Maksim?

[CommunistLegoBloc]

My parents are Russian, though I have always lived in England and DP is English so would like the baby to have a name which reflects my heritage, but is also able to be pronounced by all of the family / teachers / friends etc! He's due in a few weeks, so what does everyone think to Maksim? Or Maxim? I like that it can be shortened to an easily-pronounced 'Max / Maks' but is it a bit boring?

TIA!

I think Pasha sounds a bit girly if I'm honest, esp in this country. A lot of Russian boys' names - Mischa, Sasha, Pasha etc are more likely to associated with girls here.

I really like Maksim, but am also getting very tempted by Valentin. Val is horrible for a boy though, isn't it? What else could I preemptively shorten it to? Len?!

Call me a Russian literature nerd but my first thought was of Maxim Gorki - so definitely Russian associations for me and thought it was a great choice. The vile magazine is a consideration though...

What about Dimitri? The diminutive is Dima, which is really cute.

Tino for Valentin?

Dmitri is nice, like tasty Spooks spy but Maksim is nice too - I think it's perfectly obvious how it's pronounced, which is a good thing. Are you obviously Russian? (accent, name etc) if so then people will understand that it's just foreign, not illiteracy.

My name is foreign but I have an English accent. I think it's probably quite obvious that I'm Russian - anyone who knows my parents or siblings' names and is therefore reasonably close to me would have picked up on it! If I saw a child's name on a class list next to parents' contact details (do they still do this for mainstream primaries?!) and the mother's name wasn't English I would assume their child had a normal foreign spelling of a foreign name, rather than something they'd made up.

I'm overthinking this, aren't I? Still like Valentin but Tino, for some unknown reason, reminds me of a tiny cartoon Mexican man with a huge moustache in a poncho and a sombrero. I really don't know why. It's a very cute nickname.

OP do you have a Russian sounding surname? I think if you do then Maksim will be accepted as 'foreign'. If on the other hand it's something like Smith then 'cre8ivity' may be suspected...

I know Russians called Sergei, Oleg, Dimitri, Vasili, Sacha and Ivan (Vanya). I like Alexei and Andrei too. In fact looking through this list of Russian names I realise that I like a lot of them (possibly 'Tit' might not work very well here!)

Ah, I understand now communist. I didn't know it was a legit spelling ... sorry, I hoiked my judgey pants up before I knew the full details .

Still think you will spend alot of time explaining that it is a legit spelling, though.

Love the name Pasha. I know a Valentin - he's v nice . And agree, like the name konstantine too

How about Len as a short version of Valentin? I love Valentin - a very cool name! Does it have to be shortened. Dd is 7 and no-one has shortened her name, even though it's one which is normally shortened.

My surname is foreign but also it was simplified by relations in order to make it easier to spell / pronounce, esp as lots of them came over in the wake of the Holocaust and wanted to fit it I suppose. So it's very unusual but not just a random collection of consonants. BUT the baby will probably have DP's surname and I can't be arsed with double-barrelling.

Maksim Valentin X is a bit too samey isn't it? Surname is one syllable.

No, doesn't have to be shortened at all - I'd prefer it it weren't! But people tend to do so and I'd rather it be to something I like. Len not my cup of tea I'm afraid.

Maxsim Valentin is fine, particularly with a one syllable surname.

I think Val is OK for a boy. It's quite unusual (can only think of Val Kilmer and Val Doonican off the top of my head) but I have met one in the past. It didn't seem weird despite the fact that I knew plenty of female Vals.

I like it.
It reminds me of one of my fav films (can you guess which one?)

I have never seen the Russian spelling though. Why not if you like it?

I'm going to take a wild guess and say Rebecca, MrsDeVere?

I just don't like Val for a boy. I suppose it's a question of using it for a middle name and 'saving' it for another potential child. I suppose seeing as he'll be half English, an English middle name might be fitting. Any suggestions anyone?! Name my baby, Mumsnet!

Mikhail - with Misha as a nickname?

I think if you have a one syllable surname, then any name or nickname should be at least 2 syllables.

Alas, that's a family name already. I wouldn't be adverse to it as a middle name though, but I'm leaning towards an English middle name. I have literally no idea what though.

Roman?

How is Maksim the legit. russian spelling though, if Russian uses the cyrillic alphabet?

I think mst eopke will assume dodgy spelling, and think will also frequently be msspellt. You would certainly have to spell it every single time. For his whole life. That would bug me.

It is a transliteration. There is no equivalent in Russian of the letter x, so the sound is spelled with k and s - that is to say, their equivalent letters

Because it's written Максим, and is therefore Maksim in English?

I'm used to having to spell my own name, it's not the world's biggest deal. Even people called John have to confirm it has an 'h' or people called Geoff have to say it's with a 'G'.

Wow, Mumsnet doesn't like cyrillic! Google it to see the spelling.

I worked with a Maksym

But its not the Rusian pelling as such, its a transliteration, but there are no absolutes. Its just that as someone already said, Alexander would be with an x not ks, so it does look made up, and that seems to be a concern of yours, so i'm agreeing that unfortunately it does and many would think so. It is a nice name though.

Ah, see -like i said, no absolutes, so ths time someoe came up with Maksym, which is even worse imo, as i think people would be unsure of the 2nd vowel sound ( makes it look more like - eem at the end not - im)

Maksim is still a perfectly legitimate spelling, it's like the difference between Jeff and Geoff I suppose. What you choose is down to personal preference.

Also, Alexander is commonly spelled Aleksander or Aleksandr.