Irina

Irina or Iryna (Cyrillic: Ирина, Ірина) is a feminine given name of Ancient Greek origin, commonly borne by followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is derived from Eirene (Ancient Greek: Εἰρήνη), an ancient Greek goddess, personification of peace. It is mostly used in countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Balkans.

Diminutive forms in Slavic languages include Ira, Irynka, Irinushka, Irinochka, Irisha, Irka, Irochka, Irusia, Iraya, Irayna.

Origin

Irina is connected with Irene of Macedonia [ru] who was the first woman recognized by the church as a great martyr. She was born pagan as Penelope and later baptized as Irene. Some sources refer to her being baptized by Saint Timothy, in which case she lived in the 1st–2nd century, while others date her death in the year 315. Opinions also differ about the location of her birthplace, the city of Magedon, placing it either in Persia or in Migdonia (Macedonia).

Notable people with this name

Fictional characters

• Irina, the child protagonist in The Enchanted Horse, children's book by Magdalen Nabb
• Irina Asanova, the great love of fictional Moscow homicide investigator Arkady Renko in the novels Gorky Park and Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith
• Irina Derevko, KGB and Covenant terrorist, a main character in the Alias television series
• Irina Palm, pseudonym of the main character in 2007 film of the same name
• Irina Spalko, a fictional Russian mobster in the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Irina Clayton, a.k.a. Choir, a former member of the Xavier Institute student body and the Street Team X-Men in the Marvel Comics Universe
• Irina Nikolaievna Spaskaya, former KGB agent and expert pole vaulter from St.Petersburg in the 39 Clues Series
• Irina, one of the titular sisters in Anton Chekhov's play Three Sisters
• Irina Kerchenkov, a Russian model in Sarra Manning's Fashionistas book series
• Irina Denali, a member of the Denali coven in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
• Irina, a character from the novel series The Heroic Legend of Arslan by Yoshiki Tanaka.
• Irina Shidō, a fictional character from the Japanese light novel series High School DxD by Ichiei Ishibumi.
• Irina, doll in the Groovy Girls doll line by Manhattan Toy
• Irina Jelavić, a fictional character in the Japanese manga and anime Assassination Classroom
• Irina Clockworker, an antagonist from a series of Vocaloid songs known as "The Evillious Chronicles"
• Irina of House Griffin, a playable character in PC game Might and Magic: Heroes VI
• Irina Luminesk, the protagonist of Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut

See also

• Irina (disambiguation)
• Saint Irene (disambiguation)
• All pages with titles beginning with Irina
• All pages with titles beginning with Iryna

References

Name list

This page or section lists people that share the same given name.
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