Irina (Cyrillic: Ирина) is a variant of Irene, being a Cyrillic-transliterated Christian Orthodox feminine given name of Greek origin, and the variant adopted by most followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The name Irina is derived from the ancient Greek goodess of peaceful life Eirene. In Ancient Greek εἰρήνη means peace. It has namesakes.
Due to a difference of pronunciation in Ukrainian (Ukrainian: Ірина) and the rest of Cyrillic-based languages, the name has the forms “Irina” and “Iryna”. Note that until 1860s, Romania, a predominantly Christian Orthodox country, used the Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, and that after switching to the Latin alphabet it has adopted the Orthodox version of the name over the Catholic “Irene”.
Diminutive forms in Slavic languages include Ira, Irinka, Irinushka, Irisha, Irka, Irochka, Irinochka, Irishenka.
Irina is connected with Irene of Macedon (I-II century) who was the first woman recognized by the church as a great martyr. She was born pagan as Penelope and later baptized by Saint Timothy as Irene.
Nobility and politics
Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia
Irina Yusupova
Irina Walker, daughter of King Michael I of Romania
Irina Khakamada, Russian politician
Arts and music
Irina Allegrova, Russian singer
Irina Antonenko, Miss Russia 2010
Irina Ionesco, French photographer
Irina Iordachescu, Romanian soprano opera singer
Irina Saari, Finnish pop singer, better known by her mononym Irina
Irina Toneva, Russian pop singer
Actresses and models
Irina Pantaeva, Siberian fashion model and actress
Irina Sharipova, fashion model, 1st runner-up at Miss Russia 2010. Contestant of Miss World 2010
Irina Shayk, model originally from Russia
Irina Voronina, Playboy Playmate originally from Russia
Irina Lazareanu, Romanian-born Canadian model
Irina Baskakova, Soviet track and field sprinter
Irina-Camelia Begu, Romanian tennis player
Irina Bespalova, Russian butterfly swimmer
Irina Deleanu, Romanian former individual rhythmic gymnast
Irina Kostyuchenkova, Ukrainian javelin thrower
Irina Krush, chess player
Irina Lashko, Russian-born Australian diver
Irina Loghin, Romanian folk singer
Irina Mikitenko, Kazakhstan-born German long-distance runner, former winner of both the Berlin and London marathons
Irina Podyalovskaya, Soviet middle distance runner
Irina Ponarovskaya, Soviet and Russian singer
Irina Press, Soviet 2x Olympic champion (80-m hurdles & pentathlon)
Irina Rodnina, Soviet figure skater
Irina Slutskaya, Russian world champion figure skater
Irina Tebenikhina, Russian volleyball player
Irina Ufimtseva, Russian freestyle swimmer
Irina Livezeanu, Romanian-born American historian
Irina, the child protagonist in Magdalen Nabb's 'The Enchanted Horse'.
Irina Derevko, KGB and Covenant terrorist, a main character in the Alias series
Irina Palm, pseudonym of the main character in 2007 film of the same name
Irina Spalko, a fictional Soviet Union KGB agent in the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Irina Clayton, a.k.a. Choir, a former member of the Xavier Institute student body and the Street Team X-Men in the Marvel Comics Universe
Irina, One of the three sisters in Anton Chekhov's play 'Three Sisters'
Irina Kerchenkov, a Russian model in Sarra Manning's Fashionistas book series
Irina Denali, a member of the Denali coven in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
Irina, a character from the novel series The Heroic Legend of Arslan by Yoshiki Tanaka.
Irina Shidō, a fictional character from the Japanese light novel series High School DxD by Ichiei Ishibumi.
The Groovy Girls doll line, by Manhattan Toy, features a doll named Irina.
Irina Jelavić, a fictional character in the Japanese manga and anime Assassination Classroom
Irina Clockworker, an antagonist from a series of Vocaloid songs known as "The Evillious Chronicles"
