Ksenia

Ksenia comes from Greek, from xenía, the word for hospitality, and behind it xénos, the guest or the stranger at the door. The same root sits inside xenophobia and xenon. A name built from welcome, then. In Polish the sense lands on one word, gościnność.

The variant kseniya travels east and keeps the Greek shape under a Slavic spelling. Same name, different letters.

One bearer fixed it in memory. Xenia of Saint Petersburg, an Orthodox saint known in Poland as Ksenia Petersburska, gave away her house after her husband died and spent decades walking the streets of the city in his old uniform. A woman who lived among strangers wore a name that means the welcoming of them. Her feast falls on 6 February, and Ksenia keeps her imieniny that day.

On a class register the name is short. Five letters, and the meaning is a guest at the door.