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Nadia

Russian, Arabic
"hope; tender, delicate"
Pamela Redmond
By Pamela Redmond
Updated Wed Apr 23 2025

Nadia Origin and Meaning

The name Nadia is a girl's name of Russian origin meaning "hope; tender, delicate".

Nadia, an accessible Slavic favorite, has a strong run of popularity in the US in the early 2000s, partially thanks to the character on Lost called Nadia but actually named Noor, but it's since slumped down the rankings. An earlier inspiration was Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who won the 1976 Olympics.

Nadia is actually a short form of Nadezhda, the name of Lenin's wife, though more Westerners will relate it to the familiar Natalya or Natasha.

Nadia is also a traditional Arabic name, popular in the Muslim community and also spelled Nadiyya or Nadya. It means "moist, tender, delicate" in Arabic.

Octomom Suleman spells her first name Nadya, as in the Queen Nadya character in Noel Coward's play The Queen was in the Parlour.

# 489 in the US

Nadia Rank in US Top 1000

# 477 on Nameberry

Nadia Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Nadia

20 Names Similar to Nadia

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Nadia.

Famous People Named Nadia

  • Nadia Alexandra Bjorlin
    American actress
  • Nadia Dajani
    American actress
  • Nadia Elena Comaneci
    Romanian gymnast
  • (Juliette) Nadia Boulanger
    French composer
  • Nadia Wayans
    American actress
  • Nadia Oleksandrivna Meikher
    Ukrainian singer and actress
  • Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova
    Russian tennis player
  • Nadia Esra
    model
  • Nadia Sawalha
    British actress and television presenter

The name Nadia in Pop Culture

  • Nadia
    character in "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water".
  • Nadia
    character from the 'American Pie' movies.
  • Nadia
    Sayid's long lost love on the TV show LOST.
  • Nadia Santos
    Sydney's half,sister on the TV show 'Alias'.
  • Nadia Godfrey
    character Netflix's Hemlock Grove.
  • Nadia Petrova
    daughter of Katherine Pierce/Katerina Petrova on TV's The Vampire Diaries.
  • Nadia
    character in the Amelia's Notebook series.
  • "Nadia
    " Iraqi TV series and its main character.
  • Nadia Satrinava
    the countess from the visual novel game The Arcana
  • Nadia Rizavi
    the MFE pilot in Voltron: Legendary Defender
  • Nadia Vulvokov
    main character of the Netflix series "Russian Doll"

International Variations of the name Nadia

  • Nadina
    Latvian
  • Nadyuska
    Russian
  • Dusya
    Russian
  • Nadyenka
    Russian
  • Nadége
    French
  • Nadezhda
    Polish
  • Nadenka
    Russian
  • Nadzia
    Polish
  • Nadya
    Russian
  • Nata
    Polish
  • Nadiya
    Russian
  • Nadka
    Russian
  • Nada
    Russian
  • Nadysha
    Russian
  • Nadine
    Italian

The name Nadia in Nameberry Blog Posts