Zhenya

Eugene (yoo-dzheen) is derived from the Greek name Eugenios (ehw-geh-nee-ohs) as well as the Russian name Yevgeniy (yihvw-gyih-nyeey). Both the medieval English (I don't know what they were called, Anglo-Saxons?) and the Kyivans chose to adapt the name to start with a y sound instead of an eh sound. Anglicisation led to the dzh instead of g, and Russification led to gyih instead of geh. The zh in Zhenya comes from Russian consonant rules; when the hard consonant g changes to a soft consonant, that consonant is zh. Genya is a variant of this name without the consonant change. The -ya at the end is a Russian diminutive style, like the English style -ie or -y (etc, variations). Just if you were wondering how :}