I know a little [name_f]Zenya[/name_f] ([name_u]ZEN[/name_u]-YA) and I prefer that spelling and pronunciation. Maybe I just don’t like X names?
[name_f]Brigid[/name_f], thank you. It’s good to hear from someone about St. X. I like your Tzar/tsunami analogy. And thanks for saying that about my Godfather, but I do think he’d be silently disapproving if we mispronounced it. I’d ask him myself, but I don’t want to broach the topic of babies!
[name_f]Katie[/name_f], I hear ya. X is a peculiar letter - it’s kind of dry sound when it comes at the beginning of a name. You have to slow down to say the X.
I can’t stop saying “[name_f]Xenia[/name_f]” this new way. The X is so fun - like peeling back the tab on a can of soda pop. My husband is not yet sold on it. I think he may find it too fussy. He liked the “zee” version.
I don’t know if this is just confusing, but I’ll try anyway 
The way I’ve had it explained (I’ve been struggling over the pronunciation as well), [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] Alexandrovna’s name was pronounced KSYEN-ya (if that makes any sense) - with the KS pronounced like the X in “box”.
[name_f]Xenia[/name_f] is such a beautiful name. When Danes try to say my name, they somehow always manage to turn it into [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] and I don’t really mind because I really love the name, lol.
I think I don’t get why an “X” turns into a Z.
I pronounce the X like in [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], so a short ks / kz sound.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think the name would work like that in the english language as well? Because I hate the sound of my first name in english and if I ever moved to [name_f]England[/name_f] / [name_u]America[/name_u] I wouldn’t want to use it.
X as a starting word letter in English is pronounced as “Z” so if you say it “[name_f]Zenia[/name_f]” then I hardly think it’s a “bastardization,” it’s just a translation. It isn’t any worse than saying [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] as jen-uh-vee-v instead of zahn-vee-ehv.
Honestly, I think if you tried to get English-speakers to say ks-enia, it would probably come out EX-en-ya, because you sometimes her [name_m]Xavier[/name_m] pronounced as EX-avier (pet peeve!).
I recently moved to Cincinnati and [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] is ZEEN-ya in this area. I was actually kind of put out when I found out about the town [name_f]Xenia[/name_f], because I would have put [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] on my list of serious considerations. If you want pronunciation zen-ee-ah then I would use floral name [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f] instead, since it’s closer.
Hooray thanks [name_f]Zelia[/name_f]! So it’s a short E everywhere but in [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] Ohio, apparently. Isn’t that “nya” sound great? When I try to add “ksyen” to the mix though, I sound like I have peanut butter stuck to the roof of my mouth. Surely it’s beautiful in a Russian accent. Thank you so much for weighing in on X. Alexandrovna!
[name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], I don’t think the X has to be a Z… but it might take English speakers a few tries to get it right. Xylophone and xenophobic have the Z sound, and [name_m]Xavier[/name_m] is pronounced like “Eggzavier” here. It’s a lazy language. I suspect a [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] might also run into people saying “kuh-[name_f]SEN[/name_f]-yuh.” Blech. Call me a snob, but I get so miffed when people can’t exert a little extra effort to get a pronunciation right. It’s as if they think of names as being simply utilitarian labels, rather than the amazing musical entities they are. Still, you should toootally go by [name_f]Xenia[/name_f]! For all the mispronouncers, there will be others who are delighted by your lovely name.
Saracitabonita! Hmmmm. You have a point. Maybe I should accept that there can be multiple pronunciations. Maybe my future daughter would be ok with thinking of “kZEH-neeah” as the primary pronunciation, and “[name_f]ZEE[/name_f]-neeah” as the secondary (also correct and pretty) pronunciation. [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f] is not for me. I feel no special kinship to the flower, and besides, [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] is important because it’s part of my mother’s anagram/artistic alias, so it’s a funny way of honoring her. She never really said it aloud, just used it to sign her art, hence my ignorance. I would use it as a middle or more likely a silent first name (where the middle gets used as the primary name.) So I want to have the pronunciation correct for my own peace-of-mind, but I’m not too worried about others mispronouncing it.
Hello, emmabobemma, there are about four saints named [name_f]Xenia[/name_f]: St. [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] of Kalamae, the Great Martyr, Wonderworker; St. [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] the Martyr; St. [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] the Righteous of [name_m]Rome[/name_m] and St. Blessed [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] of Petersburg.
