Is Natasha in the Bible?

No one named Natasha appears in the Bible. Natasha is the Russian short form of Natalya, or Natalia, a name from the Latin natalis, “birthday,” which Christians used for the birthday of Christ. Through Natalia, Natasha means “Christmas Day.”

What does Natasha mean?

Natasha carries the meaning of the name it shortens. Natalia began as a Roman name, from the Latin natalis, “relating to birth.” Christians used that word especially for the birth of Jesus, which Church Latin called natale Domini, “the birthday of the Lord,” and from that use Natalia took the meaning “Christmas Day.”

Is Natasha a Russian name?

Yes. In Russian and Belarusian, Natasha is the familiar, or diminutive, form of Natalya. The heroine of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, first published in the 1860s, is Natalya Rostova, and the novel calls her Natasha. In the English-speaking world Natasha has been given as a name in its own right only since the 20th century.

In the United States it first entered the list of the 1,000 most common names for girls in 1965. It rose to 70th place in 1986, ranked 929th in 2024 and dropped out of the list in 2025. Other languages spell it Natascha (German and Dutch), Natacha (French and Portuguese), Nataša (Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian and Serbian) and Natasza (Polish). Tasha is its own short form.

Is Natasha in the Bible?

No. Natasha has no meaning in the Bible, because the name is not there. It is not Hebrew or Greek, and no English translation uses either Natasha or Natalia. The name’s only link to Scripture is the birth its meaning refers to. Matthew places the birth of Jesus “in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king” (Matthew 2:1). Luke tells how Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem for a census, and continues: “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:6–7). Natalia, and Natasha with it, point to that day.

Saint Natalia and the name day

Natasha is a short form, so its saints are those of Natalia. The best known is Natalia of Nicomedia, whose husband Adrian, a Roman officer, was martyred in the early fourth century. The Orthodox Church commemorates the couple together on 26 August. In Russia, where the Orthodox Church keeps the older Julian calendar, that feast falls on 8 September in the civil calendar, and it is the main name day for women called Natalya or Natasha.

Related reading

• Natalia Is Not in the Bible — the Name Means “Christmas Day”
• Natalie Is Not in the Bible — but It Is Made from Christmas
• Where Is the Christmas Story Found in Scripture?