The baby name Anastasia brings to mind a doomed Russian princess and the animated movie that gave her a happy ending.
Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
RESURRECTION
The baby name Anastasia comes from the Greek anastasis – resurrection. Pronounce it with four syllables, or maybe even five. Like Isabella and Olivia, it’s a dramatic, elaborate choice.
A handful of early saints answered to the name, as well as the masculine form – Anastasius.
The earliest saint by the name died during the Diocletian persecutions in the 300s.
We find more early uses of the name in the east, though not exclusively so:
- A second Saint Anastasia was a sixth century lady-in-waiting to the Byzantine Empress Theodora.
- Aelia Anastasia was the wife of sixth century Roman Emperor Tiberius II Constantine.
- The eleventh century Anastasia of Kiev became Queen of Hungary.
- Christine de Pisan mentions an illuminator of manuscripts working in Paris circa 1400 called Anastasia.
- Sixteenth century Anastasia was wife of Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
- King Nikola I of Montenegro used the name for his daughter, born in 1868.
- Anastasia Arapova married Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, the military commander and Marshal of Finland. She gave the French version of her name, Anastasie, to their daughter.
- Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby was a Romanov cousin known as Zia.
A handful of Russian royals make that list, and the most famous bearer also comes from St. Petersburg.
THE GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA
Born in 1901, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, would live a short and tragic life.
In the early twentieth century, only a boy could inherit the throne. And so a fourth daughter – younger sister to Olga, Tatiana, and Maria – was considered a disappointment. Still, there’s no evidence her childhood was anything but happy. And, of course, quite privileged.
That changed after the birth of her younger brother, the long-awaited heir to the Romanov throne. You probably know the story: Alexei inherited hemophilia, making even the smallest of childhood scrapes and tumbles potentially deadly. His distraught mother sound the intervention of Rasputin, a self-proclaimed healer.
It became a scandal – the royal family so entangled with an outsider of dubious reputation. Historians suggest it contributed to the downfall of the Romanovs, making them unpopular.
Anastasia was still a child when the Russian Revolution began in 1917. Her father abdicated later that year, and the family was placed under house arrest in Siberia.
ANNA ANDERSON
We now know that the family – including Anastasia – met their deaths in July of 1918 at the hands of Bolsheviks. She was just 17 years old.
But we know that based on DNA evidence from 2007. For decades, the fate of the Romanovs wasn’t crystal clear.
In the 1920s, Anna Anderson surfaced, claiming that she’d survived the massacre with the help of a sympathetic guard.
The story captivated the world. How could it not? We all wanted to believe that the teenaged princess survived the massacre. The meaning of the late royal’s name – resurrection – added to the appeal of the tale.
SILVER SCREEN
In 1956, Ingrid Bergman played Anna Anderson in a movie called Anastasia. It’s presented as a scam, a swindle designed to access cash held in reserve for the family – or is it? Just enough ambiguity hints at how very much we all want the story to be true. Bergman won an Oscar for the role.
Other imposters surfaced, but for decades all we had was a lingering sense that maybe – just maybe – Anastasia had lived.
By 1984, Anna Anderson passed away and a few years later, DNA evidence confirmed that she was not a Romanov after all.
PUTTING IT TO MUSIC
By 1997, the Soviet Union had fallen and the Cold War between the US and Russia effectively ended.
With time passing, the story of Anastasia began to feel more like a fairytale than a real-life tragedy.
Time for a second movie titled Anastasia.
This time, it’s animated. And musical!
Once again, a swindle is planned by two conmen. They hope to find an Anastasia look-alike to claim her fortune. Instead, they find the real-life Anastasia, who has spent a few years in an orphanage as Anya. She suffered a fall during her dramatic escape from the palace, and doesn’t remember a thing.
There’s a love story, a talking bat, and a happy ending – though not one that sees the princess returning to rule Russia.
It did put the baby name Anastasia on the radar of a generation of future parents.
BY THE NUMBERS
The baby name Anastasia was used in small numbers from 1880 into the 1930s in the US. There’s a modest increase in 1917/18, perhaps reflecting newspaper headlines. But it’s so small that it’s hard to say.
It fell out of use in the 1930s.
Ingrid Bergman’s star turn gave the baby name Anastasia a lift in the late 1950s.
By 1963, the name returned to the US Top 1000 and hasn’t left since.
RISE and FALL
The baby name Anastasia spiked in use in 1987, thanks to a made-for-TV movie based on Anna Anderson’s story, leaping from #495 to #269.
Then came the musical. In 1996, the name ranked #327. By 1998, it reached #265.
It’s as if parents needed to be frequently reminded that the baby name Anastasia was out there.
STACY and STACEY
Another factor: in the 1970s and 80s, parents embraced the name Stacy or Stacey. It leapt up the charts with Tracy and Tracey.
It’s an obvious nickname for the baby name Anastasia.
Not in Russia, of course, where Nastia and Nastenka are the common diminutives.
But in the US? Doubtless some of the girls along the way were named Anastasia to get to Stacy.
BEYOND RUSSIA
In 1950, Disney dubbed one of Cinderella’s stepsisters Anastasia.
Lois Lowry’s Anastasia Krupnik series of young adult novels debuted in 1979.
On the map, there’s Anastasia Island, off the Atlantic coast of Florida, and St. Anastasia Island on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
Olympic gymnast Anastasia “Nastia” Liukin won gold in 2008 gold.
