Quote Originally Posted by Lt. Columbo
sort of logical i guess. but why the божья? (the word ladybird is also pretty weird now that i think about it...)
so, i looked it up and apparently the ladybird was named after the Christian expression "our Lady, the Virgin Mary. why, still dont know
There was a generally accepted belief that ladybirds are very nice creatures - beautiful and usefull. A lot of ladybirds meant that there are fewer aphides and other plant pests, thus a better harvest. Also Slavs thought that ladybirds are messengers between people and God(s). Ladybirds were even used to tell fortunes or were asked for help. The remainder of these beliefs is a tradition that is still alive among young kids - to catch a ladybird and wait for it to fly away from your finger, while repeating the traditional verses. The older people were saying "Божья коровка, полети на небо, принеси нам хлеба, черного и белого, только не горелого", modern kids say more meaningless but more understandable for them "Божья коровка, полети на небо, там твои детки кушают конфетки" (there are many other versions). It's obvious that a ladybird ALWAYS flies away which causes a lot of excitement.

PS. And I've read somewhere that in many European languages it's named after Virgin Mary or has other references to God in it's name.