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This site lists Natasha as a pet form of Natalia/ Natalie, but my Russian friend Natasha uses Natalie as a pet form of Natasha. Are the two interchangeable as nns for each other?
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In Russia, most Names have a standard pet form (eg. Girls: Lena for Elena, Tanya for Tatyana, Masha for Maria, Sveta for Svetlana, Ena for Irena; Boys: Sasha for Alexandr, Volodia for Vladimir, Vanya for Ivan, Kolya for Nikolai, Seryoja for Sergei etc etc). Natasha is the standard pet form for Natalia, but I guess your friend/ her parents can choose whatever pet name she/they want to for her given name, particularly when not in Russia.
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they are in Russia... she's a pen-friend! :)
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More interesting facts about Russian names
Something else Interesting about Russian names (while I'm procrastinating with regards to the essay I'm supposed to be writing!):
It is standard in Russia to have 3 names: a forename (imya), chosen by parents; a patronymic (otchestva), derived from the father's forename ('otez' is the Russian for 'father'); and a surname (familia), ie a family name.
So If Ivan Vladimirovich Smirnov chose the names Alexandr and Maria for his son and daughter respectively, their names in full would be:
Alexandr Ivanovich Smirnov
Maria Ivanovna Smirnova
(note the feminine endings)
Russians do not use equivalents to 'Mr' or 'Mrs'. Instead they would formally introduce themselves or be referred to by their forename and patronymic.
So Ivan's children would formally be addressed/ refered to as
Alexandr Ivanovich and Maria Ivanova rather than Mr and Miss Sirnov.
When on more intimate terms however, only the forename is used, and usually the intimate form of that.
So the Smirnov children above would probably be called Sasha and Masha by family and freinds etc.
Haha... food for thought maybe... back to the essay now (though bed is very tempting!)
Something else Interesting about Russian names (while I'm procrastinating with regards to the essay I'm supposed to be writing!):
It is standard in Russia to have 3 names: a forename (imya), chosen by parents; a patronymic (otchestva), derived from the father's forename ('otez' is the Russian for 'father'); and a surname (familia), ie a family name.
So If Ivan Vladimirovich Smirnov chose the names Alexandr and Maria for his son and daughter respectively, their names in full would be:
Alexandr Ivanovich Smirnov
Maria Ivanovna Smirnova
(note the feminine endings)
Russians do not use equivalents to 'Mr' or 'Mrs'. Instead they would formally introduce themselves or be referred to by their forename and patronymic.
So Ivan's children would formally be addressed/ refered to as
Alexandr Ivanovich and Maria Ivanova rather than Mr and Miss Sirnov.
When on more intimate terms however, only the forename is used, and usually the intimate form of that.
So the Smirnov children above would probably be called Sasha and Masha by family and freinds etc.
Haha... food for thought maybe... back to the essay now (though bed is very tempting!)
1
This site is correct. Natacha is a pet form of the Russian name Natalia. (In both Natacha and Natalia, the second "a" is stressed.) A name can have several pet forms, however.
Russians often use foreign forms of the same name as pet forms. E.e. "Zhora" is a pet form of George, probably from the French form of the same name.
If we consider the name Natalie with its English (the stress on the first "a") or French (the stress on "i") pronunciation, Russians feel those forms as foreign. Thus, Natalie (either English or French) can be used as a pet form of the Russian name Natalia (or Natalya, which is the same).
Russians often use foreign forms of the same name as pet forms. E.e. "Zhora" is a pet form of George, probably from the French form of the same name.
If we consider the name Natalie with its English (the stress on the first "a") or French (the stress on "i") pronunciation, Russians feel those forms as foreign. Thus, Natalie (either English or French) can be used as a pet form of the Russian name Natalia (or Natalya, which is the same).
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