TOP 200
While Krupnik and Liukin might’ve influenced some parents, chances are that the 1997 musical sealed the appeal of Anastasia for an entire generation. The baby name Anastasia entered the US Top 200 in 2016, and ranks #158 as of 2020.
That timing tracks with the movie’s peak popularity – a generation of 90s babies grew up and named their daughter for the happy-ending version of the tragic tale.
But why not? The name offers a dramatic but approachable sound. The meaning is powerful. And the name hits the familiar-not-common sweet spot, too.
There are plenty of reasons to consider the baby name Anastasia for a daughter.
What do you think of Anastasia?
First published on April 4, 2009, this post was revised substantially and republished on June 29, 2021.
I love the name. I honestly don’t know how people consider it pretentious. It boggles me. I think because the name isn’t overly popular in America and it is a very distinctly, foreign name, that maybe that is why it doesn’t always get a very positive response (just trying to reason it out).
I think it”s gorgeous as a full name. Angelina, Elizabeth,Charlotte,Penelope,Magdeleina etc are all long names that are of a similar vibe. I really don’t understand how someone can say its too long when you compare it to the above mentioned names.
I actually dislike the name Anna. I think Anna is a bit overrated and isn’t nice enough for its popularity. Anna is a good name, but it’s a name since I have passionately gotten into name etymology- that is now dull and boring to me. I think Anna is far to simple a nickname for such stunning name. Also, people will assume Anna is the full name.What’s the point of using a gorgeous, exotic name if you are going to use Anna every day?
I would use Stasia. It sounds more exotic and is straight forward.It keeps its Russian routes
and sounds more modern.
I don’t consider the name unique at all – it is a timeless classic to me. By the way, Anastasia is in no way popular where I live. After doing a lot of research about the names, it’s not unique – it’s just not super popular; specifically, in the US.It is number in 3 European countries, though
I also love Anastasia! Truth be told, it’s my name. Name? Anastazja Maria Kolodziej. I’m slavic, from Poland. But I don’t go by Stace, Stacee, Stacey, Staci, Stacia, Stacie, Stasa, Stasee, Stasey, Stasha, Stasia, Stasie, Staska, Stasy, Staycee, Staycey, Staysie, Staysy, Tacy, Ana or Taisie. All those seem to me as if somebody was trying to find a popular, “cool” nickname to a special, royal name.
I don’t uae the ones I posted, I use Tusia (Too-shia). And I don’t use Anastasia (Ana-STAI-jia), but Anastazje (Ana-stah-zee-a).
Czesc, Tusia! I have family in Warsaw, Krakow & Czestochowa – it is always nice to hear from someone in Poland!
Tusia is lovely in Polish; probably a little awkward in American English. Ana is, I think, the most sophisticated nickname option here, but Tacy and Stacy are fine, too – and I love the look of Anastazje, but it would REALLY trip up speakers of American English!
I love Anastasia! It first made my list because of its religious meaning, but its great sound and royal feel have kept it on there.
My husband doesn’t care for it (he says it’s too long and princessy), so it’s not one we’re likely to use. Oh, well.
I really don’t care for it. I think it’s over the top and down-market. The potential for the nickname Stac(e)y curdles my stomach. Anna is so lovely; I don’t see the need for the rest.
Anastasia is lovely. It’s a little long for me personally, but it’s a great name with lots of history and interest. I agree with Lola, it’s quite a frilly, romantic name – reminds me of ruffles and lace and I prefer the slavic names that are a little more edgy and sultry. I could definitely see the appeal of trying Anastasia as an alternative to Alexandra/Alexandria. But I will say, I don’t love Stacy or Nastia as nicknames… sticking with Anstice, Anya, Tasha, or Stasia is preferable to me.
I like Anastasia but she’s a bit too frilly for me (I like smaller frills, thanks) and it’s quite formal in full. I’m not a fan of the nicknames, overmuch and while it is a family name for me and I did consider it for Josephine (long story there) I now have two younger cousins with the name (one Anna, one Stacey) so while I like it, I don’t like it enough to add a third to the family. It’d be lovely on anyone else’s girl though.. so regal and lushly frilly. Pretty!
I don’t care too much for Anastasia, hate to say. It seems tawdry to me for a reason I can never put my finger on. I didn’t know Anstice was a form of it, though! One of my favorite books has an evil housekeeper Anstace Crouch, so it’s really interesting to know where the name came from.
I’ve reserved Anastasia for the middle spot. It’s too long a name, too formal, but I find it works nicely after a short-sweet first name. Thanks for researching it.
I like Anastasia, but my daughter is Anya so I couldn’t use it. It is a great name though.
One of my aunt’s friends from work has a daughter named Anastasia but she goes by Stacy, and Stacy’s brother is Alex, short for Alexander. Their parents love Russian names as much as I do. lol
I was thinking of calling my daughter Anastasia at one point, but I kept it sweet and simple and called her Anya.
DH’s cousin has an Anastasia, siblings Max and Tabitha. I think she’s darling. I like Anastasia. She seems a bit too ‘heavy’ for me to use with my own kids, but I do find her lovely. She encompasses history, sophistication, interest and an abundance of nn into a lovely name.
I studied the Russian Revolution for years, and I was intruiged by Anastasia’s story, and the whole private life of the royal family, so maybe that’s the connection that grabs me?!