[RussianJen]

Howdy, folks!

Well, I'm getting ready to head out soon, but I was just 'lurking' a bit, reading posts, and I thought of something. Perhaps it's old news to some of you; perhaps it's not even applicable. But - even if just for the sake of something interest you might not have known, I'd like to list typical nicknames your kids' went by while in Russia. I think there are a couple of reasons - first, babies and kids never actually hear someone call them 'Aleksandr' or 'Galina' or 'Nikolai'. They probably don't even know that those are their names, 'cause all kids go by nicknames.
I'm thinking, especially during the first few weeks/months, it would be a pretty comforting thing to call them by the name they've been accustomed to being called. When you see a name on a paper you'll be seeing their 'official' name. It might be kinda cool if you know their 'pet' or 'nickname'.

So, here goes (these are all I can think up at the moment; if I think of more later I'll add them):

Aleksander - Sasha, sometimes Sanya

Aleksandra - Sasha; Shura

Nikolai - Kolya

Sergey - Seryozha/Seryoga

Galina - Galya

Anastasia - Nastya

Anna - Anya

Aleksei - Alyosha/Lyosha, Lyoha

Ivan - Vanya

Denis - Denis; sometimes Den

Pavel/Paul - Pasha

Yakov - Yasha

Lyubov - Lyuba

Vasily - Vasya

Vitalii - Vitya

Viktor - Vitya

Mikhail - Misha

Georgii - Gosha/Igor

Vladimir - Vova/Volodya

Gennady - Genya/Gosha

Nina - Nina

Nikita - Nikita

Marina - Marina

Maria - Masha

Dmitrii - Dima

Tatyana - Tanya

Andrey - Andryusha/Andryuha

Yulia - Yulia

Valentin - Valya

Valentina - Valya/Valyusha

Konstantin - Kostya

Olga - Olya

Nadezhda - Nadya

Vadim - Vadik

Evgeny - Zhenya

Evgenia - Zhenya

Leonid - Lyonya

Boris - Borya

Natalya - Natasha

Anatoly - Tolya

Yuri - Yura

Maxim - Max

Artyom - Tyoma

Margarita - Rita

Iilya - Ilyusha

Svetlana - Svyeta

Valerii - Valera

Valera - Lyera

Lyudmilla - Lyuda

There are many more; just thought I'd give you a bit of a 'general' list. Hope it was interesting, or, even better, it helped!

-RussianJen <><

[DoreenG]

I thought it was strange that Sergey (my new son) was called Serrossha (yes, you did the correct pheontic and I'm butchering it). Good to know that most children get "kid" nicknames.

A friend of mine that adopted boys old enough to be very familiar with their 'original' names said to start off by calling them their 'original' name followed immediately with their new name.

Then, switch it so it's their new given name and then their 'original' name. Then drop the 'original' name alltogether.

Thanks again, it's amazing how much you've taught me in a short time!

[justmp]

Thanks for posting this! I have a "Vanya" and a "Masha" (Maria).

[leeinmemphis]

We adopted a Roman who was 4.5 years old and a Damir who was 3.5 years old... sometimes we heard them call Damir "Damika"... have you ever heard nicknames for Damir and Roman? Just curious....

alli

[Ktates]

Just to add another popular one - Ekaterina is usually Katya...I know I had a link with common Russian names and pronouciations and nick names but of course I can't find it now!

[Annabell]

Hi Jen --

Have a great trip!

Svieta calls Karina "Karinka" (now, I do too sometimes) and she seems comfortable with that.

Again, thanks for all your info and help.

[crispex]

I've got a Viktoriya = Vika

[Camismom]

I have a Vera, called Verunya or Verushka at the BH.

Claud

[steph2222]

Our son's name was Lev(it's now his middle name)and he was called both Lyova and Levushka in the orphanage.

Steph

[KimOH]

I had a Maxim called "Maximka" and a Ludmila called "Lusa." We still use Lusa sometimes because it just seems to fit.

[RussianJen]

Originally Posted by leeinmemphis

We adopted a Roman who was 4.5 years old and a Damir who was 3.5 years old... sometimes we heard them call Damir "Damika"... have you ever heard nicknames for Damir and Roman? Just curious....

alli

Aha...see, told you I'd miss a few! Roman is Roma; Damir, just like you heard, Damika.

-RussianJen <><

[proudmommyof 2]

We've got a Serosky and an Alosha, and we still call them these names sometimes, and yes, they do respond to them!

[kimber413]

Another one for Svetlana is Lana. Another common girls name is Alyona, with Alena as the nickname.

[RBSVARCHER]

I have a Vanya but he was called Vanooshka (sp)

[dlhall]

My dd is Natalya and I'll never forget when we first met her. They brought her to us and she looked nothing like her referral picture and then they kept calling her Natasha (her nickname, but we didn't know that). We thought they had brought us the wrong child! I finally asked our translator why they kept calling her Natasha and she explained--what a relief!

Liz

PS. Now that she's five she wants to be called Natalie--I keep telling her no!