I have Russian in-laws and I love the nicknames they use. Our baby [name]Leonie[/name] is Leonka & sometimes [name]Yona[/name]. My mil [name]Irina[/name] is [name]Ira[/name] pronounced Ear-uh or Irishka. My husband [name]Maksim[/name] is Maka…which would be cute on a girl [name]Maxine[/name] imo. -ishka and -anka are so cute and now I am trying to imagine what other names that would sound good tacked on the back of. Thoughts?
Aww, I love Russian nicknames. 
I know a little Belarusian little girl whose name is [name]Milana[/name], but her mom calls her [name]Milanka[/name], so cute. I also love the Czech [name]Eliska[/name], which I’m assuming is already a diminutive form, but I really love it. I suppose an [name]Elisa[/name]/[name]Eliza[/name]/[name]Elizabeth[/name] could get the nn [name]Eliska[/name], then… I also love the idea of [name]Alexander[/name]/[name]Michael[/name] (or its female variants, [name]Alexandra[/name]/[name]Alexandria[/name]/[name]Alessandra[/name] and [name]Michaela[/name]), nn [name]Sasha[/name]/[name]Misha[/name], too. Oh, and I love [name]Nastia[/name] as a nn for [name]Anastasia[/name], although it obviously wouldn’t work in [name]America[/name].
We have a [name]Mischa[/name] in the family. It means [name]Bear[/name]! I love it! We have an [name]Isaac[/name] who is called Izzishka the beginning is soft like [name]Isabella[/name]…I think it would be such a distinctive nn for an [name]Isabella[/name]! Quite a few Sashas & Sandras that are [name]Alexander[/name]/[name]Alexandra[/name]. I am thinking about non Russian names with Russian nns.
[name]Alice[/name] - Alishka or [name]Alka[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]- my husband said this is [name]Bee[/name]-etta…sadly it’s spelled [name]Beata[/name]
[name]Claudette[/name]- hmmm maybe something like [name]Cloud[/name]-ka
It’s something for me to keep in mind when naming!
I’m considering the name [name]Veronica[/name]. When I posted in on the forum for feedback, someone suggested a nickname of Vonka, which I [name]LOVE[/name] and never thought of using. Thanks to your post, now I know it’s a Russian nickname. So cute!
I also am considering [name]Veronica[/name]!
I am conscious of picking names that are easy to pronounce & somwhat familiar to Russian people so it’s high on my list!
Vonka is adorable. [name]Vera[/name] is Russian for faith. Vinka is what I would use as a nn…botantical & Russian sounding AND a character in a favorite book!
Correction- Vinca
Thanks for posting about these, taz. Slavic nicknames are really interesting to me.
Very similar in Poland, while some names have standard nns, my name, [name]Caroline[/name], becomes [name]Karolinka[/name], adding the k in there is pretty common. Others just have variants that are considered nns/endearments. [name]Zbigniew[/name] > Zbyszek, [name]Robert[/name] get either Robercik or Robuś as an endearment. [name]Jadwiga[/name]>> Jadzia. [name]Micha[/name]ł ([name]Michael[/name]) would probably get [name]Micha[/name]ś as a child, like Robus, it’s a diminutive version that would mean approx “little [name]Michael[/name]”, but many parents continue to use those long after their child is grown. [name]Barbara[/name] >> [name]Basia[/name] or Baśka. [name]Eva[/name] gets [name]Evka[/name] which I think is adorable. Stanisław ([name]Stanley[/name]) gets Stasiek or Stacho.
Standard nn for [name]Aleksandra[/name] is [name]Ola[/name].
I think I’m probably the poster who knows a little [name]Veronica[/name] nn Vonka…its not the standard Russian nn, but certainly a familiar sound for a nn, she’s Ukrainian.
(Forgive my accent marks, I get lazy with them when typing. I married into this as well and am still not fluent, haha. Taz, did you take a conjugated name when you married? I think some Russian names have that too. Many families are dropping it these days, but being the name nerd that I am, I kept the conjugation so my surname and my mother in laws surnames end in “ska” while my husband’s and his father’s end in “ski”)
Because now you got me thinking…some others for you (focusing on girls names!!)
[name]Maria[/name]: [name]Manka[/name], [name]Marysia[/name], Marysienka
[name]Magdalena[/name]: [name]Magda[/name], [name]Madzia[/name]
[name]Zofia[/name]: [name]Zosia[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]: [name]Ania[/name], [name]Anka[/name]
Agnieszki ([name]Agnes[/name]): Aga, Agnisia, Agusia, Nisia
[name]Ilona[/name]: [name]Ilonka[/name]
[name]Adela[/name] ([name]Adele[/name]): [name]Adelka[/name]
[name]Cecilia[/name]: Cecilka, [name]Cilka[/name], Cilinka
[name]Diana[/name]: Dianka, [name]Dia[/name]
[name]Elena[/name]: [name]Ela[/name], [name]Elka[/name], [name]Elenka[/name]
[name]Joanna[/name]: [name]Asia[/name] (THAT was a confusing one for me!), Joasia
[name]Helena[/name]: Hela, [name]Helenka[/name]
[name]Natalia[/name]: Natalka
[name]Martina[/name]: [name]Martinka[/name]
[name]Silvia[/name]: [name]Silva[/name], Silvinka
I’ve also heard [name]Verka[/name] for [name]Vera[/name]! You’d have to ask your family which of these translate to Russian and which are clearly Eastern European, but dont quite make the jump.
My husband’s surname is Lithuanian so it had the -skis ending but when he came to the US in the early 90s they took an -sky ending…apparently this ending is typically Jewish and it is the original ending that his family dropped to avoid religious persecution.
My husbands older brother’s mn is the possessive version of my fils name while my husband has no mn…this is I guess typical in Eastern Europe.
I love Silvinka!
We have an [name]Ilona[/name]/[name]Elena[/name] Dianka/Dianka, [name]Raisa[/name], Rya, more [name]Anna[/name]/[name]Anya[/name] than I can count!, [name]Masha[/name]…
I am drawn to the name Lubov / [name]Luba[/name] but I don’t know if it could work as a fn on an American girl!
My daughter’s mn is [name]Ida[/name] (ee-duh not eye-duh) after my husband’s grandmother. The nn Idishka is so cute I think I would’ve used it as a fn if only I had known!
I think youre right that Lubov/[name]Luba[/name] wouldnt be the easiest to live with in the states.
I really like [name]Ludmila[/name] because it gives you some nicknames that have that very traditional sound, [name]Luda[/name], Lidka, Lidmilka, but also some that would make an easy transition between cultures, [name]Mila[/name] or [name]Lulu[/name].