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Allochka - cute nn but really way over-the-top cutesy
Apollinariya - prefer Polina but this is very nice
Boyka - mm, a bit odd
Franka - not my style, but cute!
Galina - I've loved this one for a while, elegant but not fussy
Nadejda - prefer it spelled Nadezhda because I read "Nadejda" as "naDAYda" but I've always liked Nadezdha, nn Nadia.
Valentina - love! A bit of a GP but very nice.
Zaharina - new to me but I like it
Zhannochka - again a bit too cutesy for me

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Alojzy - I want to like this but something isn't quite right?
Ilya - love! Very refined sound. It makes me think of Russian literature, I can't remember who was named Ilya but it does feel very established to me because of that.

Allochka - mmmf, not a fan, even as a nickname - it sounds like allotment
Apollinariya - really pretty
Boyka - nice but I also hear 'boycott'
Franka - something about it which I like... I guess it has a musty Teutonic/Slavic feel, especially with this spelling
Galina - also pretty
Nadejda - well, I like this name but not the spelling, it makes me want to say 'na-day-da' instead of 'na-dyezh-da'
Valentina - as in Monetta, it's grown on me
Zaharina - cool
Zhannochka - see Allochka, although I was once considering Zhanna as a mn

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Alojzy - awkward but cool
Ilya - pretty

This message was edited 5/23/2015, 5:07 AM

Oh, I love Russian names!

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Allochka- cute. I like it as a diminutive of Alla best.
Apollinariya- too much for me.
Boyka- not really keen on the 'boy' sound.
Franka- OK. I like Frances and this could be a cute nickname.
Galina- quite nice.
Nadejda- beautiful! Absolutely beautiful. Nada/Nadia are nice nicknames.
Valentina- I've been warming to this one recently.
Zaharina- pretty. I like this a lot.
Zhannochka- nice, I prefer it as a diminutive of Zhanna

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Alojzy- nice, would be very, very weird in Britain, though!
Ilya- love it.

I love Alojzy (which is Polish, not Russian, but I take it you know that).

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For a girl I like Valentina.

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I like a lot of Russian and Polish names, but these aren't my favourites.

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Allochka --Noooo, not as a given name. Nicknames are never used as full names in Russian and -ka nicknames are especially cutesy.
Apollinariya --Kind of awesome!
Boyka --Reminds me of "boinking".
Franka --Too close to Franco (as in the former dictator of Spain) for me, and I dislike the Fran- sound in general.
Galina --Very pretty. I prefer Halina (or Alina), though.
Nadejda --Never been a big fan but it's fine.
Valentina --This has grown on me a LOT lately. I met a newborn Valentina a few months ago and suddenly started loving the name.
Zaharina --Yes! I thought I was the only person on this board who liked Zaharina. :-p I think it's so beautiful(though obviously unusable).
Zhannochka --See Allochka.

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Alojzy --Hmm. I've never encountered this before, but after looking up the pronunciation I think I like it.
Ilya --I want to like it but I just can't stop seeing it as a girls' name. What with the similarity to Ella and the -ya/-ia ending like Sophia/Julia/Victoria/etc. it reads as all girl to me, even though I know better.

I was on another site the other day. Parents were looking for a formal name for the nn Apple. I offered them Apollinaria (I'm not crazy about the Apollinariya spelling), but I never heard back from them. I have always found Apollinaria to be exceedingly beautiful and mesmerizing.

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Ilya is the male equivalent of Apollinari(y)a for me. I love it even more than Elijah. Ilya Nastase was still playing tennis when I was growing up and that's where I first heard it. So much fun to say out loud. Ilya Constantine is my stock combo for it.

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Great list, all around. Note to self: stop ignorning Franka / Franca. :0)