Christian names beginning with O

Meaning: Slavic from Old Norse "blessed" or "holy" (Helga).

Figure: Saint Olga of Kiev; tenth-century Russian princess, regent, and Christian convert.

Saint Olga of Kiev (c. 890-969) is the Christian princess of Kievan Rus whose conversion to Christianity prepared the way for her grandson Vladimir to bring the Eastern Slavs into the Christian Church. Honored in Orthodox tradition with the title "Equal-to-the-Apostles," her feast is July 11.

Meaning: Greek "useful" or "profitable."

Figure: Runaway slave whose return to Philemon Paul requested (Letter to Philemon).

Onesimus is the runaway slave whose return to his master Philemon Paul requested in the short letter to Philemon, asking that he be received "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother" (Philemon 16). The name is rare in modern use.