my obsession with the MCU is taking over my life. Alianovna is Natasha’s middle name, and I absolutely love it.
what do you think of Alianovna [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f]?
Alianova is interesting! To me it feels like more of a surname since -nova is a pretty common ending for feminine patronymics in Russian. But I suppose I could see it as a given name, with the similarity to [name_f]Alia[/name_f] and [name_f]Nova[/name_f] and the multitude of nickname options.
The flow of Alianovna [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f] is really nice. I think the more traditional [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] and [name_f]Mae[/name_f] are good to balance out the more unexpected Alianovna.
1 Like
Not really a fan, I don’t watch the MCU but I can only assume Alianovna is meant to be a patronymic, and not an actual middle name? As someone from Europe who knows people with similar patronynics/surnames it sounds odd to me, I’d find it a bit silly as a first name on an American kid 
To be honest I’d roll my eyes at it. The flow of it with [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f] is really lovely, but I’d shorten Alianovna down to [name_f]Alina[/name_f], [name_f]Alyona[/name_f], [name_f]Aliana[/name_f] or another similar-sounding name that’s actually a name!
5 Likes
I get that, but it wouldn’t be a Marvel name then. and the Marvel connection is really important to me. also, Alianovna is just a gorgeous name (at least to me it is) with a lot of nickname options
1 Like
The average person won’t know someone’s reason behind choosing a name, unfortunately! I completely agree that it sounds lovely, and the nicknames are darling. My issue with it is that it’s not an actual name. So people from the culture(s) it originates from or those familiar with those cultural conventions would be confused by it and probably find it silly. I’d admittedly assume someone wasn’t educated in other cultures if I saw an -ovna name as a first on their list. For me that’s a dealbreaker and I’d just use a different Marvel-inspired name, but that’s just my take on it! You should of course use your own judgement about the names you love, I only wanted to answer your question honestly 
4 Likes
Technically Alianovna is her patronymic, as a lot of Russian naming conventions (mostly in countries where the exact same last names are passed down but the patronymic is still ethincally/cultrually important) are Given Name → Patronymic → Surname. Russians don’t typically have middles, and it can be surmised that the original authors of the comic character would have gone along with what they knew to be typical Russian-American naming conventions which puts the patronymic as a “middle” name (Alianovna) so they can follow the American convention of passing down the same last name (Romanoff/Romanov), since her last name is Romanoff/Romanov and not Romanovna as it otherwise would be. So, while Alianovna is technically her middle name it is really just a cultural hold-over from her Russian heritage and actually just another last name, but put in the middle spot as a simplification.
That being said, it does have a cool sound and I’m not personally against the idea of using it. We use patronymics from other cultures as names all the time in the forms of names like [name_m]Carson[/name_m], [name_m]Jensen[/name_m], and Dirks. It’s frilly and has plenty of intuitive pet forms, similar to names like [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] and [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], and it does have a cool, niche [name_f]Marvel[/name_f] tie-in. [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f] in the middle helps ground it too, imo. Overall the combo is actually very classic feeling.
3 Likes
The balance of bold Alianovna and classic [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f] work well. Alianovna is intriguing
Personally I think Alianovna [name_f]May[/name_f] he hard for most people to pronounce.
I also like the flow of [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] Alianovna [name_f]Mae[/name_f]
I do appreciate the nickname potential! And if you love a name than use it. But be prepared that some people may raise an eyebrow
1 Like
Alianovna kind of makes me think of the word “Alien” to be honest. (Otherwise I think it sounds pretty cool, even though it probably falls more under a GP for me personally)
1 Like