From the city of Rome, ultimately from Latin 'Roma,' the eternal city of the Roman Empire.
Roma has more than one lineage, which gives it unusual richness. In feminine use, it is often taken directly from the Italian name of the city of Rome, making it a place-name that carries centuries of classical and imperial resonance. In Russian, however, Roma is also a masculine diminutive of Roman.
These two histories exist side by side: one architectural and geographical, the other familial and affectionate. That dual identity helps explain why Roma can feel both stately and intimate, grand in one context and warmly familiar in another. As a feminine name derived from Rome, Roma inherits the imaginative weight of one of the world’s most symbolically charged cities.
Rome has meant empire, pilgrimage, law, ruins, art, and eternal cityhood; all of that hovers faintly behind the name. In older mythology, Roma was also a personification of the city itself, which gives the name a classical, almost allegorical air. As a masculine Russian nickname, meanwhile, it has the softer social feel that many Slavic diminutives have: friendly, lived-in, and conversational rather than formal.
Over time, Roma has moved through several perceptions. In some places it has sounded Continental and elegant, in others concise and modern. It enjoyed real popularity in parts of Europe and Latin America, where its brevity and open vowels made it stylish without being severe.
Literary and cultural associations give it an urbane sheen, but it never loses its simplicity. Roma is one of those rare names that can suggest both ancient stone and everyday affection, empire and nickname, city and person.