# All Slavic languages: the name Chesna



## mateo19

Hello, everyone!

I have an America friend whose name is "Chesna".  I asked her of what origin her name was and she simply said Slavic.  She didn't know which Slavic language it comes from.  I have looked online and also found nothing helpful, other than it means "calm" or "bringing peace".
My concrete question is, from which Slavic language does her name come and in which slavic languages can you find this name?
I have no doubt it would be spelled "Česna" or "Чесна".

Thank you for any information you can give me!  Have a nice day.


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## Athaulf

mateo19 said:


> Hello, everyone!
> 
> I have an America friend whose name is "Chesna".  I asked her of what origin her name was and she simply said Slavic.  She didn't know which Slavic language it comes from.  I have looked online and also found nothing helpful, other than it means "calm" or "bringing peace".
> My concrete question is, from which Slavic language does her name come and in which slavic languages can you find this name?
> I have no doubt it would be spelled "Česna" or "Чесна".



It's definitely not a common name in Croatia, and as far as I know, neither is it anywhere else in former Yugoslavia. 

Also, the name doesn't suggest "peace" or "calm" to me, but rather "honor" (Croatian _čast_, Russian _честь_, and very similar sounding cognates in most, if not all other Slavic languages). In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the literal word _chesna_ (spelled _честна_) is the short feminine form of the Russian adjective _честный_, which means "honorable".


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## jazyk

It reminds me of garlic.


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## mietagosia

Hey!
The name is definitely not Polish. The closest association it brings to my mind is with the word "cześć", which is a common greeting ("hi!") but as a noun also means tribute, worship, veneration, adoration, etc. 

Hope this was of some help 

MietaGosia


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## Kolan

Athaulf said:


> In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the literal word _chesna_ (spelled _честна_) is the short feminine form of the Russian adjective _честный_, which means "honorable".


That's correct (e.g., *люд, пир честнОй, мать честнА(я)*, etc), however, the most common modern meaning would be *honest (чЕстный, -ая, -ое)*. In its first discussed meaning the word *честнА* sounds quite archaic in Russian, although understandable. It may exist in modern Bulgarian.

The most important thing is that "*т*" between "*с*" and "*н*" is not pronounced, so that it sounds like _*чеснА*_.

A proper name *Чес(т)на* is not known in Russian.


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## tram-pam-pam

*Hi*

*Some quick googling ("babynames" websites) gave:
*
*"Chesna - *variant of English and Irish _Chesney_." 
(sorry, as a novice I'm still not allowed to post clickable URLs)

    …even though for _Chesney_ we can easily find:

    "Name *Chesney:*
    Slovakian meaning: peaceful
    Origin: Slovakia
    Continent/Source: Europe and Russia" (??)

ps
But it’s _not_ Russian *name*, albeit to my Russian ears "честный/-ая" is heard clearly.


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## Jana337

tram-pam-pam said:


> *Hi*
> 
> *Some quick googling ("babynames" websites) gave:
> *
> *"Chesna - *variant of English and Irish _Chesney_."
> (sorry, as a novice I'm still not allowed to post clickable URLs)
> 
> …even though for _Chesney_ we can easily find:
> 
> "Name *Chesney:*
> Slovakian meaning: peaceful
> Origin: Slovakia
> Continent/Source: Europe and Russia" (??)
> 
> ps
> But it’s _not_ Russian *name*, albeit to my Russian ears "честный/-ая" is heard clearly.


In Slovak as well as in Czech, "čestný" means "honest", not "peaceful". I do not recognize "Česna" as a name.

I know a similar word, "česno". It means "beehive entrance" and is relatively rare (that is, not well-known outside the bee-keeping community).


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## tram-pam-pam

> not "peaceful


 all-babynames.com, just for example
You can search and find both names… "Origin: Slovakia"...

Yeah, I found this kind of websites rather useless, from ‘etymology’ points of view.  Sometimes misleading. (I’ve never heard some names they claim to be of Russian origin. )
Even though these sites are quite popular and people often refer to their ‘explanations’.


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## mateo19

This is extremely interesting.  So, it seems that these baby name websites are fairly useless and that Chesna isn't a proper name in any of your countries.  I would still like to see what a Slovak would say, although Jana is Czech and to her ear "Chesna" isn't a valid name.  Although Czech and Slovak do have some important differences.  I do appreciate all of your replies though.  I wish you all a pleasant week!


