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I can find no credible evidence anywhere at all that Nikita was in fact a French, or female name, prior to the release of Nikita (song) and La Femme Nikita. My understanding is that the movie never clarifies whether Nikita is a birth name, nickname, etc. Certainly there is a dearth of famous French women in history with this as a given name; I can't find any at all. It appears that the French popularity of the name for girls is only since the movie's 1990 release. Since John's video predates this, was performed by a gay man, and was about a Russian soldier in the early 80s, it seems implausible that it was ever referring to a woman. The websites given referencing Nikita as historically a girl's name have no reliable sources listed, and indeed baby name sites are notorious for rampant copying of other baby name sites' meanings, many of which are fabricated, misleading or just plain incorrect.
In essence it would probably be more accurate to say that "Nikita is a boys' name of Slavic origin, but since the release of Elton John's video Nikita has (erroneously) been given to girls, and has thus become popular as a girls' name, particularly in France following the release of La Femme Nikita."
SaucyWench (
talk)
10:13, 9 July 2008 (UTC)reply
I second that. Though Nikita is used in Slavic countries (to me it will always be a Russian male name) but the origin is Greek.--
Spaceflower (
talk)
13:44, 6 July 2010 (UTC)reply
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Anthroponymy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
the study of people's names on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AnthroponymyWikipedia:WikiProject AnthroponymyTemplate:WikiProject AnthroponymyAnthroponymy articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Russia, a
WikiProject dedicated to coverage of
Russia on Wikipedia. To participate: Feel free to edit the article attached to this page, join up at the
project page, or contribute to the
project discussion.RussiaWikipedia:WikiProject RussiaTemplate:WikiProject RussiaRussia articles
I can find no credible evidence anywhere at all that Nikita was in fact a French, or female name, prior to the release of Nikita (song) and La Femme Nikita. My understanding is that the movie never clarifies whether Nikita is a birth name, nickname, etc. Certainly there is a dearth of famous French women in history with this as a given name; I can't find any at all. It appears that the French popularity of the name for girls is only since the movie's 1990 release. Since John's video predates this, was performed by a gay man, and was about a Russian soldier in the early 80s, it seems implausible that it was ever referring to a woman. The websites given referencing Nikita as historically a girl's name have no reliable sources listed, and indeed baby name sites are notorious for rampant copying of other baby name sites' meanings, many of which are fabricated, misleading or just plain incorrect.
In essence it would probably be more accurate to say that "Nikita is a boys' name of Slavic origin, but since the release of Elton John's video Nikita has (erroneously) been given to girls, and has thus become popular as a girls' name, particularly in France following the release of La Femme Nikita."
SaucyWench (
talk)
10:13, 9 July 2008 (UTC)reply
I second that. Though Nikita is used in Slavic countries (to me it will always be a Russian male name) but the origin is Greek.--
Spaceflower (
talk)
13:44, 6 July 2010 (UTC)reply