I’m not a fan of the [name]Hilton[/name] family but I just found out [name]Nicky[/name] [name]Hilton[/name]'s full name is Nicholai [name]Olivia[/name] [name]Hilton[/name]. I guessed that Nicholai was supposed to be pronounced like the male name [name]Nicolai[/name] / [name]Nikolai[/name]. It’s not really my style but I was surprised, I just assumed her name was just [name]Nicola[/name] or [name]Nicole[/name] if not [name]Nicky[/name] (though Wikipedia says she has a sister called [name]Paris[/name] and brothers [name]Conrad[/name] and [name]Barron[/name], so in this context it makes a little more sense.) I was also surprised that she chooses to go by [name]Nicky[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you think Nicholai would have been more popular for girls if she had gone by her full name? It reminds me a lot of [name]Lorelei[/name] / [name]Lorelai[/name]. I don’t necessarily like it but I find it intruiging.
I’m surprised, too- I always assumed her name was [name]Nicole[/name]. I guess if she did go by her full name, Nicholai might be slightly more popular with girls- but not very much, since for every parent that likes a celeb’s name I think there are even more that avoid giving their child a name that would make people say, “Oh, like Nicholai [name]Hilton[/name]?”
Personally, I don’t like it for a girl, although i do like [name]Lorelai[/name]. I think it’s because [name]Lorelai[/name] sounds more feminine to me, and the nicknames for [name]Lorelai[/name] could easily be feminine too ([name]Lori[/name], or the more unisex [name]Rory[/name]) where Nicholai sounds masculine, and the most common nickname ([name]Nicky[/name]) sounds masculine too. I’m not against more masculine-sounding names for girls, but I like them to have at least the option of a more feminine nickname in case the little girl grows up wanting that.
i actually really like Nicholai, but her having that on her birth certificate doesn’t make it less of a male name. how something sounds doesn’t necessarily change its gender, especially when we’re talking about a name from another language.
Maybe her parents thought Nicholai was the fem form of [name]Nicholson[/name] (ggrandfather is [name]Conrad[/name] [name]Nicholson[/name] [name]Hilton[/name])? That fact that she only goes by [name]Nicky[/name] may allude to her feeling about her name
It’s like saying “Those stupid Russians got it wrong! Clearly Nicholai is feminine!”
What would you think if someone Russian said “[name]Stanley[/name] is definitely a girl’s name” and then named their child that?
It’s not that its utterly wrong to do one or the other, it’s that you’re making a statement by doing so that isn’t necessarily fair to make.
It isn’t as bad as some other names but to me it just seems dumb because what if she wanted to travel but would feel embarassed in Europe for having a male Russian name? I think Europeans would know that is a male name more than Americans. Americans just seem to use any name that has any similarities to a female name. Oh well, it isn’t as bad as some names. At least she wasn’t named Nicholas, or Stanley like someone else mentioned.
Nicholai isn’t too bad for a girl. It actually sounds more feminine than many unisex names. I wouldn’t know how to spell it but I kind of like it (if I liked unisex names). You could call her [name]Nikki[/name]. :). [name]Nikolai[/name] maybe. Kind of cool. Better than some of the names I hear/see on here.
Since I read some things about Russian names. We (the U.S.) have used a lot of Russian male names as girl names like [name]Alexis[/name], [name]Sasha[/name], and many more I don’t care to look it up. Haha. [name]Just[/name] saying that we didn’t care before so oh well now. Plus I love [name]Alexis[/name] as a girls name and would hate seeing it on a poor guy :(. LOLLLLL
I just find it funny that [name]Stanley[/name] is being used as an example of things that could never be a girls’ name, since [name]Barack[/name] [name]Obama[/name]'s mother is named [name]Stanley[/name] [name]Anne[/name].
That said, I don’t like Nicholai on a girl. Why not [name]Nicola[/name], or [name]Nicolette[/name], or just [name]Nicole[/name]?
It isn’t the worst male name I could think of to stick a girl with…but I wouldn’t use it. The only [name]Nic[/name]- name I find even a bit nice for a girl is [name]Nicolette[/name] and that’s cause I love [name]Colette[/name]!
Stanley is also her father’s name, so the name wasn’t chosen just because it “sounded like a girl’s name.” What’s more, she goes by Ann.
I am so curious as to why people - Americans mostly - think it’s okay to randomly choose a masculine name from another culture and stick it on their daughter. It shows a complete lack of regard and respect for both the name and the culture.
The bolded isn’t really true - its a relatively recent trend, and there are legit reasons to be bothered by it. Using a name that in its original language is for one gender, on a different gender elsewhere, shows a degree of cultural insenstivity that some people should be more aware of. it’s not just about American Nicholai having issues in Europe - it’s about Russian Nicholai having issues in the US.
Sorry but I have to disagree with this. I feel that [name]Nikolai[/name] (and it’s various spellings) is a pretty well known Russian male name in the US. If you watch an American movie or read a book by an [name]America[/name] author that deals with Russians or Russian-Americans, there’s usually a character named [name]Nikolai[/name]. I’d put it up there with [name]Dimitri[/name] and [name]Ivan[/name]. While they might not be super common or popular in the US, people are certainly aware of them as names.
[name]Nicolai[/name] (this spelling) is also a big name in Germany. It’s a popular European boys name, not just Russian. In my mind, it’s a strong masculine name like [name]Mikhail[/name] (both are on my mental list for boys).
As someone who loves European names, especially masculine ones on boys, it bothers me. It feels very ignorant and arrogant. I chalk it up to the boys names on girls trend that seems to be somewhat dying out with all of the new unisex names coming out. Back when [name]Paris[/name] and [name]Nicky[/name] were born, [name]Paris[/name] was pretty much unheard of as a name and thus unisex by default. For a while [name]Paris[/name] dated a guy named [name]Paris[/name].
