Vera (given name)
Vera is a female first name of Russian origin, and by folk etymology it has also been explained as Latin vera meaning true. In Russian, Vera means faith. The name Vera has been used in the English speaking world since the 19th century and was popular in the early 20th century.
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian, Slovak, Czech, Greek, Dutch, Slovene, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Albanian, French, Polish, Armenian, Hungarian, Romanian.
Other scripts: Вера, Βέρα
Diminutives: Veer, Veerke, Verica, Verka or Vierka, Verochka, Verusha.
Other languages: Verel, Věra, Veera, Veer, Wiera, Vira, Viera, Veronique, Veronica
Origin
In the Ancient Greek and Christian faith, Saint Fides, her sisters Spes and Caritas and their mother Sophia, died as martyrs in the second century AD during the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire under the emperor Hadrian. The names are also the words designating the three key Christian virtues mentioned in Apostle Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians.In the English language, late 13c., verray "true, real, genuine," later "actual, sheer", from Anglo-French verrai, Old French verai "true, truthful, sincere; right, just, legal," from Vulgar Latin *veracus, from Latin verax "truthful," from verus "true", from PIE root *were-o- "true, trustworthy." Meaning "greatly, extremely" is first recorded mid-15c. Used as a pure intensive since Middle English.
In Albanian the meaning of the word "vera" is summer. The Albanian male version of the name Vera is Veriu which has the meaning "north" alb..
A
- Vera Albreht, Slovene poet, writer, publicist and translator
- Vera Alentova, Soviet actress
- Vera Altayskaya, Soviet actress
- Vera Eugenia Andrus, American artist and printmaker
- Vera Anisimova, Soviet athlete
- Vera Anstey, British economist
- Vera Atkins, Romanian-born British intelligence officer during World War II
B
- Vera Baboun, Palestinian politician
- Vera Baeva, Bulgarian writer and composer
- Vera Baird, British Labour Party activist, barrister, author and lecturer
- Vera Baklanova, Soviet Olympic diver
- Věra Barandovská-Frank, Czech Esperantist and philologist
- Vera Baranovskaya, Russian actress
- Vera Barbosa, Portuguese track and field athlete
- Vera Barclay, British novelist and leading female pioneer Scouter
- Vera Bazarova, Russian pair skater
- Vera Begić, Croatian athlete
- Véra Belmont, French film producer, director and screenwriter
- Vera Berdich, American printmaker
- Vera Bergkamp, Dutch politician
- Věra Bílá, Romani musician and singer of Romani folk and pop songs
- Vera Bjelik, Soviet World War II aircraft navigator
- Vera Blagojević, Yugoslav political activist
- Vera von Blumenthal, American potter and educator
- Vera Bogetti, British stage and film actress
- Vera Borea, French fashion designer
- Vera de Bosset, Russian-born American dancer and artist
- Vera Bradford, Australian classical pianist and teacher
- Vera Brezhneva, Ukrainian pop-singer and television presenter
- Vera Brittain, English writer
- Vera Broido, Russian-born British writer
- Vera Brosgol, Russian-born American cartoonist and animator
- Vera Scantlebury Brown, Australian medical practitioner and pediatrician
- Vera Brühne, German victim of miscarriage of justice
- Vera Bryndzei, Ukrainian speed skater
- Vera Buchanan, American Democratic politician
- Vera C. Bushfield, American politician
C
- Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder, Russian actress
- Vera Carmi, Italian film actress
- Vera Carrara, Italian professional racing cyclist
- Vera Cáslavská, Czech gymnast
- Vera Caspary, American writer
- Vera Celis, Belgian politician
- Věra Černá, Czech artistic gymnast
- Vera Chapman, English author and founder of the first Tolkien Society
