Jarka
Diminutive form of Jaroslava - “The glory of spring”
Jarka is the diminutive form of the name Jaroslava.
The name Jaroslava is of slavic origin and is found in quite large numbers in the Czech and Slovak republics.
The meaning of Jaroslava is “The glory of Spring”. The name Jaroslava is, then, often given to girls born in the Spring.
Strangely though, Jaroslava’s name day, St. Jaroslava’s day, is the 1st of July in the Czech Republic - one would have thought that, given the meaning of the name Jaroslava, St. Jaroslava’s day would be sometime in the Spring.
I imagine, however, that for all Czech Jaroslavas named because they were born in spring and not on St. Jaroslava’s day this provides them with two celebrations - their birthday and their name day. Lucky old Czech Jaroslava!
In Slovakia, however, Jaroslava will have her name day in spring. The slovak St. Jaroslava’s day falls on the 26th of April. There will be no double celebrations for our Slovak Jaroslava then.
While the name Jaroslava is quite common in Slavic countries other than the Czech and Slovak republics, its spelling can vary.
In Poland it’s Jarosława, in Russia it’s Ярослава and in many cases, migrant Jaroslava’s use the spelling Yaroslava (especially in the USA).
Similarly, the Russian form of Jarka is Ярка or Yarka.
jarka 2002
