Galina
From the Greek for "calm, serenity", a name that reached Poland through Russian use. Only around 2,000 women here carry it and no new girls are given it now, so most Poles have never met one.
Galina Pronunciation
Galina is pronounced gah-LEE-nah (/gaˈlina/).
What Galina means
Where Galina comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Galina begins in Greek. The word galēnē meant calm, the stillness of the sea after a storm, and the name carried that meaning into other languages. In Polish it settles as spokój, łagodność. The sense of serenity is not decoration added later. It is the root itself.
Though its origin is Greek, the name became most at home in Russia. A third-century martyr, Saint Galina of Corinth, gave it an early Christian anchor. Centuries later Galina Ulanova danced as prima ballerina at the Bolshoi, and her name traveled with her fame.
On a Polish class register the name reads plainly, three syllables, easy to call. It has no diminutive of its own here, no cross-gender twin. What it keeps is the old Greek word for a calm sea, galēnē.
How many people are named Galina
1 in 11171 women in Poland is named Galina. 2,018 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #702 among female names.
Galina as a middle name
Galina is a first name for 2,018 women in Poland and a middle name for another 32, a 98/2 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 1234th, between Freja (32) and Ifeoma (32).
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1232
32Elisabetta
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1233
32Freja
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123432Galina
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1235
32Ifeoma
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1236
32Imelda