun, Svarog, Lada and Mokosh (c.f. Zbruch idol). Joined together, they see all four sides of the world. This gave rise to a false etymology of the name of the god as "worldseer" (svet = "world", vid = "sight"; Svetovid = "worldseer").
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I'd say "svet" as "the world" is a secondary and a bit archaic meaning. "Белый свет" (literally "white light") means "whole world", but has a fairy-tale ring to it, one won't use it in everyday speech. Svet also may mean society, like "высший свет" (literally "highest light") meaning "high society". "Выйти в свет" (literaly "come out into the light") means "to be introduced to society" or "participate in a public social event". As with any language several meanings are kind of inseparable, still "the light" is the primary meaning, and the name is based on it.
Note that the name is not a historic name, it was invented as a slavic-like name in 19th century. There is no way to distinguish between "the light", "the world" and "the society" based on etymology, because all those meanings were already in use at the time.