Spelling help for Tatiana/Tatjana and the nickname Tania/Tanya/Tanja?

I love the name Tatiana/Tatjana for a girl and I like Tania/Tanja/Tanya for the nickname, but not sure which spelling I like better.
Which one?

I’m of Irish, Latvian, Scottish, and Scandinavian heritage if that helps. I am usually more traditional/classic/vintage in my naming style, but I also like names that honor my heritage. I don’t like the Tonya spelling at all and I’m not a fan of the other nickname Tati.

I’m leaning slightly towards Tatiana for the given name because people here in the US would most likely spell it that way, but I love Tatjana too because of my background. It’s the nickname I’m more stumped on.

In the US, I would agree that [name_f]Tatiana[/name_f] would be the default spelling. I also think [name_f]Tanya[/name_f] is the clearest spelling for the nickname in that it’s least likely to get mispronounced (I think [name_f]Tania[/name_f] may get “tuh-NEE-uh” sometimes and [name_f]Tanja[/name_f] being less familiar may be said “tan-juh”).

However, if you love [name_f]Tatjana[/name_f], I think you should go for it. People will probably need to be corrected on the spelling, but it would be very easy for her to explain “my mom is Latvian and this is the traditional Latvian spelling.”

Either way you spell the full name, I like [name_f]Tanya[/name_f] best for the nickname personally!

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[name_f]Love[/name_f] [name_f]Tatiana[/name_f]! Usually I’m a big fan of the -ja endings (love [name_f]Anja[/name_f] especially), but I like the simplicity of [name_f]Tatiana[/name_f] and I think [name_f]Tatiana[/name_f] would be much easier to live with than [name_f]Tatjana[/name_f] in the states. If you spell it [name_f]Tatjana[/name_f], I would opt for [name_f]Tanja[/name_f] as the nickname, but with [name_f]Tatiana[/name_f], I think you could go with any? I think I like the look of [name_f]Tanja[/name_f] best because I love those J’s but [name_f]Tanya[/name_f] would probably my second favorite… the -ania ending feels very Polish to me (Ania, [name_f]Hania[/name_f], etc.!), although I love [name_f]Hania[/name_f], so theoretically I should like [name_f]Tania[/name_f] too… I just find I like [name_f]Tanya[/name_f] or [name_f]Tanja[/name_f] more myself.

Good luck!

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While I do think [name_f]Tatiana[/name_f] would be ‘easiest’ in the US, I don’t think [name_f]Tatjana[/name_f] is unheard of - so if you like that best, I’d go for that! And then I’d go with [name_f]Tanja[/name_f] :slight_smile:

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[name_f]Tatjana[/name_f] nn [name_f]Tanya[/name_f]

The first [name_f]Tatjana[/name_f] I heard of was in [name_f]Nancy[/name_f] [name_m]Drew[/name_m], and J automatically assumed it was pronounced Tat-Jana, however [name_f]Olivija[/name_f], [name_f]Amelija[/name_f] & [name_f]Patricija[/name_f] are common in [name_m]East[/name_m] Europe, and I agree with @EagleEyes that it would be nice for your daughter to explain her mother’s Latvian / Scandinavian / [name_m]Irish[/name_m] / Scottish heritage

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If you’re American, I would stick to the [name_f]Tatiana[/name_f] spelling unless your connection to your Latvian & Scandinavian heritage is very strong and you speak those languages! As for the nickname, I’d probably do [name_f]Tanya[/name_f] – I think it’d be the most familiar and I like how it looks! But if you want to give a hint to your heritage you could always do [name_f]Tanja[/name_f] instead. I don’t think it matters much that [name_f]Tanja[/name_f] is less intuitive to pronounce/spell since it’s only a nickname and not her legal name!

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[name_f]Tatiana[/name_f] :white_heart: :revolving_hearts:

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