Nadezhda or Nadežda (Cyrillic: Надежда) is a Slavic female given name popular in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and other Slavic countries to a lesser extent, as well as other former Soviet states such as Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The origin of the name in Old Slavic meant "hope", but this meaning was preserved only in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Russian. The name is a translation of the Greek name Ἐλπίς (Elpis), with the same meaning.
The name entered the Russian culture as part of the trio: Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov as a calque from Greek of the names of saints Faith, Hope and Charity.
A Russian-language diminutive form of this name is Nadia (Cyrillic Надя). The Belarusian version is Nadzeya (Надзея, Łacinka: Nadzieja, like in Polish), the Ukrainian version is Nadiya (Надія), and the Czech version is Naděžda, where it can also be shortened to Nad'a. In Serbo-Croatian, it can be shortened to more common Nada or Nađa.
Transliteration variants include Nadejda, Nadeschda.
Notable people with these names include:
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In politics and public life
Nadezhda Alliluyeva (Надежда Аллилуева, 1901–1932), second wife of Joseph Stalin
Nadezhda Bondarenko (Надежда Бондаренко, born 1950), Transnistrian politician and presidential candidate in the 2006 election
Nadezhda Chaikova (Надежда Чайкова, 1963–1996), Russian correspondent known for exposés of Russian military atrocities and close contacts with the Chechen rebels
Nadezhda Joffe (Надежда Иоффе, 1906–1999), Soviet Trotskyist and daughter of Soviet leader Adolph Joffe
Nadezhda Krupskaya (Надежда Крупская, 1869–1939), Russian Marxist revolutionary and wife of Vladimir Lenin
Nadezhda Neynsky, (Надежда Нейнски, born 1962; formerly Nadezhda Mihaylova, Надежда Михайлова), MEP since 2009, Bulgarian foreign minister 1997–2001, also leader of the Union of Democratic Forces from 2002 to 2005
Nadezhda Sigida (Надежда Сигид, 1862–1889), Russian revolutionary and central figure of the Kara katorga tragedy
Nadezhda Stasova (1822–1895), early Russian feminist and educator
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (Надежда Толоконникова, born 1989), political activist and artist, nicknamed Nadya Tolokno (Надя Толокно); member of the feminist punk-rock collective Pussy Riot
Nadezhda Tylik, a Kursk sailor's mother who was forcibly sedated on an internationally distributed news clip
Nadezhda Vasilyeva (Надежда Васильева, died 1971), one of several women claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
Sports
Nadezhda Alexandrova (Надежда Александрова, born 1986), Russian ice hockey player
Nadezhda Belonenko (Надежда Белоненко, 1911–1964), Soviet-Russian tennis player
Nadezhda Besfamilnaya (Надежда Бесфамильная, born 1950), Soviet-Russian sprinter and Olympic bronze medalist
Nadezhda Chizhova (Надежда Чижова, born 1945), Soviet-Russian shot putter and Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist
Nadia Comăneci (born 1961), Romanian gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist
Nadezhda Evstyukhina (Надежда Евстюхина, born 1988), Russian weightlifter
Nadezhda Frolenkova (Надежда/Надія Фроленкова, born 1989), Ukrainian ice dancer
Nadezhda Gumerova (Надежда Гумерова, born 1949), Soviet-Kazakhstani long-distance runner
Nadezhda Ilyina (Надежда Ильина, 1949–2013), Soviet-Russian sprinter and Olympic bronze medalist
Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili (Надежда Хныкина-Двалишвили, ნადეჟდა დვალიშვილ-ხნიკინა, 1933–1994), Soviet-Georgian track and field athlete and Olympic bronze medalist
Nadezhda Konyayeva (Надежда Коняева, born 1931), Soviet javelin thrower and Olympic bronze medalist
Nadezhda Kosintseva (Надежда Косинцева, born 1985), Russian chess player
Nadia Marcinko (also Naďa, Nadežda Marcinková, born 1986), Slovak-American pilot
In the arts
Nadezhda Babkina (born 1950), Russian and Soviet folk singer
Nadežda Čačinovič (born 1947), Croatian philosopher, sociologist and author of Slovene descent
Naďa Konvalinková (Naděžda Konvalinková; born 1951), Czech actress
Nadezhda Kadysheva (Надежда Кадышева, born 1959), Russian folk-rock pop singer, lead singer of the Golden Ring ensemble. Honorary Citizen of Bugulma. People's Artist of Mordovia, Honored Artist of Tatarstan. "Honored Artist of the Russian Federation" (1993)
Nadezhda Vladimirovna Lermontova (1885–1921), Russian painter
Nadezhda Mandelstam (Надежда Мандельштам, 1899–1980), Russian writer and wife of poet Osip Mandelstam
Nadezhda von Meck (Надежда фон Мекк, 1831–1894), Russian widow best known for her relationship with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Nadezhda Mikhalkova (Надежда Михалкова, born 1986), Russian actress and daughter of Nikita Mikhalkov
Nadezhda Misyakova (Надежда Мисякова, born 2000), Belarusian singer
Nadezhda Obukhova (Надежда Обухова, 1886–1961), Russian mezzo-soprano
Nadežda Petrović (Надежда Петровић, 1873–1915), Serbian painter
Nadezhda Plevitskaya (Надежда Плевицкая, 1884–1940), Russian singer
Nađa Regin (Nadežda Poderegin, 1931–2019), Serbian singer
In the military
Nadezhda Durova (Надежда Дурова, 1783–1866), woman who became a decorated soldier during the Napoleonic wars
Nadezhda Popova (Надежда Попова, 1921–2013), squadron commander during World War II awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union
Fictional characters
Nadezhda, original Russian name of Elizabeth Jennings on the TV series The Americans
Nadezhda, on the TV series Dexter, who goes by the diminutive Nadia
Nadia, on the TV series LOST, is Sayid's love interest
Nadia, the main character on the Netflix TV series Russian Doll