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Baby names

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Original poster

Strong Russian names?

61 replies

NinjaKangaroo · 08/02/2014 23:55

I'm Russian born and bred. Don't live there now, and have a DD named Sofia.

I like Artem for a boy...I like strong sounding names for girls (although I admit Sofia doesn't match that but that was more down to ex) but maybe a long elegant name (like Anastasia) which can be shortened?

Any ideas, as I'm stuck?

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ProfondoRosso · 11/02/2014 16:02

I love Yekaterina. One of my favourite actresses, Yekaterina Golubeva, died a couple of years ago and she was a brilliant, creative woman.

For boys, I'm a big fan of Andrei and Arseny (after Tarkovsky) but I know a name with 'arse' in it might be tricky in Anglophone countries! Wink

My friend's boyfriend is called Pacha (I admit I don't know what it's short for), but I love that for a boy.

NaggingNellie · 11/02/2014 15:58

Galia

Alillia

Tanya

Anya

Natalia

Natasha

coffeeinbed · 11/02/2014 15:56

Oh, sorry.
Missed the born and bred bit, in which case you are obi. aware of all this.
Blush

coffeeinbed · 11/02/2014 15:54

Anastassya would be an Assya, generally.

coffeeinbed · 11/02/2014 15:53

Short version of Svetlana can be Lana.
Which is nice.
Irina is lovely, pronunciation can be trouble.

I like Nina.

tigrou · 11/02/2014 14:51

How about Vladlena, or a similar power type name for boys : Vlad, Vladimir, Vsyevolod - can't get much stronger than that!
Also love Antonina (both strong and cute) or Anton.
Varvara, Zhanna, Zoya, Izolda for girls
Abram, Viktor, Lev for boys

steppemum · 10/02/2014 20:32

wow, I had no idea about Natasha!!

Irena I think is lovely in the Russian pronunciation but likely to become Irene in English?

Elena is another one with interesting pronunciation, in German it is pronounced like Eleanor, but in Russian - El lay na which is pretty.

When we were in Kazakhstan, a very popular Russian name was Yaraslav, for boys and Yaraslava for girls. The girl I knew was Yara for short.

(secretly hoping you will go for Svetlana!)

Nadezhda has such a lovely meaning, it means Hope.

soontobeslendergirl · 10/02/2014 12:40

I like Anastasia and know one shortened to Tasia always.

Katerina goes really nicely with Sofia too.

For boys, I really like Gregori/y but not sure how Russian it is Blush

Nataleejah · 10/02/2014 11:41

Natalia for a girl Blush

For a boy
Yegor or Igor

florascotia · 10/02/2014 08:38

I met a very impressive older Russian lady some time ago. Her name was Irena (Ih-RAY-nah). I think it means 'peace', which can only be good.

mumbaisapphirebluespruce · 10/02/2014 00:15

I love, love, love Anastasia. I've been watching the Sochi Olympics today and heard someone announce an Anastasia, and the pronunciation in Russian is so lovely, much nicer than how it will get said in the UK. I'm not going to do it any justice trying to spell it out phonetically, but here goes, it was
Ana-stah-seeeeya with the focus on the seeeeya bit, as opposed to the way I think Brits would say it, which is Anna-stays-yah, which has more focus on the 'stays' bit.

Sorry a pointless ramble, I think it is a beautiful name, either way it's pronounced, although I secretly hope you would go for and encourage the Russian pronunciation. I would go for it. Don't worry about 50 shades. I haven't read it. It's not a compulsory read. It wouldn't be my automatic connection.

Xfirefly · 09/02/2014 23:55

Svetlana I love. if it's not Russian then please correct me Smile

Umnitsa · 09/02/2014 23:51

Elizaveta
Marina
Nina
Olga
Alexandra
Valentina

jkklpu · 09/02/2014 14:08

Milena (Mila) and Alexei are my favourites

AdoraBell · 09/02/2014 14:01

Thanks Math I had no idea.

SantanaLopez · 09/02/2014 12:41

These names are all fabulous Grin

Nastia is another nickname isn't it? Pity about the 'nasty' link because it sounds lovely.

tomverlaine · 09/02/2014 10:22

Masha is short for Maria - similarly you get Dasha as a shortened form of Daria and nasha for naria

Whichonetochoose · 09/02/2014 08:56

How about Elizabeth (Elizaveta in Russian)?

crashbangboom · 09/02/2014 08:39

Tatiana - Tania as nn?

Natalia

Love Katerina

Britishseamonkey · 09/02/2014 08:35

What's Masha short for? I always liked Masha
I like Zoya too- which I understand to be the Russian equivalent of Zoe? Meaning life??

tomverlaine · 09/02/2014 07:53

Larissa (Lara)
Daria
Inna

baskingseals · 09/02/2014 07:45

I love Tatiana and Zinaida. I also like Oksana. Beautiful names.

winkywinkola · 09/02/2014 07:44

Anya

TamerB · 09/02/2014 07:42

Google 'Russian names for girls' or ' Russian names for boys' and you get alphabetical lists.

mathanxiety · 09/02/2014 07:37

Natasha is a term used for sex slaves. It's a sort of generic/fantasy name for young women from Eastern Europe/Russia in the minds of people who have an interest in forgetting their humanity.

I like:
Irina
Zinaida
Zoya
Nadezhda

Anton
Lev
Marat
Stanislav
Yuri