Pelagia

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Girl · Ancient Greek

Pelagia

Say it: peh-LAY-jee-uh

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Greek pelagios, 'of the sea'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Formerly common in Russia (Pelageya) and Poland, and among the Acadians as Pélagie.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

91 babies given this name since 1886
At its height in 1886, about 1 in 24,100 girls
Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Early Christian Greek Russian Polish French Acadian

The family of the name

French	Pélagie
Italian	Pelagia
Polish	Pelagia
Russian	Pelageya
Greek	Pelagia

Famous bearers

Pelagia of Antioch, martyr

Names worth a look

PerpetuaGirlLatin, 'everlasting, continual'.Rome · forgotten

BlandinaGirlLatin, from blandus 'flattering, charming'.Rome · forgotten

KyriakiGirlFrom Greek kyriakē 'of the Lord', the Greek word for Sunday.Early Medieval

MacrinaGirlLatin, from the Roman name Macrinus, ultimately from Greek makros 'long'.Rome · forgotten

AfraGirlLatin, 'African woman'.Rome · forgotten

ZinaidaGirlFrom Greek Zēnais, 'of Zeus'.Early Medieval · forgotten

PélagieGirlFrench form of Greek Pelagia, from pelagos 'the open sea'.Colonial · forgotten

PelageyaGirlFrom Greek pelagos 'the open sea'.Middle Ages · forgotten

Where this comes from

Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
Calendars of saints and name days
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.