- Vera Chino, Native American potter
- Vera Chirwa, Malawian-born lawyer and human and civil rights activist
- Vera Chytilová, Czech film director
- Véra Clouzot, Brazilian-born French film actress and screenwriter
- Vera Coking, American eminent domain litigant
- Grand Duchess Vera Constantinovna of Russia, daughter of Grand Duke Konstantine Nicholaievich of Russia
- Princess Vera Constantinovna of Russia, youngest child of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich of Russia
- Vera Cordeiro, Brazilian social entrepreneur and physician
- Vera Cornish, British stage and film actress
D
- Vera Dajht-Kralj, Croatian Jewish sculptor
- Vera Day, British film and television actress
- Vera Micheles Dean, Russian-American political scientist
- Vera Djatel, Ukrainian footballer
- Vera Dua, Belgian politician
- Vera Duarte, Cape Verdean human rights activist and politician
- Vera Ducas, Czechoslovak Jewish woman murdered in Israel reportedly for spying
- Vera Dulova, Russian harpist
- Vera Ðurašković, Yugoslav basketball player
- Vera Dushevina, Russian tennis player
- Vera Duss, American-born French medical doctor and Roman Catholic nun
E
- Vera Elkan, South African photographer
F
- Vera Farmiga, American actress of Ukrainian origin
- Vera King Farris, American zoologist and academic
- Vera Figner, Russian revolutionary
- Vera Filatova, Ukrainian-born British actress
- Vera Fischer , Brazilian actress
- Vera Fischer , Croatian sculptor
- Vera Flasarová, Czech politician
- Vera Fogwill, Argentine film and television actress, film director, and screenplay writer
- Vera Frances, British actress
- Vera Francis, Native American writer and activist
- Vera Freeman, American stage actress
- Vera Friedländer, German writer and Holocaust survivor
G
- Vera Mae Green, African American anthropologist, scholar, educator, author
- Vera Galushka-Duyunova, Russian volleyball player
- Vera Gebuhr, Danish film actress
- Vera Gedroitz, Lithuanian princess, doctor of medicine and writer
- Vera Georgiyevna Orlova, Russian actress
- Vera Gornostayeva, Russian pianist
- Vera Grabe, Colombian anthropologist and politician
- Vera Griner, Russian music teacher
H
- Vera Hall, American folk singer
- Vera Harsányi, Hungarian freestyle swimmer
- Vera Henriksen, Norwegian writer
- Vera Hilger, German painter
- Vera Louise Holmøy, Norwegian judge
- Vera Holtz, Brazilian television and cinema actress
- Vera Homp, German footballer
I
- Vera Ilyina, Russian diver
- Vera Inber, Russian-Soviet poet and writer
- Vera Int-Veen, German journalist and television presenter
- Vera Isaku, Albanian journalist
J
- Vera James, New Zealand-born theatre and film actor
- Věra Janoušková, Czech sculptor, painter and graphic artist
- Vera Jeftimijades, Yugoslav fencer
- Vera Jocić, Yugoslav partisan
- Vera Johnson, Canadian folk singer
- Vera Jordanova, Bulgarian-Finnish model and actress
K
- Vera Kamsha, Russian author of high fantasy and journalist
- Vera Karalli, Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and silent film actress
- Vera Karmishina-Ganeeva, Russian athlete
- Vera Katz, American Democratic politician
- Vera Kharuzhaya, Belarusian Communist writer and activist
- Vera Kholodnaya, Russian silent film actress
- Vera Kingston, English swimmer
- Vera Klement, Polish-born American artist
- Věra Klimková, Czechoslovak cross country skier
- Vera Kobalia, Georgian politician
- Vera Koedooder, Dutch professional racing cyclist
- Věra Kohnová, Czech Jewish diarist and concentration camp victim
- Vera Kolodzig, German-Portuguese actress
- Vera Komarkova, Czech-born American mountaineer and botanist
- Vera Komisova, Russian hurdler
- Vera Komissarzhevskaya, Russian actress
- Véra Korène, Russian-born French actress and singer
- Vera Koval, Russian judoka
- Vera Krasnova, Russian speed skater
