Oleg (rendered in Cyrillic as Олег) is an East Slavic, and particularly Russian, given name. Its Ukrainian variant is pronounced Oleh. It may derive from the Scandinavian name Helgi, which means "Holy."
The name has been bourne by a number of rulers of the Kievan Rus, including:
- Oleg of Novgorod, 10th century leader of the Kievan Rus and conqueror of Kiev.
- Oleg Svyatoslavich, son of Svyatoslav I of Kiev and governor of the Derevlians.
- Oleg I of Chernigov, 11th century knyaz of Chernigov.
- Oleg II of Chernigov, briefly Knyaz of Chernigov in 1164, at various times knyaz of Kursk and other Rus polities, died 1180.
- Oleg III of Chernigov, knyaz of Chernigov 1202-1204.
- Oleg IV of Chernigov, ruled 1223-1224.
- Oleg V of Chernigov, ruled 1285-1306.
- Oleg the Infamous, late 11th and early 12th century knyaz of Volhynia, Tmutarakan, Novgorod-Severskiy, and other holdings.
- Oleg of Pronsk, lord of Pronsk 1207, died circa 1217.
- Oleg of Galicia, knyaz of Galitzia 1187-1188.
- Oleg the Fair, prince of Riazan and Pronsk 1252-1258.
- Oleg of Bryansk, 13th century prince of Bryansk and Chernigov, declared a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church.
- Oleg the Great, prince of Riazan 1349-1371, 1372-1380, 1382-1402
- Oleg of Vorgol, prince of Vorgol and Rylsk 1245-1283.
Other people bearing the name include:
- Oleg Antonov, aircraft design pioneer.
- Oleg Atkov, Russian cosmonaut.
- Oleg Betin, Russian politician.
- Oleg Bogomolov, Russian politician.
- Oleg Cassini, American clothing designer.
- Oleg Chirkunov, Russian politician.
- Oleg Chukhontsev, winner of the Pushkin Prize.
- Oleg Gazenko, Soviet space exploration pioneer involved with the Sputnik program.
- Oleg Gordievsky, KGB colonel and highest-ranking Soviet defector to the West.
- Oleg Kalugin, author and former KGB general.
- Oleg Lisogor, Ukrainian swimmer.
- Oleg Lobov, Soviet and Russian politician.
- Oleg Lundstrem, Soviet-era jazz musician.
- Oleg Makarov, Soviet cosmonaut.
- Oleg Malyshkin, Russian politician.
- Oleg Ovsyannikov, Russian skater.
- Oleg Penkovsky, Soviet colonel and spy for the United States.
- Oleg Perepetchenov, Russian weightlifter.
- Oleg Popov, Soviet-era circus clown.
- Oleg Protasov, Soviet soccer player.
- Oleg Saitov, Russian boxer.
- Oleg Skorlukov, Russian politician.
- Oleg Stepanov (judoka), Soviet judo champion.
- Oleg Stepanov (polymath), Russian game theorist and mind sports developer.
- Oleg Tabakov, Russian actor.
- Oleg Taktarov, sambo champion.
- Oleg Vasiliev, Russian skater and Olympic gold medalist.
- Oleh Venglinsky, Ukrainian soccer player.
- Oleg Yankovsky, Russian actor.
The Oleg 57 was the name of a steam frigate in the Imperial Russian Navy, commissioned in 1857.