Tanja

Tanja is the Finnish and German spelling of Tanya, a Russian diminutive of Tatiana that long ago escaped its parent name to stand alone. Tatiana traces to a Roman family name of uncertain origin, possibly Sabine, later canonized through a fourth-century martyr. In Finland the J stands in for the Y sound, giving the name a crisp two-syllable snap. It had a moment across Central Europe in the 1970s and 80s, which lends it a faint retro glamour, like a ski lodge photograph. Unfussy, sporty, warm-eyed, Tanja carries itself with athletic Scandinavian ease.