Message: "Pondering female Russian names"

Pondering female Russian names

by Lillian (LillianAMS)

11/23/2006, 10:50 AM

A question was asked on Opinions about Tatiana that got me pondering female Russian names. Again. Every so often I think about this. I have only ever found two female Russian names that do not end in A. There's Yesfir / Esfir (which I think of as one name with two spellings; from Esther), and Ninel (which is Lenin backward and is therefore not only not worth using but is arguably the opposite of Nevaeh! :p ) I understand why this is, but it still confounds me. I was wondering if anyone knows of any other female Russian names that don't end in A?

~Lillian~
Proud daughter of Ann and John
Proud sister of Lauren and Leah
Proud wife of David
Proud mother of Alexander, Scarlett, Sophia, and Gideon

#Russian

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- Morrigan (guest)

11/10/2019, 8:27 PM

I couldn't help but notice.......three out of four of your children's names are the names of Lightwoods (Alec Lightwood, Sophie Lightwood, and Gideon Lightwood) (From Cassandra Clare's The Shadowhunter Chronicles.).

- Catra

12/2/2006, 6:41 AM

Maybe Nelly. This name is quite popular in Russia. There's a famous actress named Nelly - Nelly Uvarova. But originally the name is not Russian, it was borrowed from English or French.

- Missy +2

11/25/2006, 3:53 PM

Some listed in a book I have are:

Amaliji (Amelia)
Anstice
Cyzarine
Parashie (Pasha)
Rahil (Rachel)

Those were the only ones listed. I never really noticed how so many of the female Russian names ended in "A".
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- Elfstone

11/27/2006, 7:20 AM

Amaliji (Amelia) - there definitely is Amalija, but not Amaliji.
Anstice, Cyzarine - these two look quite un-Russian.
Parashie (Pasha) - well, there is a Parasha, which is pet form of Praskovya, if I'm not mistaken. As for Pasha, it could also be a pet form of Pavla.
All of these end in A, however.

I can come up with another one Ruf' - the Russian form of Ruth - old-fashioned as well.

___________________________________________

Pureness rules the world

- Elena Alexandra

11/26/2006, 5:03 AM

I know Russian girl Amalija, and there's a Russian actress Amalija Mordvinova.. Never heard of Amaliji. That's interesting :)

- Tone (guest)

11/25/2006, 5:44 AM

Hello Mrs Lilian.

You can add, for instance, the name Liubov.

It means "love" in russian

- Rene +1

11/23/2006, 11:16 PM

Maybe I got another one: I have in my database Rachil as a Russian form of Rachel.
Rene www.AboutNames.ch

- Elfstone

11/24/2006, 9:50 AM

Oh yeah, that's right. I overlooked it because it's old-fashioned as well.

___________________________________________

Pureness rules the world

- Elfstone +4

11/23/2006, 11:36 AM

The only one I can think of is Lyubov (stands for 'love').
The reason is quite simple: the majority of Russian feminine nouns end in A, no wonder the story's the same with fem. names.
The tendency is to make anything that is feminine end in A. When it comes to foreign women, we still add an A wherever missing, otherwise it would not sound feminine to us. Napoleon's wife was named Josephine, and she's widely known as Josephina in Russia.
Coming back to Lyubov, the nn is Lyuba, with the A!
By the way, the two names you mentioned are out of use nowadays. Esfir is old-fashioned; Ninel used to be popular, but not anymore. Thus, Lyubov is the only Russian female name without the A that is still widely popular.

___________________________________________

Pureness rules the world

- Caprice +2

11/23/2006, 12:36 PM

Melor and Vladlen aren't used much any longer either, are they? (I do think Ninel is a cute name, after all. Better than Stalina - ugh!)

Surrealism is the magical surprise of finding a lion in a wardrobe where you were sure of finding shirts - Frida Kahlo

- Elfstone +1

11/24/2006, 9:46 AM

No, not anymore, although... wait a minute...My grandmother has friend named Stalina! Well, no surprise, as she was born in the 1930s. What is more surprising, I have met a girl of my age named Vladlena! I can find no explanation to that unless... her parents simply did not realise what it meant. Quite possible.

___________________________________________

Pureness rules the world

- Caprice

11/24/2006, 12:05 PM

Well, it sounds OK after all...but it's not a name I would consider, despite being left-wing...Lenin was a bit extreme.

Surrealism is the magical surprise of finding a lion in a wardrobe where you were sure of finding shirts - Frida Kahlo

- Lillian (LillianAMS)

11/23/2006, 12:35 PM

Thank you very much for that

And just to say, Irina, you have a lovely name. Beautiful artwork on your profile, too. Very nice to meet you, and thanks again for the information.

~Lillian~
Proud daughter of Ann and John
Proud sister of Lauren and Leah
Proud wife of David
Proud mother of Alexander, Scarlett, Sophia, and Gideon

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