Bazhena
The Russian and Ukrainian spelling of Bożena, from the Slavic for "gift of God". Only about 126 women in Poland carry this form, so meeting one sticks in the memory.
Bazhena Pronunciation
Bazhena is pronounced bahs-KHE-nah (/basˈxɛna/).
What Bazhena means
Where Bazhena comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Bazhena grows from Slavic roots and means "gift of god." It is the Russian and Ukrainian form of a name Polish speakers know as Bożena. The two are cousins from one source.
The old Slavic word for god gave both forms their shape, and the meaning settled on "gift of god" over time. Bazhena carried it east into Russian and Ukrainian use. Bożena stayed home. In Poland it also softens into the diminutive Bożenka.
One early bearer of the Polish form was Bożena of Bohemia, an eleventh-century duchess and mother of Duke Bretislaus I. Her name reached deep into medieval record.
In a Polish class register today, a Bazhena would sit a little apart from the Bożenas near her. The name still says the same thing: a gift of god.
How many people are named Bazhena
1 in 178919 women in Poland is named Bazhena. 126 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2972 among female names.