- Vera Krasova, Russian model and beauty queen
- Vera Krepkina, Russian athlete
- Vera Kublanovskaya, Russian mathematician
- Věra Kůrková, Czech computer scientist
L
- Vera Lantratova, Russian volleyball player
- Vera Leigh, British spy during World War II
- Vera Lengsfeld, German politician
- Vera Leth, Greenlandic Ombudsman
- Vera Lewis, American film and stage actress
- Vera Lindsay, British Shakespearean actress
- Vera Lischka, Austrian breaststroke swimmer
- Vera G. List, American art collector and philanthropist
- Vera Liubatovich, Russian revolutionary
- Vera Bate Lombardi, English-born socialite
- Vera Lutter, German-born American artist
- Vera Lynn, English singer
- Vera Lysklætt, Norwegian politician
M
- Vera Mackey, Irish camogie player
- Vera MacLeavy, English librarian and Moravian Church archivist
- Vera Malinovskaya, Russian silent film actress
- Vera Manuel, Canadian First Nations writer
- Vera Maretskaya, Russian actress
- Vera Laughton Mathews, English Women's Royal Naval Service officer
- Vera Nikolaevna Maslennikova, Russian mathematician
- Vera Matović, Serbian folk singer
- Vera Maxwell, American sportswear and fashion designer
- Vera McKechnie, British children's television presenter
- Vera Menchik, British chess player
- Vera Michalski, Swiss publisher
- Vera Miles, American actress
- Vera Mischenko, Russian attorney and environmentalist
- Vera Misevich, Ukrainian equestrian
- Vera Moskalyuk, Ukrainian-born Russian judoka
- Vera Mukhina, Russian sculptor
- Vera Myller, Russian mathematician who became the first female professor in Romania
N
- Véra Nabokov, wife, editor, and translator of Vladimir Nabokov
- Vera Nazarian, Russian-born American fantasy and science fiction writer
- Vera Nazina, Russian painter
- Vera Nebolsina, Russian chess player
- Vera Neumann, American fashion designer
- Vera Nikolić, Serbian track and field athlete
- Vera Nikolić Podrinska, Croatian painter and baroness
O
- Vera Olcott, American dancer
- Vera Olsson, Finnish television producer and television host
- Vera Georgiyevna Orlova, Russian Soviet actress
- Vera Markovna Orlova, Soviet Russian actress
- Vera Osoianu, Moldovan librarian, activist and writer
P
- Vera Page, British murder victim
- Vera Jayne Palmer, birth name of Jayne Mansfield, American actress
- Vera Panova, Soviet novelist, playwright, and journalist
- Vera Pauw, Dutch football coach and former player
- Vera Pavlova, Russian poet
- Vera Pearce, Australian stage and film actress
- Vera Perlin, Canadian humanitarian
- Vera Pezer, Canadian curler and academic
- Vera Pless, American mathematician
- Vera Popkova, Soviet track and field athlete
- Vera Popova, Russian chemist
- Vera Pospíšilová-Cechlová, Czech athlete
- Vera Putina, Georgian woman who claims that Vladimir Putin is her lost son
R
- Vera Hruba Ralston, Czech-American skater and actress
- Vera Ramaciotti, Australian philanthropist
- Vera Renczi, Romanian serial killer
- Vera Reynolds, American film actress
- Vera Rich, British poet, journalist, historian, and translator
- Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe, American actress
- Vera Rózsa, Hungarian singer
- Vera Rubin, American astronomer
- Věra Růžičková, Czech gymnast
S
- Vera Beaudin Saeedpour, American researcher and scholar
- Vera Salvequart, Czech-born German concentration camp nurse executed for war crimes
- Vera Santos, Portuguese race walker
- Alina Vera Savin, Romanian bobsledder
- Vera Scarth-Johnson, British-born Australian botanist and botanical illustrator
- Vera Schmidt, Hungarian singer-songwriter
- Vera Schmidt , Russian educationist and psychoanalyst
- Vera Schmiterlöw, Swedish actress
- Vera Schwarcz, Romanian-born American sinologist and academic
- Vera Sessina, Russian gymnast
- Vera Sheehan, Irish camogie player
- Vera Shimanskaya, Russian rhythmic gymnast
