To celebrate their country’s resistance to the Russian invasion, Ukrainian parents choose to baptize their children with first names inspired by the weapons used during the war.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice recently released the list of popular and rare names given to children in 2022.
If classic first names like Sofia, Maria, Mark or Polina prance at the top of the ranking, others have made their entry into the nomenclature for the first time.
Thus, the names Javelina and Javelin, in connection with the American anti-tank missile launcher Javelin, have become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
Newborn babies have also been named Bayraktar, in reference to the name of Turkish combat drones, according to what the magazine “Géo” reported.
In Ukraine, there are no regulations governing the choice of first name for newborns, which gives parents the freedom to name their children as they see fit.
“The names associated with the new types of weapons that the Armed Forces of Ukraine use against the occupiers [russes] have become popular,” the daily “Ukrainska Pravda” noted.