With the Russian invasion of Ukraine underway, Mondonomo has published a special dictionary edition devoted to the Ukrainian given names, their transliteration and etymology. The work can be considered as the very first Reference Dictionary of Ukrainian Names. This is the definitive scholarly reference for a new generation of Ukraine-centred researchers and amateurs. This dictionary is a celebration of Ukraine’s rich cultural heritage bringing to light the country’s most important names from prehistory to the present. It chronicles the naming patterns within Ukraine at a time when the country’s people, culture, and language are facing destruction and devastation. This move comes out of solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

The dictionary, being the first attempt in the Ukrainian-English language pair, represents a milestone development in the combined interdisciplinary fields of comparative name research, translation studies, sociology, history and some other disciplines. The authors present a work, which is engaging and rich in its reach across the said domains. It has been built on the rich heritage of the preceding Ukrainian authors who have published the relevant dictionaries of Ukrainian names that used to be mostly unavailable to the general English-speaking public because of their insufficient visibility and the language barrier. Thus, one of the main aims of the Dictionary is to expand the current framework, to bring Ukrainian and English names into dialogue, to demonstrate the intersections between them, and to contribute to the understanding of how the fascinating national patterns merge in the process of the global world view development.

Given that this Dictionary is likely to establish itself as a major work of reference in the comparative English-Ukrainian onomastic research, it is inspirational to see that it contributes to the study of name origins as well – the field that had “not been developing until the twentieth century in some areas, and being still today at a formative stage in others” (The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, 2016).

This is a compelling account of Ukraine’s cultural history, told through the prism of a carefully curated selection of key names arguing for a distinctly Ukrainian cultural identity. Organized thematically across nine chapters, the Reference Dictionary contains more than 6.000 Ukrainian given names with their corresponding English pairs, while accompanying information reveal the origin and significance behind the names. About 2.000 pet forms of names weave Ukraine’s dynamic and inextinguishable folk traditions through the dictionary, providing naming texture as well as a sense of the nation’s living history. All in all, it includes over 8.000 up-to-date dictionary entries with Ukrainian script, official Romanized form and non-standard spellings; a guide to Ukrainian pronunciation; and a section on menu terms. This reference is an invaluable tool for researchers, travellers, students, name-givers and businesspersons.

The content of the Dictionary suggests opportunities for further efforts, making it an exceptional starting point both for academics looking for innovative ideas and common people willing to learn something new about an unfamiliar culture.

A portion of proceeds from the sale of the Dictionary will be donated to help Ukrainian refugees in need.