The Meaning of Baba Yaga’s Name

I'm sure you know who Baba Yaga is, but have you ever wondered what her name means? The answer will shed some light on her role in Slavic folklore as well as her possible origin in Slavic mythology.

Let's uncover some Slavic Lore.

The first part of her name is easy - the word Baba shows up in all Slavic languages and primarily means grandmother or old woman. In Old Russian it could refer to a midwife, sorceress, or fortune teller.

The second part of her name - Yaga is a lot harder to define. Scholars don’t know what it means, but they point to similar words for its potential origin. Here are a few of my favourites.

Mistress of the Woods

The Old Czech word jĕzĕ means “witch’ or ‘legendary evil female being”, and the modern Czech jezínka means “wicked wood nymph’ or ‘dryad”. There’s a theory that sees Baba YagA as the Mistress of the woods, having creatures, and nature elements within her power, concluding that she was once a pagan goddesses of fertility, giving life to all of nature.

Samovila (Wood Nymph) - by Slavic Lore

Snake Goddess of Death

Aleksandr Afanas’ev, the Russian counterpart to the Brothers Grimm, derived the word íaga from Proto-Slavic *ož (oж) and Sanskrit ahi which mean “serpent or snake”. As a folklore character, Baba Yaga is able to turn into snakes, and sometimes has snake-like attributes. Some consider Baba Yaga an ancient Slavic goddess of death who originally had the form of a snake.

Drawlloween Serpent By IrenHorrors
https://www.instagram.com/irenhorrors/
https://www.deviantart.com/irenhorrors/art/Drawlloween-Serpent-771773484

Grandmother Plague

In Old Church Slavonic, the first Slavic literary language, there’s a word jęza/jędza that means disease or illness. In Bulgaria, illness was originally conceived of as a demon, and still to this day terms for it are used in curses. They may derive from a proto-Slavic word *(j)egā or *(j)ezā, meaning "female demon of illness".

In a Macedonian tale there’s a character similar to Baba YagA, called Baba Chuma, which means Grandmother Plague. At the end of the story, after being defeated by the hero, she said to him
“I have traveled all around the world and have hurt half of its people, but no one has ever made me suffer as you have.” and then she burst like a cooked walnut and released a deadly stench. I just LOVE how she tried to guilt the hero into pitying her, before attempting to kill him one last time.

The Forbidden Name

In many Russian tales her name is not capitalized, so it looks more like a description than a name. This could suggest that ‘baba yaga’ was once a euphemism for another name, too holy or frightening to be spoken out loud, now long forgotten.

Baba Yaga has appeared in thousands of Slavic tales throughout the centuries. She’s not only a villain, but often a helper, and sometimes both. There's so much richness and complexity to her character, and the many possible meanings of her name reflect this.

Baba Yaga as a Goddess - by Slavic Lore

Which one was your favourite? And do YOU have any theories about her name? Let me know in the comments.