Dmitry

Dmitry is the Russian form of Demetrius, from the Greek Demetrios, devoted to Demeter, goddess of the harvest. It's a name thick with Russian history: Dmitry Donskoy, the fourteenth-century prince who defeated the Mongols at Kulikovo; Dmitry Shostakovich, whose symphonies carried the country through the Soviet century; the several False Dmitrys of the Time of Troubles, pretenders to the throne. Two syllables, the consonant cluster at the start a small obstacle, the ee at the end a bright payoff. Dmitry reads strong and classical, a name of cathedrals, concert halls, and long novels that do not soften at the edges.