Gender: Feminine
Origin: Lithuanian
Meaning: “snowdrop.” literally “little snow”
(snye-GWOH-lay)
The name is derived from the Lithuanian sniegas meaning “snow”/the suffix of uolė is a common Lithuanian feminine suffix denoting smallness.
In Lithuanian, this is also the name for Snow White and it is the name for the snowdrop flower.
Its designated name-day is January 15.
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Croatian/Bulgarian/Serbian/Macedonian/Russian
Meaning: “snow.”
(snyeh-ZHAH-nah)
The name is derived from the Slavonic element sneg, meaning “snow.” Other sources contend that the later part is derived from the word žena meaning woman, however, there seems to be a masculine form that pre-dates the feminine form, Snežan, and in that case, it would be rather unlikely that the suffix is related to žena. Snow White is often transliterated as Snezhana in Bulgarian, Russian and other South Slavic languages. In 2005, it was the 5th most popular female name in Macedonia.
Other forms of the name include:
Southern Slavic masculine forms are: Snežan, Snježko and Snježan.
The designated name-day in Bulgaria is December 14, in other countries, it is August 5.