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 RussiaIrina YusupovaIrina Walker, daughter of King Michael I of RomaniaIrina Khakamada, Russian politicianArts and music
Irina Allegrova, Russian singerIrina Antonenko, Miss Russia 2010Irina Ionesco, French photographerIrina Iordachescu, Romanian soprano opera singerIrina Saari, Finnish pop singer, better known by her mononym IrinaIrina Toneva, Russian pop singerActresses and models
Irina Pantaeva, Siberian fashion model and actressIrina Sharipova, fashion model, 1st runner-up at Miss Russia 2010. Contestant of Miss World 2010Irina Shayk, model originally from RussiaIrina Voronina, Playboy Playmate originally from RussiaIrina Lazareanu, Romanian-born Canadian modelIrina Baskakova, Soviet track and field sprinterIrina-Camelia Begu, Romanian tennis playerIrina Bespalova, Russian butterfly swimmerIrina Deleanu, Romanian former individual rhythmic gymnastIrina Kostyuchenkova, Ukrainian javelin throwerIrina Krush, chess playerIrina Lashko, Russian-born Australian diverIrina Loghin, Romanian folk singerIrina Mikitenko, Kazakhstan-born German long-distance runner, former winner of both the Berlin and London marathonsIrina Podyalovskaya, Soviet middle distance runnerIrina Ponarovskaya, Soviet and Russian singerIrina Press, Soviet 2x Olympic champion (80-m hurdles & pentathlon)Irina Rodnina, Soviet figure skaterIrina Slutskaya, Russian world champion figure skaterIrina Tebenikhina, Russian volleyball playerIrina Ufimtseva, Russian freestyle swimmerIrina Livezeanu, Romanian-born American historianIrina, the child protagonist in Magdalen Nabb's 'The Enchanted Horse'.Irina Derevko, KGB and Covenant terrorist, a main character in the Alias seriesIrina Palm, pseudonym of the main character in 2007 film of the same nameIrina Spalko, a fictional Soviet Union KGB agent in the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullIrina Clayton, a.k.a. Choir, a former member of the Xavier Institute student body and the Street Team X-Men in the Marvel Comics UniverseIrina, One of the three sisters in Anton Chekhov's play 'Three Sisters'Irina Kerchenkov, a Russian model in Sarra Manning's Fashionistas book seriesIrina Denali, a member of the Denali coven in the Twilight series by Stephenie MeyerIrina, 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 ClassroomIrina Clockworker, an antagonist from a series of Vocaloid songs known as "The Evillious Chronicles"