Nadezhda

ZH/Ž/Ж sounds like the French pronunciation of the pronoun 'je' ('I' as in 'I am') since the English pronunciation od 'j' is not even close (this is for the non-Slavic individuals who I hope have heard French before). Or the S in English 'pleasure'.

The æ/zh sound in Íàäåæäà / Nadezhda is pronounced like 'j'. I have a friend called this and her Russian parents pronounce it something like but not quite 'nah-DYEJ(ZH)-dah'. It doesn't pronounce a traditional 'z' sound or an 'sh' sound, but that funny eastern European sound which isn't completely spot on a 'j' but not far off. Nadezhda is one of many abstract female Russian names such as Vera or Lyubov, which, with a lower case first letter, act as Russian nouns. Basically, a capitalised noun used as a name, so Nadezhda is a name and nadezhda is a noun. Which, when you think about it, is very obvious, haha.

Slovak pronunciation is "Nah-DEZH-dah".

Nadezhda is pronounced Nah-desh-dah. I used to think it was Nad-eez-dah!