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Baby names

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

Original poster

Advice needed re: choice of name for a boy

32 replies

E11a · 05/05/2010 14:22

Hello,
I am expecting my first child very soon. We still haven't decided on the name for him.
I am thinking of naming him Vladimir but my parents fear that he would get bullied at school with such a name and would rather I gave him an English name.
We live in London and I think it might not be such a problem as so many children have foreign names here anyway. Please let me know what do you think of this name.
By the way, the short version of Vladimir is not "Vlad", but 'Vova' or 'Volodya'.

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Original poster
E11a · 11/05/2010 15:05

Thank you umf
I prefer Vladimir too in comparison to other names you mention

OP posts:
umf · 10/05/2010 21:13

I love Vladimir. It's been on our longlist. Definitely not too outlandish for a London baby - especially as you're actually Russian.

We also liked Alexander - Sasha. But Vladimir much better.

Two other vaguely Russian names I've seen used here lately are Nicolai and Arkady.

Original poster
E11a · 09/05/2010 08:21

Yes, I can see your association with shampoo... I was hoping he would make an appearance by the Victory Day (today) but no sign of it yet

OP posts:
crunchbag · 09/05/2010 00:58

I think Vladimir is a great name and Vova as a nickname sounds fine. Don't like Timofei, reminds me of a shampoo.

Original poster
E11a · 08/05/2010 23:35

Hi Iskra, thank you for your input. As far as Russian names go, my husband only likes Vladimir or possibly Timofei. What do you think of the later btw?

OP posts:
iskra · 08/05/2010 22:10

A Russian friend called his son Felix Vitaly (?sp). I think Vladimir is great. What about Pavel?

Original poster
E11a · 08/05/2010 14:39

Thank you, Manda25. Imir does not work: all Russian names have up to 10 variants, but they are all set - we don't invent them, they are just there already

OP posts:
Manda25 · 08/05/2010 14:03

Vladimir is a great name ...i would call him Imir for short

Original poster
E11a · 07/05/2010 13:05

He is due tomorrow. Will see if he is going to make an appearance on time

OP posts:
annasophia · 07/05/2010 12:55

Definately Vladimir! Much more interesting/less common than Alexander and lovely to reflect his Russian heritage!

Original poster
E11a · 06/05/2010 21:15

It all sounds very encouraging, thank you very much people!

OP posts:
oceryo · 06/05/2010 19:13

Alexander

MamaLazarou · 06/05/2010 18:24

Vladimir is an excellent, excellent name.

Rockbird · 06/05/2010 18:00

I'm married to a Tim so I'll like it

Original poster
E11a · 06/05/2010 17:59

Ok, I am going to tell my husband that nobody seems to like Timofei so far, so it's a choice between Alexander and Vladimir then

OP posts:
Original poster
E11a · 06/05/2010 17:53

Thank you very much for supporting Vladimir!
As far as Russian names go, it's quite unusual for newborns to be called this name lately even in Russia itself. As far as Alexander is concerned, it has remained the most popular boy's name in Russia since 1978 so it is very widespread and it's a "safe" and international name. Also, my first cousin and also my husband's cousin are both called Alexander (despite one being English and the other Russian), so maybe to call our son Alexander would be too much? Thrifty, you are right, we could call him Sasha or Alex at home - both are safe options.
So, the dilemma is: whether to go for unusual name like Vladimir or for a safe one like Alexander?

What about Timofei or Timothy? Timofei is a very old Russian name - an equivalent of English "Timothy".

Ivan is sort of... I don't know. It's OK, but probably too old fashioned these days. Also, nobody in my family ever had this name, and I think it's nice to pick a name which has a tradition behind it

OP posts:
twosofar · 06/05/2010 17:50

Vladimir sounds a good strong name for a child and a man - cool and interesting

Tim is a bit of a wet lettuce kind of name (apologies to mothers of Tims but it's just howit sounds to me) and sadly Timofei sounds like you can't pronounce Timothy.

Definitely Vladimir (but agree with the Vova/vulva thing)

Rockbird · 06/05/2010 17:36

Prefer Volodya as well. Vovo sounds a bit, well, like a car

Rockbird · 06/05/2010 17:35

Definitely use a Russian name. Despite the fact that you don't have to be Irish to use an Irish name blah blah, not many people can really carry off Russian names like Vladimir so if you have a reason, go for it! There are a squillion different nationalities in London anyway so he won't stand out.

thrifty · 06/05/2010 17:23

wasn't Ivan terrible though? whereas alexander was great

imahappycamper · 06/05/2010 17:21

What about Ivan?

thrifty · 06/05/2010 17:19

what about something like alexander (or russian equivalent of) then you can use sacha as a nn. personally i think though you should use vladimir if thats what you like, at least he wont be one of many in his class.

mathanxiety · 06/05/2010 17:09

Oh, please pick a good Russian name! Vladimir is great. You could use Volodya instead of Vovo.

Original poster
E11a · 05/05/2010 18:31

Hmm... I didn't realise that it sounded similar to something rude.
Oh well, perhaps we shall stick to something safe like Tim then, although my husband is not convinced.

OP posts:
CantSleepWontSleep · 05/05/2010 15:37

Just to answer your question about how 'Vova' sounds to the English ear - IMO it's a bit too similar to vulva, which could be a terrible source of amusement to other children (once they are old enough to have heard of a vulva of course).

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