Zemfira

Poetic and alluring, Zemfira is the name of the tragic heroine in Alexander Pushkin's narrative poem The Gypsies. His work has been adapted into a multitude of ballets and operas and may have inspired Prosper Mérimée's novella Carmen, on which the famous opera of the same name was based.

The name has seen rare but regular use in Russia, particularly in the republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, and in Azerbaijan. A famous bearer is the popular Russian rock musician Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova, known professionally simply as Zemfira.

Its origin is unclear, but it may be of Romani origin, or possibly from the Ancient Greek sappheiros ("sapphire") via Turkic. This is perhaps reinforced by the use of Zamfir and Zamfira in Romania, which relate to the blue gemstone.

Pronounced zem-FEER-uh.