Why do most Russians have diminutive names?

Hello, my dear Russian learner! 

Today, let’s talk a bit about Russian names. 

I have a friend named ‘Vsevolod’. But, I and all his friends and family call him ‘Seva’. That’s an informal version of his name. More than once, he admits he ended up in a comical situation, when foreigners thought there were two different people: Vsevolod and Seva! 

And I am ‘Maria’, but my friends call me ‘Masha’, my mom calls me ‘Marusya’, my dad – ‘Manya’ and my sister – ‘Musya’. And that’s not the last of them!

Most first names in Russian have a variety of diminutive forms. They express informality and a warm attitude towards a person. Usually, they are used to address friends, relatives, children or teenagers. 

Here are more examples of the most popular diminutive names:

• Alexander (Александр) → Sasha (Саша)
• Sergei (Сергей) → Seryozha (Серёжа)
• Ivan (Иван) → Vanya (Ваня)
• Vladimir (Владимир) → Vova (Вова) or Volodya (Володя)
• Mikhail (Михаил) → Misha (Миша)
• Maria (Мария) → Masha (Маша)
• Anna (Анна) → Anya (Аня)
• Natalya (Наталья) → Natasha (Наташа)
• Anastasiya (Анастасия) → Nastya (Настя)
• Olga (Ольга) → Olya (Оля)

There are only few names that are used in full even in casual conversation:

• Oleg (Олег) 
• Igor’ (Игорь)
• Inna (Инна)
• Marina (Марина).

To soften them, Russians usually add diminutive suffixes: Инна – Иннуся, Марина – Маришка. 

But, how did those shortened forms appear? Actually, especially with lots of names of Greek origin, Russians tried to come up with nicknames to simplify them for the Russian ear. 

Want to learn more about Russian names? And how to address a Russian correctly? Then join our free online Russian language course today!