I am 36 weeks pregnant with my second child ( we do not know the sex) and my husband and I cant agree on anything!!!
We have a 4 year old boy named [name]Matvey[/name] ( The Russian version of [name]Matthew[/name]) My husband has Russian on his side and [name]Matvey[/name] was the name of a beloved uncle. He usually gets called Maty or just M.
For this child we just cant seem to find anything we like!!!
We both like uncommon names but REAL names. He wants to stick with the Russian theme but there is just nothing that I have seen that I am thrilled with!
Names I like that were vetoed or are too popular for my liking:
[name]Felicity[/name]
[name]Pippa[/name]
[name]Nadia[/name] ( the only Russian names I liked… he said NO)
[name]Alexis[/name]
Can you help??? It does NOT have to be a Russian name… just something that goes with [name]Matvey[/name]… not popular but not made up!!! and no M names!
Thanks!
[name]Katya[/name]
Mikkeline (I know you said no M names, but this isn’t matchy with [name]Matvey[/name], and it’s SO gorgeous!)
[name]Agata[/name]
[name]Agnessa[/name]
[name]Zoya[/name]
[name]Zina[/name]
[name]Janina[/name]
[name]Anya[/name]
[name]Antonina[/name]
[name]Svetlana[/name]
[name]Tatiana[/name]
[name]Yelena[/name]
[name]Ivanna[/name]
[name]Lana[/name]
My favorite Russian boy’s name is [name]Konstantin[/name], nickname [name]Kostya[/name]. I also like [name]Lev[/name], [name]Ivan[/name], [name]Sergei[/name]. [name]Mikhail[/name] might be a lot, but [name]Misha[/name], the nickname, isn’t too off-the-radar for Americans. [name]Pavel[/name] is cool, and nickname [name]Pasha[/name] is cute.
For girls, [name]Antonina[/name] is pretty. [name]Yevgenia[/name], nickname Zhenya is nice. [name]Arina[/name] is nice. [name]Daria[/name]. [name]Alena[/name]. [name]Yulya[/name]. [name]Polina[/name]. I love [name]Irina[/name]. [name]Lera[/name]. [name]Liza[/name]. Zlata. [name]Svetlana[/name] or [name]Sveta[/name]. You could take a name like [name]Veronika[/name] and and just give her the nickname [name]Nika[/name] as a name.
I love [name]Xenia[/name] (prn zen-ya) and [name]Ksenia[/name]. You definitely need something with a bit of exoticism to match [name]Matvey[/name], even if it’s not explicitly Russian.
Out of the suggestions fo far I like ( still haven’t brought them to DH)…
[name]Lana[/name]
[name]Amity[/name]
[name]Delia[/name]
[name]Anastasia[/name]
[name]Kira[/name] - I always assumes this was Irish until I looked it up!!!
[name]Karina[/name]
@[name]Blade[/name]- [name]How[/name] do you pronounce [name]Thais[/name]? I like the look of it but am unsure how to pronounce it!
I want something that is fairly easy to pronounce and not too OBVIOUSLY Russian. We often get asked WHAT ethnicity [name]Matvey[/name] (the name) is… I like that people don’t know right off the bat!
I like all of the “[name]Alex[/name]…” suggestions BUt [name]Matvey[/name]'s middle name is [name]Alexander[/name] so those are all out!
Any other [name]NON[/name] or not obviously Russian suggestions?
Of course, since your first child’s name was named after a beloved Uncle, you could name this child after someone beloved on your side of the family! It still fits a theme, even if the theme isn’t Russian.
Otherwise, other Russian names that aren’t too uncommon to Americans, or have ties to common American names include:
[name]Natasha[/name], with the nicknames [name]Nat[/name] or [name]Tasha[/name]. [name]Felixa[/name] (nickname could be [name]Lexa[/name]) is the female form of [name]Felix[/name], which is also seen in [name]Russia[/name], and is a form of [name]Felicity[/name]. [name]Anastasia[/name] is also seen in [name]Russia[/name], with the down to earth and approachable nickname of [name]Ann[/name] or [name]Anna[/name]. There is also [name]Alina[/name], [name]Alla[/name], [name]Elena[/name], [name]Vera[/name], [name]Veronika[/name] ([name]Veronica[/name]), Viktoriya ([name]Victoria[/name]), Anzhelika ([name]Angelica[/name]), [name]Natalia[/name] ([name]Talia[/name]), [name]Elizaveta[/name] (Elizabetha), [name]Eva[/name], [name]Inessa[/name] (or [name]Vanessa[/name]), [name]Izabella[/name], [name]Klara[/name] ([name]Clara[/name]), the list can go on. Try this index of Russian girl names. There is also [name]Arkady[/name], which is commonly a boy’s name, but I think could be a girl’s name too, since it sounds more feminine to me.
I had a look at the list in the link provider by the poster above and I really liked [name]Zhanna[/name]. I don’t think it’s obviously Russian, but it does sound exotic and goes nicely with [name]Matvey[/name] in my opinion.
[name]Natalia[/name] isn’t obviously Russian but it is. Your Russian relatives could call her [name]Natasha[/name] for short.
I also like [name]Clara[/name]. I read a book where the Russian heroine was named [name]Emelia[/name], but I am not sure how accurate that was.
[name]Lara[/name] or [name]Larisa[/name] (the long form)
[name]Anna[/name] (actually very Russian and not obvious at all)
[name]Anya[/name]
[name]Daria[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Susanna[/name]
[name]Tatiana[/name]
[name]Zoya[/name] (Russian form of [name]Zoe[/name])
For boys I like [name]Nicholas[/name]. It maybe too popular but it is [name]Nikolai[/name] is the more Russian form. [name]Nicholas[/name] is an American form.
I happen to like [name]Boris[/name], but it may be too over the top.
[name]Ivan[/name]
[name]Martin[/name]
[name]Mikhail[/name] form of [name]Michael[/name]( maybe too close to the popular [name]Michael[/name])
[name]Peter[/name] (probably a translation but often used when referring to the composer of the Nutcracker)
[name]Leo[/name] (as in Tolstoy)
[name]Roman[/name]
[name]Sebastian[/name]/[name]Sevastian[/name] (my own current favorite, and in Russian the V and B are switched.)
[name]Stepan[/name] (Russian form of [name]Stephen[/name] close to [name]Stefan[/name]/[name]Stephan[/name])
Other suggestions:
[name]Mark[/name]/[name]Marcus[/name] etc.
[name]Thomas[/name]
[name]Philip[/name]
[name]Louis[/name]
[name]James[/name]
[name]John[/name]
[name]Colin[/name]
[name]Isaac[/name]
[name]Warren[/name]
Two of my favourite names in the entire world are Russian even though I’ve no Russian ties:
[name]Odessa[/name] nn dessy and [name]Anoushka[/name] nn anouk (I totally adore this!) I also really like [name]Anastasia[/name]!
[name]Thais[/name] is pronounced tie-EECE. It’s a Greek name but given in [name]Russia[/name] and throughout Latin [name]America[/name] (very popular in [name]Brazil[/name]). She was the subject of an opera by Massenet, too.
[name]Varya[/name] is my favorite Russian name. It’s a diminutive of the Russian form of [name]Barbara[/name]–[name]Varvara[/name] (which is also very pretty)
I adore Russian girls names. There are probably going to be some repeats here:
[name]Petra[/name]
[name]Ana[/name]
[name]Sonja[/name]
[name]Irena[/name]
[name]Katya[/name]
[name]Elena[/name]
[name]Mila[/name](not obviously Russian, but would work with your son’s name)