- Vera Brady Shipman, American composer, journalist, and writer
- Vera Shitjeni, Albanian politician
- Vera Shvetsova, Russian ballet teacher and balletmaster
- Eleonora Vera Sipos, New Zealand businesswoman, humanitarian and welfare worker
- Vera Sisson, American film actress of the silent era
- Vera Slutskaya, Russian revolutionary
- Vera Šnajder, Bosnian mathematician
- Vera Sobetova, Russian sprint canoeist
- Vera Sokolova, Russian race walker
- Vera T. Sós, Hungarian mathematician
- Vera Sotnikova, Soviet theatre, television and movie actress
- Věra Soukupová, Czech mezzo-soprano
- Vera Stanley Alder, English portrait painter and mystic
- Vera Steadman, American film actress of the silent era
- Vera Storozheva, Russian actress and film director
- Vera Stroyeva, Soviet film director and screenwriter
- Vera Suchánková, Czechoslovak pair skater
- Věra Suková, Czech tennis player
- Vera Summers, Australian high school teacher and principal
- Vera Szemere, Hungarian actress
T
- Vera Telenius, Finnish singer
- Vera Thomas, English table tennis player
- Vera Thulin, Swedish freestyle swimmer
- Vera Timanova, Russian pianist
- Vera Trefilova, Russian dancer and teacher
- Vera Tschechowa, German film actress
U
- Vera Ulyakina, Russian volleyball player
V
- Vera Vague, American actress, also known by her real name of Barbara Jo Allen
- Věra Vančurová, Czech gymnast
- Vera Vasilchikova, Russian minor aristocrat
- Vera Veljkov-Medaković, Serbian pianist and piano teacher
- Vera Venczel, Hungarian actress
- Vera Viczián, Hungarian cross country skier
- Vera Volkova, Russian ballet dancer and dance teacher
- Vera Voronina, Russian actress
- Věra Votrubcová, Czechoslovak table tennis player
- Věra Vovsová, Czech painter
W
- Vera Wang, American fashion designer
- Vera Weizmann, Russian-born Israeli medical doctor and a Zionist activist
- Vera White, American silent film actress
- Vera Williams, American children's writer and illustrator
- Vera Woodhouse, Lady Terrington, British Liberal Party politician
Y
- Vera Yurasova, Russian physicist
Z
- Vera Zasulich, Russian Marxist writer and revolutionary
- Vera Zavitsianou, Greek Greek theatre actress
- Vera Zhelikhovsky, Russian writer
- Vera Zorina, American actress
- Vera Zorina , Russian operetta singer
- Vera Zozulya, Latvian-born Soviet luger
- Vera Zvonareva, Russian tennis player
Fictional characters
- Vera, a character on the Spanish children's television program Barrio Sésamo
- Vera, a character from Tolstoy's novel War and Peace
- Vera, a character from Lermontov's novel A Hero of Our Time
- Vera is the name given to a gun by Jayne Cobb in the television show Firefly
- Vera Adare, character from V.C. Andrews' standalone novel, My Sweet Audrina
- Vera Claythorne, character from Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None
- Vera Dietz, the titular character of the young adult novel by A.S. King, Please Ignore Vera Dietz
- Vera Donovan, a character from Stephen King's novel Dolores Claiborne
- Vera Douka, fictional character in the ANT1 television series Erotas
- Vera Drake, title character of a 2004 British Mike Leigh film
- Vera Duckworth, a character from the British soap opera, Coronation Street
- Vera Juarez, character from the British television soap opera Torchwood: Miracle Day
- Vera Keyes, a character from Fallout: New Vegas of the DLC, Dead Money
- Vera, one of the "Macaw Sisters" played by Anna Stolli in the original 2015 Edinburgh cast of Love Birds: the musical
- Vera Möldersm, a character from Strike Witches
- Vera Peterson, an unseen character on the television show Cheers
- Vera Sweet, a character from DC Comics, and love interest to the Creeper
- Vera Stanhope, character in a series of detective novels by Ann Cleeves and the television series Vera based on these novels