Yeah, I guess I should have said its not uncommon in "many" cultures. Its quite in vogue in Britain right now to give straight nns like
Ben and
Jamie and
Ellie, and I've seen it in articles about other countries as well. Guess I'm not sure how a Russian would view it, but unless the poster has a lot of interaction with Russian natives, I don't think the use of
Sasha would be that bad.