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## JakubikF

There is no such name in Polish either. It can remind a word "чеснок" considering Russian. When I think any Polish word definitely it reminds me the word "czesne" which means tuition fee...


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## Engedi

There is a Polish female name which might be relevant: _Szczęsna - _meaning "the lucky one". The name is a calque of Latin _Felicia_. Nowadays it is rarely in use and sounds very outdated but still listed as an acceptable female name. 
The diminutive form of the name according to the Great Book of Names is _*Częsna.*_


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## katie_here

I found this. It says the name is american of Slavic origin 

*Pronunciation:*Chesna*Gender:*Girl Name*Origin: **Name Meaning:*Slavic name meaning "peaceful."

Edited because on closer inspection, every name in that website is american, even Hebrew and English ones.


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## tram-pam-pam

> It says the name is american of Slavic origin


Having surfed 5-6 babynames websites more), I dare to generalize that the vast majority of them refer to the name as an _American_ one with ‘Slavic origin’ and ‘peaceful’ meaning. 
A kind of a legend with some Slavic flavour, I suppose...) 

Among more or less similar versions I also found two prominent. "Versions". ) _

The girl's name Chesna \ch(es)-na\ is a variant of *Chessa*. (??)__

The baby name Chesna sounds like Chesni and Chesnea. Other similar baby names are Chenay, Chana, Channa, Chasina, Chasta, Cherina, Chesli, Cheslea, *Chesne, Chessni, Chessnea, Chesnie*, Chessy, Chiana, China, Chynna, Chyna, Sheena, Sheina and Shena. 
Chesna is a very rare female first name *and a very rare surname* (source: 1990 U.S. Census). _
 (c) thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Chesna 

And for *Chesney*: _

The *boy's* and girl's name Chesney \ch(es)-ney\ is of *Old English origin*. Place name referring to a *camp*. (??)__
Chesney has 8 variant forms: Chesnea, Chesneigh, Chesnie, Chesni, Chessnea, Chessney, Chessni and Chessnie.
Baby names that sound like Chesney are Chesna and Chasina. 
Chesney is a very rare female first name *and a very popular surname* (source: 1990 U.S. Census)._
 (c) thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Chesney


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## Kolan

tram-pam-pam said:


> And for *Chesney*:
> 
> _The *boy's* and girl's name Chesney \ch(es)-ney\ is of *Old English origin*. Place name referring to a *camp*. (??)_


Talking plants, it could be also *chestnut*. (like chesnok, *чеснок* )


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## stargazer

Hello

what about "češnja"? It's a Slovenian word for cherry or cherry tree.


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## skye

I think Engedi's post is probably the most relevant here. Perhaps your friend's parents liked old, unusual and rare names. 

Or perhaps it's the short form of that Russian adjective that Athaulf mentioned: _честна. _

I'm not so sure about the cherry tree - unless pronunciations in other Slavic languages are more similar to chesna. 

But I very much doubt that anyone would name their child after garlic or chestnut? Perhaps I'm wrong.


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## katie_here

skye said:


> But I very much doubt that anyone would name their child after garlic or chestnut? Perhaps I'm wrong.


 

Oh I don't know.  Victoria and David Beckham named two of theirs after cities and my own neice is called Chelsea (an area in London)!.  I used to work in a primary school and there were a few children there with surnames for first names.


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## dudasd

In this case I'd exclude garlic, because _chest _(part, segment) and _chest _(honour), in spite of being homonyms in some of the Slavic languages, are of quite different roots. 

Anyway, though I couldn't find any confirmation of _Chesna _as a female name, it appeared that it could easily be a hypocoristic of names conisisting of _Chest _(honour) and some other noun, like Čestimira, Čestislava etc. Šimundić in his vocabulary of personal names gives hypocoristics Česka, Česa and Česta; he doesn't mention the form "Česna", but -na is not a rare female ending, at least in South Slavic languages (compare Vesna, Milena, Jasna etc.; btw, Vesna suffered the same assimilation as Česna: Vest + na = Vesna), so it seems like a hypocoristic to me. Hypocoristics make really a creative field and all the variants are linguistically "legal". (If Miodrag can become Danče and Milanka can become Nuna, I don't see why Čestimira couldn't become Česna.  )


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## Duya

stargazer said:


> What about "češnja"? It's a Slovenian word for cherry or cherry tree.



