Paraska
The Greek root means "preparation", the old word for Friday. It carries a Ukrainian heritage in Poland, but you would be lucky to meet one bearer: around 100 women hold the name and not one girl has been given it this century.
Paraska Pronunciation
Paraska is pronounced pah-RAHS-kah (/paˈraska/).
What Paraska means
Where Paraska comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Paraska comes from Greek Paraskevḗ, which named the day of preparation before the Sabbath. That day is Friday. Early Christians used the word for the weekday, and it became a woman's name in the Greek East, carried west and north into Slavic lands.
The name took root most firmly in Ukraine. Saint Paraskeva of Iconium, and later Paraskeva of the Balkans, drew village churches, wells, and market fairs named for her, and Friday markets fell under her patronage. A girl called Paraska stood inside that whole calendar of Friday devotion.
In Polish records the form stays plain. There is no tidy diminutive, no male twin. On a school register the name reads as itself, four syllables with a Ukrainian flavour.
The meaning underneath is still legible. Paraska means preparation, the readiness of Friday before the day of rest.
How many people are named Paraska
1 in 212678 women in Poland is named Paraska. 106 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #3323 among female names.