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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Shortening a long list

54 replies

Iamthecaptainnow · 03/04/2019 21:16

Trying to narrow down our long list for girls name. DH is Russian but we will be living in the U.K. for the foreseeable future, so name needs to work here as well. Any views on the following?

Alisa
Anna
Daria/Darya/Dariya
Dessa
Inessa
Irina
Ivana
Klara
Larisa/Larissa/Lara
Magdalina
Marianna
Marta
Natalya
Nina

I did say it was a long list!

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CakeRattleandRoll · 02/07/2019 14:31

Inessa and Nina. (Although my favourite was Larissa.)

Okyah · 01/07/2019 22:02

Anna, Klara, Nina, Natalya and Alisa, are my favourites. I really like them all.

Owlbert · 01/07/2019 21:49

Love Dessa and Valentina!

Justus22 · 01/07/2019 19:30

I like Natalya best but can't stand shortening Talia. X

AverageMummy · 01/07/2019 16:18

Alisa - lovely
Anna - beautiful classic
Daria/Darya/Dariya - oh dear I like this too
Dessa - not a fan
Inessa - ok
Irina - ok
Ivana - nice but does remind me of Trump
Klara - love love love love
Larisa/Larissa/Lara - all lovely
Magdalina - prefer Magdalena - this version would cause a lot of spelling issues
Marianna - Ok but not a fan
Marta - don’t like the idea of being called martyr
Natalya - beautiful
Nina - ok

None are terrible though which I don’t think I ever say on a list that long !

PepsiLola · 01/07/2019 15:48

My DD was going to be Anna, but ended up being another A name with family connections.

I think Anna is classic and sophisticated

ButterflyOfFreedom · 01/07/2019 15:46

My favourites are Anna, Marta, Klara & Nina.

MarshaBradyo · 01/07/2019 15:44

Valentina is lovely and agree no shortening

MarshaBradyo · 01/07/2019 15:43

Love Natalya the most with that spelling and full name (not Nat)

Rebecklet · 10/04/2019 19:31

I'm no help as I liked two that you cut: Larissa and Lara.

Of the shortlist Anna would get my vote - every Anna I have known has been lovely, but I have known a lot of them (as adults, not babies).

ifthewallscouldtalk · 08/04/2019 21:16

Magdalina! It's great!

Inessa is also really lovely - unusual and true to the Russian heritage but pretty and spelled in a straightforward way. Love it.

Marta would have to be spelled this way really or she would just be Martha. It would get so boring correcting people. Martha is a relatively common name.

Don't like Marianne. Reminds me of the 70s in the uk. And not in a good way.

Nina is nice, but one wouldn't think of it being Russian.

TatianaLarina · 08/04/2019 21:08

My favs are Inessa and Marta - I think if you want to pronounce it like that you’ll need to spell it without the ‘h’ or she will just become Martha.

Original poster
Iamthecaptainnow · 08/04/2019 17:21

Having shown my list to DH, we're down to:

Anna (he likes)
Inessa (I love)
Marianna (front runner but not sure either of us love it yet)
Martha (spelled so, but pronounced Marta- maybe that would cause a headache to repeatedly correct people?)
Nina

He also likes Valentina, but I don't like Val or Tina so for me it's a nonstarter.

Any views? Smile

OP posts:
whitehalleve · 05/04/2019 07:36

I love Anna and Natalya

Original poster
Iamthecaptainnow · 05/04/2019 06:40

Agree about Klara, but then Clara seems to lose that slightly exotic feeling. Maybe it can go from the list, because so far we've only got rid of Ivana!

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MsMustDoBetter · 05/04/2019 00:19

Nina or Anna

I like Klara with a C, K names are a bit....

StargazyDrifter · 05/04/2019 00:03

Marta
Inna (rather than Inessa)
Clara

I also quite like Taisia (autocorrects to 'raisins'!)

MyDcAreMarvel · 04/04/2019 23:41

Anastasia is lovely could use Anna for short.

AlliKaneErikson · 04/04/2019 23:35

Love Lara, Alise and Natalya.

Sexnotgender · 04/04/2019 12:54

Love Marta, I used to work with a lady called Marta and she was absolutely lovely.

Original poster
Iamthecaptainnow · 04/04/2019 12:53

Daria would likely become Dasha for every day use, as per Maria/Masha. The nicknames are something to consider, I suppose.

For some reason Marianna seems very English to me- I think it bring Marianne from... Sense and Sensibility to mind!

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WeepingWillowWeepingWino · 04/04/2019 12:48

Alisa
Irina
Larisa
Nina

Maryjoxk · 04/04/2019 12:48

I really like Marta and Marianna
Daria is quite nice too

TatianaLarina · 04/04/2019 12:48

Personally I think Anna and Nina are boring and don’t reflect the Russian heritage.

Original poster
Iamthecaptainnow · 04/04/2019 12:46

We like Anna a lot, but it seems a bit boring/plain. Very classic, but maybe a bit unimaginative? I like that some of the best other options stand out a bit more and sound more Russian.

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