Does this work?

[Bonfire_Eclipse]

I recently remembered the name Nikolayev (Nee-co-lie-ev) and am thinking of putting it on my list of future names. I am not Russian at all and live in [name_u]North[/name_u] [name_u]America[/name_u]. Would I be wrong to name my son Nikolayev and call him [name_u]Niko[/name_u]?

[snowmaiden]

What a nice name!! I love this.

[vida]

im not russian so i think it’ll be wrong for me to assume if it’s okay or not
but i love that name! i think it’s so sweet
i’ll suggest [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]! it’s also russian but it’s way more common imo and that’s why in this case i don’t think you can go wrong
or maybe [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m] with the nn [name_u]Nico[/name_u] instead of [name_u]Nick[/name_u]?

[Greyblue]

It is a very charming and cool name but does feel very Russian as opposed to international

[krijesnica]

It’s kinda weird given that Nikolayev is actually a last name which means “of Nikola”, not a first name. And surnames aren’t used as first names here in Slavic countries as they are in the US. So to me it is a bit weird. I much prefer [name_u]Nikola[/name_u] or [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m].

[mea.ola]

i would ask a russian person, i can see how it would come off as offensive :]

it would be a very difficult name here though

[Rosebeth]

Nikolayev seems a bit weird as a first name, because as @krijesnica said it’s a surname, and surnames are not used as first names in Slavic countries.
If I’m being completely honest: if I met a little Nikolayev, I’d assume the parents just picked the name because they thought it sounded nice without knowing what they were doing, and I’d be a tiny bit annoyed.

[aiksx]

the -ev suffix normally refers to a surname in my experience in the same way as surnames like anderson ‘son of anders’ so i second nikolai if you like the sound

[ethelmary]

I think it would be odd to use a patronymic, since that’s not a given name, but I like [name_u]Nikola[/name_u] or [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]

[Bonfire_Eclipse]

@krijesnica

It’s kinda weird given that Nikolayev is actually a last name which means “of Nikola”, not a first name. And surnames aren’t used as first names here in Slavic countries as they are in the US. So to me it is a bit weird. I much prefer Nikola or Nikolai.

I’m not Russian at all so I didn’t realize that is meant son of … and that it is a last name. I just like the sound of the name role off the tongue.

@Rosebeth

if I met a little Nikolayev, I’d assume the parents just picked the name because they thought it sounded nice without knowing what they were doing, and I’d be a tiny bit annoyed.

Thanks for the insight. I can see that it would be annoying if you understood what it meant.

@aiksx

the -ev suffix normally refers to a surname in my experience in the same way as surnames like anderson ‘son of anders’ so i second nikolai if you like the sound

Ya I can see it. But I’m not really a fan of Nikolai or Nicholas etc… names. I just liked the sound of Nikolayev. Because I think that the ev at the end really grounds it

[kristendaniella]

Maybe you would like [name_m]Lev[/name_m]? It’s Russian version of [name_u]Leo[/name_u].
[name_u]Leo[/name_u] Tolstoy was actually [name_m]Lev[/name_m] Tolstoy

[Bonfire_Eclipse]

No I have a bad association with [name_u]Leo[/name_u] and [name_m]Lev[/name_m]

[Rosebeth]

@Bonfire_Eclipse

I think that the ev at the end really grounds it

There’s also:

Zev
Zbignev
Shalev
Alev
Detlev
Regev
Segev
Tallev
Yogev

[aiksx]

more ev/av names

evren
deveraux
severin
evander
revere
eliav
yevgeny
sevastian
everett