The one’s we know most about are the following two saints:
One was a single woman who lived in the fifth century. Her original name was Eusebia. She fled from her parents because she wanted to remain single and later became a nun and deaconess in [name_u]Egypt[/name_u].
The second is [name_m]Saint[/name_m] Blessed [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] of St. Petersburg who lived in the 1700’s until 1803. She is a patron saint of St. Petersburg where her body lies in Smolensky Cemetery. She was the wife of a colonel and after his death gave up all of her possessions and wandered the streets of St Petersburg for 45 years wearing her husband’s military uniform and helping the poor and offering prayers. She’s noted for her intercessions in helping those with employment and the homeless.
There are also Russian royal ladies named [name_f]Xenia[/name_f].
Grand Duchess [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] Alexandrovna of [name_f]Russia[/name_f] was the daughter of Emperor [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] III of [name_f]Russia[/name_f] and [name_f]Empress[/name_f] [name_f]Maria[/name_f] Feodorovna. She was the sister of the last Tsar [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m] of [name_f]Russia[/name_f] and one of the few in his family who survived the Russian Revolution. She married her cousin Grand [name_m]Duke[/name_m] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] Mikhailovich and they had seven children. She lived in exile mainly in [name_f]England[/name_f] where she died in 1960.
[name_f]Princess[/name_f] [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] Georgievna of [name_f]Russia[/name_f] was the daughter of Grand [name_m]Duke[/name_m] [name_m]George[/name_m] Mihailovich of [name_f]Russia[/name_f]. Her father was executed by the Bolsheviks and [name_f]Xenia[/name_f], her mother and sister [name_f]Nina[/name_f] went to live in [name_f]England[/name_f]. Whe married twice and had one daughter. She was involved in the case of the mystery woman called [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_m]Anderson[/name_m] who claimed to be Grand Duchess [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] and survived the firing squard that killed the Russian Imperial [name_m]Royal[/name_m] Family.
As far as pronunciation is concerned…English speakers would probably say “zeen-yuh” (like the town in Ohio and heavily influenced by [name_f]Xena[/name_f] the Warrior [name_f]Princess[/name_f] series) but it’s closer to the Moonkai and Dantea pronunciations. I’ve always like the exotic European flair of [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] but worry about people butchering the prounciation.
KSYEN is a bit of a mouthful, I agree, especially with that K-sound up front which makes it even more tongue-twistery
[name_f]Xenia[/name_f] and [name_f]Nina[/name_f] were the ones who called GD [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] Nikolaevna “nasty to the point of being evil” and “wild and rough”. According to [name_f]Xenia[/name_f], [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] would scratch her and pull her hair if she lost a game she was playing with her. I’m probably biased because I love [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f], but I think their claims are way over-exaggerated. I love those quotes though, lol.
I love to hear that even royal children can misbehave like the commoners! [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] seems to have been the enfant terrible of the Tsar’s five children. Since [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] left [name_f]Russia[/name_f] when she was ten, they are the recollections of a child:)
[name_m]Saint[/name_m] [name_u]Mischa[/name_u]! Thank you so much for all the background. [name_m]Both[/name_m] St Xenias seem pretty amazing, but X of P is particularly interesting. Now I want to go to [name_f]Russia[/name_f] to legitimatize my name choice. Haha! [name_m]How[/name_m] about a “holy fools” sibset - [name_f]Xenia[/name_f], [name_m]Basil[/name_m], [name_f]Isidora[/name_f], [name_u]Juniper[/name_u]…
One of the prayers to St [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] mentions her “life lived as a stranger.” I suppose that refers to Eusebia’s choice not to marry… or [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] of Petersburg’s path of non-attachment? “[name_m]Xeno[/name_m]” foreign. I like the Greek meaning of [name_f]Xenia[/name_f], generosity and kindness toward strangers.
[name_f]Zelia[/name_f] - Ooh that [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] was a little tattle-tale wasn’t she! At least she was a survivor. 
Thanks again everyone. This has been most clarifying. “kZEH-nee-ah” it is, and I’m going to close the thread now.
A word from [name_f]Xenia[/name_f] the [name_m]Bond[/name_m]-girl:
and closing.