Alexandra - nn for a girl?

[Umnitsa]

Russian mother / American father in London are trying to come up with the most beautiful name in the world for their first daughter... (well, the mother is, whilst the father is happy with the veto right!) We also want something that can be easily pronounced and have positive connotations in both languages.

Alexandra is on the short list. I am thinking of using Olesya / Alesya / Lesya as a nickname. It is quite popular in Russia and Ukraine (spelt as Olesya, pronounced Alesya), but I am wondering whether in London it may be perceived as a trying-too-hard made-up name. I understand there is a similar-sounding Italian Alessia but it makes me think of the Alessi brand. We could stick to Alexia / Lexie which are pretty close to Alesya as well, but it doesn't sound quite right in Russian, and I don't want her to pronounce her name differently depending on the language she is speaking.

Sasha is, of course, another good nn for Alexandra, but it's the name of my godson who is my best friend's son, so it will be almost like having cousins with the same name.

Would welcome your views on Alesya - and any other alternatives!

Thanks

Personally I love Lexie, but appreciate your reasons not to use it.

Alesya is beautiful. I think if you were English it could be perceived as trying too hard, but with the russian connection it is fine.

Alexandra is a beautiful name, it would be on my shortlist if it wasnt my cousins name.

Why not just Alex?

I know one who is known as Allie, don't know if that would work in Russian though.

Olesya is lovely (looks much nicer written in Cyrillic though - Олеся )

What about Sanya or Sashenka, both diminuitives of Alexandra, but not as nice as Olesya

Hmmm......mumsnet doesn't like my cyrillic script .

Thank you all for encouraging comments.

Marina - love Sashenka but it's a derivation of Sasha which is my friend's son name and I'd rather not use it as a main nickname.

Fimbo - Alex is too curt and masculine for my liking, and anyway it does not exist in Russian as a girl's name.

I like the name Alexandra and I like the nickname Alex best.

Would you consider other similar names like Alice, Alicia, Alissa, Alina, Aliyah, Allegra, Aurora or Aurelia?

CapitalText - thank you for the alternative suggestions. None of them work in Russian (except Alina which I am not keen on) and would sound too pretentious.

Also, our last name starts with St, so I want to avoid names ending on -ss or -x.

Anechka
Angelena
Aniya
Asenka

Alesya sounds a lot like Alicia - is there a Russian name to match that?

I know a Polish girl who is called Aleksandra but is known as Ola, which I always think is pretty.

How about Alix? It was the name the Czarina Alexandra was known by in her family of birth.

Would you consider Anastasia? (Asya, Nastia)
Natalia?
Tatiana?
Valentina?

I went to school with an Alessandra. Have always loved it and think it sounds softer than Alexandra. Although I think Alexandra is lovely

Another nickname for Alexandra is Tiggy, sounds unlikely I know but I believe there was a princess who was called Tiggy in the nursery as a nickname .......

Xenia
Sanya
Sashenka
Sashia
Samarina
Zaneta
Zina
Katrina
Anya
Lydia
Angelika
Irisa
Krist ina
Lizette
Maiya
Marianne
Nina
Zinerva
Sonia
Sofia
Tamryn
Tanya
Valentina

Thank you for the suggestions!

Alix is nice but ends in x (our last name starts with S).

I actually like Alessandra more than Alexandra as well, it does sound softer, but we have no Italian roots...

Love Xenia but when pronounced Russian way [Kseh-nia] rather that English [Zenia].

Love Anastasia but again the pronunciation is different: [AnastahsIA ]vs [AnastAYzha], plus the usual nickname is Nastya which is quite close to "nasty" in English.

Natalia would be great but that's the name of my cousin's daughter (incidentally, born exactly a year before mine is due!)

Antonina
Victoria
Zinaida
Irina
Izolda
Ksenia (love this name too)
Clementina
Margarita
Nadezhda
Rozalina
Julia/Yuliya
?

Thank you for your ideas. Frankly, I am mostly interested in people's reaction to Alesya / Olesya rather than lists of other names however lovely they may be !

Nastya sounds dreadful to English ears, or at least to mine.

I'm Alexandra. Russians call me Sandrushka which I can live with but it is not IMO the most beautiful name on the planet. Olesya I don't like. I prefer Alesya, possibly Alla (not wild about it but I find it ok, have a Russian friend with this name and it suits her)

For me personally Sasha is a boys name. I know it is used as a girls name too but I still find it odd

what do you think of Victoria (Viktoria) - Vika?

I know I've commented on this before, but as an English person Olesya looks rather funny, where Alesya looks fine.

As a girl that will be both American and Russian Alesya is super fine.

Re Alla, I think its too close to Allah.

I thought Tiggy was short for Antigone. At least all the Tiggy's I know are Antigones.

Sasha is a boys' name, short for Alexander imo.

From your list I prefer Alesya as a nickname for Alexandra.

"all the Tiggy's I know are Antigones"

do you have a lot of Greek friends, bbb, or just classicists? I have never come across an Antigone in my life!

this is the only Tiggy I've ever heard of (apart from Mrs Tiggywinkle, & I don't suppose she is called Antigone or Alexandra)

Ponders, well I only know 2 Tiggy's (one in dd's class, the other a teacher in ds's school) and both are Antigones.

I love Alesya, prefer the Russian to the Ukrainian diminutive. I agree it sounds better for some reason to the English speaking ear.

We're evens then bigblue , I know 2 Tiggy's who are Alexandra's