Another Name that Baby
December 5, 2011 11:51 AM Subscribe
Help me brainstorm a boy Eastern European / Russian / Middle Eastern name. Ideally it's easy to spell and easy to pronounce in English.
I'll start:
Yuri
Ivan
Franco
Dominic
I'll start:
Yuri
Ivan
Franco
Dominic
Also, Ervin.
posted by pintapicasso at 12:00 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by pintapicasso at 12:00 PM on December 5, 2011
I vote for David, which has the same spelling/pronunciation across many Eastern European / Russian / Middle Eastern and other languages and cultures.
posted by cairdeas at 12:05 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by cairdeas at 12:05 PM on December 5, 2011
Many Polish nicknames fit the bill: Mati (from Mateusz), Jarek (from Jarosław), Olek (from Aleksander), or Romek (from Roman).
posted by mdonley at 12:06 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by mdonley at 12:06 PM on December 5, 2011
I like Dmitri, which is diminuted to Dima, or Mikhail, which is diminuted to Misha, and is a favorite of mine for a little boy's name.
posted by Polyhymnia at 12:13 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by Polyhymnia at 12:13 PM on December 5, 2011
From the Bulgarians in my life:
Boris
Dimitar
Ivan
Nikola
posted by Jehan at 12:22 PM on December 5, 2011
Boris
Dimitar
Ivan
Nikola
posted by Jehan at 12:22 PM on December 5, 2011
Be careful about picking a name that is normal in English, but comes across as Cletis-the-slack-jawed-yokel in its native language.
For example, from what I understand, English-language Thomas does not equal Russian-language Foma. And, ime, David, (like Sarah), will generally be assumed to be Jewish. If you're not Jewish, and even if you are, it'll be a hassle when he visits all those countries that are pretty openly anti-Semitic.
posted by small_ruminant at 12:33 PM on December 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
For example, from what I understand, English-language Thomas does not equal Russian-language Foma. And, ime, David, (like Sarah), will generally be assumed to be Jewish. If you're not Jewish, and even if you are, it'll be a hassle when he visits all those countries that are pretty openly anti-Semitic.
posted by small_ruminant at 12:33 PM on December 5, 2011 [3 favorites]
Marek
posted by Cocodrillo at 12:35 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by Cocodrillo at 12:35 PM on December 5, 2011
Andrei
posted by timsneezed at 12:41 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by timsneezed at 12:41 PM on December 5, 2011
What are you looking for exactly? This is such a broad question that I assume there is no personal cultural link to any of the areas mentioned - are you aiming for a style, or a sound? In your examples, I don't even see how Franco and Dominic fit the given criteria.
posted by jacalata at 12:48 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jacalata at 12:48 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
Basil/Vasily, both a common Slavic name as well as not uncommon among middle eastern Christians, meaning "king" in Greek. Also, in Arabic, it kind of sounds like Basel, which means "strong."
Dimitri, Nikola, and variations of Alexander mentioned by others do seem to fit the bill for what you want. Mikhail is obviously well known in Slavic countries as well as the middle east-- for example, Tariq Aziz was born Mikhail Yuhanna.
posted by deanc at 12:55 PM on December 5, 2011
Dimitri, Nikola, and variations of Alexander mentioned by others do seem to fit the bill for what you want. Mikhail is obviously well known in Slavic countries as well as the middle east-- for example, Tariq Aziz was born Mikhail Yuhanna.
posted by deanc at 12:55 PM on December 5, 2011
or Mikhail, which is diminuted to Misha
How is Misha pronounced?
posted by mikepop at 1:04 PM on December 5, 2011
How is Misha pronounced?
posted by mikepop at 1:04 PM on December 5, 2011
Keep in mind the teasing of some of these less than common names (in english speaking culture). I went to school with a Yuri and he was called urine non-stop.
posted by chickibaby at 1:04 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by chickibaby at 1:04 PM on December 5, 2011
If he's going to be an american kid, please go with a name that can be americanaized for school paper work (ie Andrew for Andrey, or Nick for Nikola). I knew a Vsevolod (means overlord) who had a rough time in elementrary school, but his brother Rosteslav was able to get by just fine with "Rusty".
