Slovak female name Illya, Ilyka, and Ilona

Kristine Smets

This is my first foray in Slovak records. Can someone tell me whether the name Illya, Ilyka, and Ilona are all variations of the English Helen? Also what does Matveja at the end of a name mean? As in Ilyka Murin Matveja, the name of the mother in the attached record?

1878 BAPT Michaël Ilyesin K.jpg

Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books, 1592-1935, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V13N-FHG : 19 July 2017), Michael Jlycsin, 12 May 1878; citing Baptism, Legnava, Stará Ľubovňa, Slovakia, Odbor Archivnictva (The Archives of the Republic), Slovakia; FHL microfilm 1,792,640, image 154.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

The record is in Latin, not Slovak (agricola "farmer", uxor eius "his wife", but also Joannes rather than Jan, etc.). (The pre-printed parts are in Hungarian.)

Number 11. Born 8 May 1878, baptized 12 May 1878

Child: Michael, boy, legitimate

Parents: Joannes Ilycsin farmer GrC, Ilyka Murin Matveja GrC his wife

Residence: Lagnó no. 13

Godparents: Joannes Hriczor Vanyo, Maria Stefancsik, GrCatholics, commoners, Lagnó

Officiant: the same (Gregorius Beszku??, parson of Lagnó)

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I believe 1874 number 3 is their marriage (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-61Q9-FYD?i=63&cc=1554443):

3. 8 February 1874

Joannes, son of Andreas Ilycsissin farmer of Lagno; Ilyka, daughter of Mathias Murin farmer of Sztarina

Residence: Lagnó no. 13, Sztarina no. 28

Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic

Age: 25 years, 21 years

Single, single

Witnesses: Joannes Kopcsak farmer of Lagnó, Joannes Hobko farmer of Lagnó

Officiant: the same (Gr. Beszkid?? parson)

Announced

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Ilona is Hungarian for Helen; I believe it is also used in Slovak. Ilka and Ilyka are diminutives of it. I believe Ilyka is /eey-kah/, i.e. the 'ly' is the palatalized-L sound that English speakers (and modern Hungarian speakers) cannot easily tell apart from consonantal /y/ as in "yellow".

The marriage record reinforces my conclusion that Matveja is basically "of Matthew/Matthias", i.e. a patronymic -- there were probably multiple Murin families in Sztarina and Lagnó, so the parson felt it necessary to specify that the mother was the Ilka Murin who was Matt Murin's daughter. (Mat(t)hias -- which in English can be Matthew or Matthias -- is generally Matúš or Matej in Slovak, but other Slavic languages have variants with a /v/ sound, such as Russian Matvei, so we're probably looking at a Rusyn variant on the name.)