help to find my Chinese name

[volga_volga]

My name is Olga. I am looking for a Chinese equivalent.

PS I am Russian and my real name sounds a bit different from its Western pronunciation. But i am used to be called this (non-Russian) way and would like to find a Chinese equivalent for my Chinese friends.

[xiaoxiajenny]

Olga 奥尔加 ：）

[Lu]

Considering that you're calling yourself Volga here, maybe you can take Jiang1 (river, same jiang as Jiang Zemin) as a surname.

As for a personal name, 'Olga' doesn't translate very well into Chinese phonetically. Does it mean anything, apart from being a name?

[Long Zhiren]

"Olga" is a variant of the German form "Helga" or "Hella" meaning holy or blessed, also used in the German name "Helgoland." If we look up Helgoland in a Chinese atlas of terms, we should be able to find an already existing Chinese transliteration for "Helga."

The Volga is something very different.

[volga_volga]

Yes, LongZhiren is correct, "Olga" means sacred, saint, (holy, blessed...)

I'd argue whether Olga is a variant of Helga or vice versa

on a Russian-Chinese forum, I got 奥丽雅 as best try.

[Yang Rui]

It's true that Olga won't sound nice in Chinese if you follow the sound exactly. But if you really really want your Chinese name to follow the sound of your Russian name you could go for 敖佳儿 / 嘉儿 (Ao Jia'er). I quite like girl's names that end in 儿.

But I think i've got a better idea. What about choosing any surname you like (possibly based on the first letter of your Russian surname) and then your given name could be 小鸥 (Xiao'ou). "Ou" sounds a bit like the "Ol" of Olga. So if you go by Lu's suggestion you could be 江小鸥.

If you go for Xiao'ou, i don't actually thing Jiang is the perfect surname because it doesn't quite roll off the tongue. You should choose something that sounds nice, possibly second or third tone because that will go better next to Xiao （eg. 李，唐，吴，雷）. If you don't mind telling us your russian surname we could suggest something. In any case, your friends will call you 小鸥.

[Long Zhiren]

In Chinese atlases, the German island Helgoland is translated as:

赫果兰

he4 guo3 lan2.

Hence, Helga, Hella or Olga are all 赫果 (awe-inspiring/bright/radiant/glowing & fruit/result). very very pretty name(!) and on par with Holy or Blessed. Both meaning and sound are preserved. This is my impassioned vote!

赫尔辛基 (Helsinki) 的 赫

成果 (achievement/profit) 的 果

Identifying the Russian and German names to the same root can be referenced at: www.aboutnames.ch

Just in case we're wondering, 兰 means "orchid," found in translations for Holland, Poland, etc. I love the way many nations' names are transliterated into Chinese...

[heifeng]

Just use the surname 欧阳 ouyang and then pick out a different character for your "first" name. This way you keep the "O" sound...( but then again I don't know what the Russian pronunciation sounds like...maybe the O sound isn't as strong...hmmm)

[andrewfz]

Hi Olga - I would go with something that means something...rather than thransliterating the sound of "Olga" as closel as we can...

I'd like to suggest...江神圣。 (,,Jiang Shen Sheng...Blessed river). combining Olga / Volga / River thing (good idea by the previously posted message) ....and the original meaning of the name.

Andrew