Valery

Valery is the Russian masculine form of the Latin Valerius, from valere, "to be strong, to be well." Valery Chkalov, the daredevil aviator who flew nonstop from Moscow over the North Pole to Vancouver in 1937, pressed the name into Soviet legend. Three syllables with a light final y, it reads softer than its meaning suggests, buoyant rather than martial. The nickname Valera lands with affectionate bluntness, a schoolyard shortcut that stays with a man his whole life. Feminine in English ears but firmly masculine in Russia, it offers a name that opens with a salute and closes with a smile.