That was my first thought, too. However, in other Slavic languages cherry tree is either along the lines of "višnja" (and Višnja is moderately common Serbian and Croatian name) or "čeresna". Only Slovenian seem to have the "mixed" _češnja_.


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## Medusa_allo_specchio

Hi there,
A bit late, I just wanted to contribute saying that in Bulgarian, there is no common name _Chestna_ nor _Chestimira _or _Chestislava._ I thought it had Serbo-Croatian origin and Dudasd's comments seem to confirm this.
Cherry tree in Bulgarian is _череша_, pronounced as _cherèsha_, nothing to do with _chesna_.


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## sdcp

Mateo19, as Jana wrote, _čestný_ in Slovak means _honest. Chesna (Česna)_ is not a Slovak name.

I also found a word _česno_ which in Czech should stand for the opening in the front wall of the beehive.


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## Goldengirl54

mateo19 said:


> Hello, everyone!
> 
> I have an America friend whose name is "Chesna".  I asked her of what origin her name was and she simply said Slavic.  She didn't know which Slavic language it comes from.  I have looked online and also found nothing helpful, other than it means "calm" or "bringing peace".
> My concrete question is, from which Slavic language does her name come and in which slavic languages can you find this name?
> I have no doubt it would be spelled "Česna" or "Чесна".
> 
> Thank you for any information you can give me!  Have a nice day.


Hello everyone,
    My name is Chesna which is from Lithuanian origin. My four grandparents happen to be from Lithuania. The correct spelling is Cesna. I hope that answers your question. 🙂


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## Panceltic

Goldengirl54 said:


> Hello everyone,
> My name is Chesna which is from Lithuanian origin. My four grandparents happen to be from Lithuania. The correct spelling is Cesna. I hope that answers your question. 🙂


Do you mean Česna? Because Cesna is pronounced »tsesna«.


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## croissant boi

mateo19 said:


> Hello, everyone!
> 
> I have an America friend whose name is "Chesna".  I asked her of what origin her name was and she simply said Slavic.  She didn't know which Slavic language it comes from.  I have looked online and also found nothing helpful, other than it means "calm" or "bringing peace".
> My concrete question is, from which Slavic language does her name come and in which slavic languages can you find this name?
> I have no doubt it would be spelled "Česna" or "Чесна".
> 
> Thank you for any information you can give me!  Have a nice day.


so, in Russian and Ukrainian languages it doesn't exist. I guess it comes from Polish.


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## Drakonica

Polish etymology is:
- cześć (honor, glory) - noun
- czestny (male), czestna (female), czestne (neutral) - adjective - old Polish
- czesny (male), czesna (female), czesne (neutral) - adjective - old Polish

In modern Polish this adjective doesn't exist, but there ish a noun "czesne" - a tuition payments, witch formerly meaned a court fee (an expression of respect for the judge).

So in Polish the root is: honor, glory. And in other slavic languages it can have similar meaning and etymlology.


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## ct18lr78

mateo19 said:


> Hello, everyone!
> 
> I have an America friend whose name is "Chesna".  I asked her of what origin her name was and she simply said Slavic.  She didn't know which Slavic language it comes from.  I have looked online and also found nothing helpful, other than it means "calm" or "bringing peace".
> My concrete question is, from which Slavic language does her name come and in which slavic languages can you find this name?
> I have no doubt it would be spelled "Česna" or "Чесна".
> 
> Thank you for any information you can give me!  Have a nice day.


Hi. I know that this is a very old post but I've been surfing and i just saw this post. My name is Chesna and I've always wondered where my name originated from. I have a story from my father that told me how and why he got to give me that name. I love my name. I always thought that it was unique and I once thought that no one else in the world would have my name. Now that I'm older and the internet gives you the opportunity to see other things, I see that I'm not the only one. In my local area I had a schoolmate that had a similar name like mine (Chezni) and I was often called by her name. Or if someone called me by my name, they would add the z instead of s. It never bothered me. I've also been called soooo much other name because some were not able to pronounce it. Just to mention a few: Chessena, Chestnut, Cheznia, on and on. I think its an authentic name.


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