Names that work in both:
Adrian
Matthew
Nicholas (Nikola)
Jaroslav (Jerry)
Myron
George (Jurij/uri)
Andrew/Andrei
Boris
Alexander/Sasha/aleksi/Olexa
posted by larthegreat at 1:11 PM on December 5, 2011
Names that work in both:
Adrian
Matthew
Nicholas (Nikola)
Jaroslav (Jerry)
Myron
George (Jurij/uri)
Andrew/Andrei
Boris
Alexander/Sasha/aleksi/Olexa
posted by larthegreat at 1:11 PM on December 5, 2011
One I know that I haven't seen listed yet: Alin (pronounced uh-LEEN, as close as my American ears hear it.)
posted by tchemgrrl at 1:46 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by tchemgrrl at 1:46 PM on December 5, 2011
I remember little boys in Poland named Shishek and Mirek.
posted by mareli at 2:04 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by mareli at 2:04 PM on December 5, 2011
Gregor, and its variations; he can choose to go by Greg.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:37 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:37 PM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
Jascha, It's my brothers name.
I think it's supposed to be pronounced Yaska but my mother was reading Nicholas and Alexandria (about the Russian tzars) while pregnant with him and as we didn't know anyone to correct the pronunciation so it was pronounced Jas-Ka from the get go, I've only ever seen one other person besides the guy in the book with the same name.
posted by wwax at 6:13 PM on December 5, 2011
I think it's supposed to be pronounced Yaska but my mother was reading Nicholas and Alexandria (about the Russian tzars) while pregnant with him and as we didn't know anyone to correct the pronunciation so it was pronounced Jas-Ka from the get go, I've only ever seen one other person besides the guy in the book with the same name.
posted by wwax at 6:13 PM on December 5, 2011
Radu was my favorite male name from when I was in Romania.
posted by jessamyn at 7:11 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by jessamyn at 7:11 PM on December 5, 2011
Mikepop, Misha is pronounced "ME-shah."
I like Roma, short for Roman, the Russian version of Romeo.
posted by Pwoink at 7:39 PM on December 5, 2011
I like Roma, short for Roman, the Russian version of Romeo.
posted by Pwoink at 7:39 PM on December 5, 2011
Many slavic cultures celebrate a 'name day' (sort of like a birthday) and maybe you'd have good luck going through a few name day calendars to find legit names (beware of American/British baby books with 'foreign' names if you want one that really is from the purported source!).
Wikipedia has a decent list of the names days of Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. This is my Czech go-to page for diminutives and English equivalent names - and I would imagine there would be similar pages for the other cultures as well.
My Czech suggestions would be: Felix, Hugo, Robert, Filip, Samuel, Jakub, Lukas, Oskar (if you want something that doesn't stand out as non-English); Ivan, Marek, Gustav, Roman, Viktor, Oto, Radek, Pavel (if you want something more obviously non-English); and Kvido (my most favourite 'cool' name, which would be cruel as a first name in an English-speaking country, but possibly would work as a middle name?).
posted by brambory at 2:06 AM on December 6, 2011
Wikipedia has a decent list of the names days of Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. This is my Czech go-to page for diminutives and English equivalent names - and I would imagine there would be similar pages for the other cultures as well.
My Czech suggestions would be: Felix, Hugo, Robert, Filip, Samuel, Jakub, Lukas, Oskar (if you want something that doesn't stand out as non-English); Ivan, Marek, Gustav, Roman, Viktor, Oto, Radek, Pavel (if you want something more obviously non-English); and Kvido (my most favourite 'cool' name, which would be cruel as a first name in an English-speaking country, but possibly would work as a middle name?).
posted by brambory at 2:06 AM on December 6, 2011
Thanks, Pwoink. My Slovak grandmother used to call me something like that, maybe more like MEE-show but I never knew how to spell it in English (she didn't either) and for whatever reason I never thought to look it up once the Internets came along.
posted by mikepop at 8:28 AM on December 6, 2011
posted by mikepop at 8:28 AM on December 6, 2011
Seraphim.
posted by resurrexit at 11:26 AM on December 6, 2011
posted by resurrexit at 11:26 AM on December 6, 2011
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posted by pintapicasso at 12:00 PM on December 5, 2011