I think one of my favourite things about choosing names are the nickname/diminutive possibilities, and honestly, my favourites are all Russian diminutives such as [name_u]Sasha[/name_u] for [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]/[name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], [name_f]Tonya[/name_f] for [name_f]Antonina[/name_f], [name_f]Masha[/name_f] for [name_f]Maria[/name_f]/[name_f]Marya[/name_f], etc.
As I’ve mentioned before, I love most of the feminizations of [name_m]George[/name_m] and their possibilities, and while researching for my last thread about [name_f]Georgiana[/name_f]'s nicknames I found [name_m]Gosha[/name_m] which is the Russian diminutive for Georgiy ([name_m]George[/name_m]). Now, while this is masculine in [name_f]Russia[/name_f], do you think it is suitable to use [name_m]Gosha[/name_m] as a nickname for a [name_f]Georgia[/name_f]/[name_f]Georgina[/name_f]/[name_f]Georgiana[/name_f]? I really love it, but while here it just sounds like funny childhood nickname for a [name_f]Georgia[/name_f], I’d certainly never want to seem like I’m appropriating the culture. Any Russian natives with a stance on this? I know gender roles are quite important there.
Anyway, what are your personal favourite Russian diminutives? I love their whole naming system. So beautiful.
I was going to say this too! Gosia is pronounced like [name_m]Gosha[/name_m], so Małgorzata/[name_f]Margaret[/name_f] is a possibility if you really love the nickname.
As for [name_f]Georgiana[/name_f]… Well, I’m not an expert on Russian diminutives, but I know that some masculine and feminine versions can share the same nickname – for example, [name_u]Sasha[/name_u] can be used for [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]/[name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], Zhenya can be used for Evgeny/[name_f]Evgenia[/name_f], [name_u]Pasha[/name_u] can be used for [name_m]Pavel[/name_m]/[name_f]Pavla[/name_f] – so I think [name_m]Gosha[/name_m] can make sense for [name_f]Georgiana[/name_f]. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if it’s not “legitimate”, it’s probably only because [name_f]Georgiana[/name_f] is a rather English name (a smush of [name_f]Georgia[/name_f] and [name_f]Anna[/name_f]) and thus isn’t really used in [name_f]Russia[/name_f]. (And with the country of Georgia being close by, my guess is that Georgia and Georgina aren’t used either.)
And some of my favorites:
[name_u]Sasha[/name_u] for [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]/[name_f]Alexandra[/name_f]
[name_m]Kolya[/name_m] for [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]
[name_u]Misha[/name_u] for [name_m]Mikhail[/name_m]
[name_m]Dima[/name_m] for [name_m]Dmitri[/name_m]
[name_f]Katia[/name_f] for [name_f]Ekaterina[/name_f]
[name_f]Liza[/name_f] for [name_f]Elizaveta[/name_f]
[name_f]Vera[/name_f] for [name_f]Veronika[/name_f] (obviously!)
[name_f]Vita[/name_f] for [name_f]Viktoria[/name_f]
[name_f]Anya[/name_f] for [name_f]Anna[/name_f] (and for [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f], although it’s not really legit…)