The Name Olga
Olga is a female name of Scandinavian origin meaning “holy”. Below are the forms of the name, name days in the Orthodox calendar, character by tradition, numerology, the first letter, talismans and compatibility with other names.
Origin and meaning
Olga is a female name of Scandinavian origin. Meaning: “holy”. From the Old Norse Helga, “holy, sacred”.
Forms of the name
| Full form | Olga |
| Short forms | Olya, Olenka |
| Affectionate forms | Olechka, Olyushka |
Name days (angel’s day)
| July 24 | Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Princess Olga |
A name day is the feast of the saint after whom a person was baptised. If several saints share the name, custom is to celebrate the first feast after the birthday. Shown here are the main feasts in the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church, with civil (Gregorian) dates.
Character by tradition
Name descriptions paint Olga as a purposeful, practical and strong-willed nature. She knows how to get her way and is reliable in business. She can be stubborn and touchy. Her strength is willpower and practical household wisdom.
Name numerology
Letters of the name Olga («Ольга») in the Russian 1–9 table: О 7 + Л 4 + Ь 3 + Г 4 + А 1 = 19 → 1. The sum is reduced to one digit; the master numbers 11, 22 and 33 are kept.
Name number 1 — will and leadership. One is the number of the first: independence, initiative, readiness to answer for decisions. It is easier for the bearer to start and lead than to adapt; the weak spot is stubbornness and impatience with other people’s pace.
Vowels give the soul number 8 (power and achievement), consonants the personality number 11 (inspiration and intuition). Inner motive: power and achievement; outer manner: inspiration and intuition. Such a gap is not bad in itself: others see one side, close people know the other.
In Slavic Cyrillic numerals (using the modern spelling of the name): О=70 + Л=30 + Г=3 + А=1 = 104, reduced to 5. Letters that had no numeric value are skipped. This is an additional digit, not a second name number: meanings for the Cyrillic numerals were added in the 20th century, modeled on Western numerology.
More: name number with surname, Slavic Cyrillic numerals, number meanings.
First letter and letters of the name
In letter reading — a popular tradition of interpreting letters — the first letter of the name matters most: it sets the main tone of character. The other letters add shades.
О — depth of feeling. Strong emotions, intuition, a knack for handling money; a wish to understand one’s purpose in life.
Other letters: Л — sense of beauty; Ь — softness; Г — thirst for knowledge; А — beginning and action.
Talismans of the name
Name books usually derive talismans from the name number and its planet; lists differ between authors. Here we follow Cheiro (“Book of Numbers”): number 1 is linked with the Sun.
| Planet | Sun |
| Stones | topaz, amber, yellow diamond |
| Colours | gold, yellow, orange |
| Favourable days | Sunday |
Compatibility with other names
In numerology, compatibility of names is judged by their numbers. Number 1 goes most easily with 2 and 6, and has more friction with 1 and 8.
Goes well with: Andrey, Boris, Veniamin, Vladimir, Elisey, Ivan, Kuzma, Rostislav, Ruslan, Stepan.
More friction with: Egor, Makar, Nazar, Petr, Roman, Sergey.
Check a couple precisely: compatibility by name.
Outcome
The name Olga carries the meaning “holy”. Name number 1 — will and leadership; first letter O — depth of feeling. Inner wishes (power and achievement) and outer manner (inspiration and intuition) differ: a person with this name needs close people to see more than what is shown. Name days: July 24.