Tymofii

Tymofii comes from Greek. Behind it stands Timotheos, a compound of timē, "honor," and theos, "god," which gives the name its plain sense of honoring god. In Polish that reading survives as czczący boga.

The form itself is Ukrainian. Where a Polish register might print Tymoteusz, the fuller variant, or Tymek for short, Ukrainian speakers kept Tymofii, with its softer ending. The apostle Timothy, companion of Paul and recipient of two New Testament letters, gave the name a long Christian life across the East.

So a boy named Tymofii on a school register carries a Greek word for honor and a Ukrainian spelling at once. Short forms wait for him too. To his friends he is simply Tymek.