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 Maksim is fabulous!

My first thought was of the Croatian pianist, Maksim Mrvica, who is amazing!

If you like it, go for it. It is a lovely name and unusual without being wacky, what about Maksim Aleksandr X. If the surname is only 1 syllable think this sounds cool and lots of diff nn possibilities.

Thinking about the "is it a made up name" thing...

I have a daughter with a less common Gaelic name. When she was about 2, and strangers we met would ask her name, she would say it beautifully, but they couldn't understand it, and would look expectantly at me, which was a bit undermining for her confidence. I would then repeat her name, and say "it's Gaelic", which I realised was because I had a fear of people thinking I'd made it up. (My family is tcheuchter so not that pretentious either).

Was a bit when dd described this process to me one day as in "they'll ask my name, and I'll say it's xxxx and you'll say it's Gaelic".

Anyway, by the time she was 4 it wasn't such a problem. She loves it being unusual too. And I don't feel obliged to explain it so much either.

We gave her a very conventional English middle name so she can use it when she's booking restaurants or working in an environment where she doesn't want her name to stick out...

Oh, if you do go with Aleksandr (love that spelling) could shorten to Alek rather than Aleks. I love Alek. (Ailig in Gaelic! My dad's middle name)

Should say, Maksim definitely better than Maxim due to the dodgy mag thing.

Thanks for all the opinions :)

Has anyone got any suggestions for middle names? I think English would be nice, and we're pretty much settled on Maksim.

Maksim is lovely and I think perfectly acceptable speling due to your heritage. I hate naming xenophobia! Just because it's not a British spelling does not mean it isn't correct!

Aleksander (I am biased because I have one )

Do people constantly spell it 'AleXander', mustcontrol? And does it annoy you or him?

CLB Well, he is only 17mo so we have yet to see

My family and friends spell it correctly, as do DPs (but they are Polish so it's the usual spelling for them).

I don't think it would bother me tbh

I think Aleksandr goes v. well with it. It still passes for 'English' but I would go with that spelling as it reinforces the spelling of Maksim iyswim and brings it together.
If you spell one -ks- then one -x- it would more likely cause confusion.

Maxim De Winter and that dead hussy.

Lovely name. What about Kacper as a middle name? DDs class mate is called that. He is a lovely boy.
Could be spelled Kacpar - not sure. Pronounced Casper.

I think Kacper is Polish.

It is, I just wondered if there was an equivalent in Russian.
It is such a nice name, and he is such a nice boy. Luckily I don't have any children to name. I base my thoughts on the personalities of the people who own the name.

I quite like Kacper but the Russian is usually spelt with a G and not at nice IMO.

I'm not totally sold on Aleksander. I do like the correlation of the 'ks' as weeds said, though.

I think I'd like an unusual but not outlandish English name. Any thoughts, wise people?

Maksim is great OP! I don't think people will think it is made up - it could depend on where you live. In London, I'm pretty sure people would assume it is foreign/Russian. Even if they don't, it doesn't really matter, as long as you like it.

So unusual but not outlandish English middle names.......

Maksim Oscar

Maksim Toby

Maksim Theodore

Maksim Montague (might be outlandish?! Sounds cute though)

Maksim Laurence

I'm not great at English names...

I think Maksim is the best suggestion as, although it looks a strange spelling to English eyes, it's still easily pronouncable. It keeps your heritage alive, and will give him the chance to carry that through his life. If he really hates it, he can still call himself Max during the teenage years, in the same way that people with all sorts of names add or change letters as they shorten their names .... (Catherine / Cathy... Caroline / Caz..... Daniel / Danny .... Thomas / Tommy.... and so on).

Just a random selection

Maksim Roland
Maksim Edwin
Maksim Victor
Maksim Clarence
Maksim Lionel
Maksim Maurice
Maksim Alban

Maksim Dunkan of course.

I know a Maksim (nn Maks) and he's lovely - it's a great name :)