Irja

  • [ EER-yah ]
  • Finnish
Possibly a Finnish diminutive of IRINA.

IRENE   female   English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
From Greek Ειρηνη (Eirene), derived from a word meaning "peace". This was the name of the Greek goddess who personified peace, one of the ‘Ωραι (Horai). It was also borne by several early Christian saints. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, notably being borne by an 8th-century empress, who was the first woman to lead the empire. She originally served as regent for her son, but later had him killed and ruled alone.

This name has traditionally been more popular among Eastern Christians. In the English-speaking world it was not regularly used until the 19th century.
FULL FORMS
FINNISH: Irene, Irina
EQUIVALENTS
ANCIENT GREEK: Eirene, Irene
BULGARIAN: Irina
CROATIAN: Ena, Irena
CZECH: Irena, Irenka
DANISH: Irene
DUTCH: Irena
ENGLISH: Irene
FINNISH: Arja, Erja
FRENCH: Irène
GALICIAN: Iria
GEORGIAN: Irina, Irine
GERMAN: Irene
GREEK MYTHOLOGY: Eirene, Irene
HUNGARIAN: Irén
IRISH: Eireen
ITALIAN: Irene
LITHUANIAN: Irena
MACEDONIAN: Irina
NORWEGIAN: Irene
POLISH: Irena, Irenka
PORTUGUESE: Irene, Iria
ROMANIAN: Irina
RUSSIAN: Arina, Arisha, Ira, Irina, Irinushka
SERBIAN: Irena
SLOVENE: Irena
SPANISH: Irene
SWEDISH: Irene
UKRAINIAN: Iryna