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HelpMisha question
Misha, as I am sure you know, is a nickname for Mikhail. In the comments section for Misha there is a lot of people saying how terrible it is to use this as a given first name for a girl, because it is a Russian nickname, so very masculine, and just because Misha ends in a -a doesn't mean it's a girl's name, etc etc etc.
They get very angry about it. I'm sure you can imagine. You've all such comments in the comments sections.
In light of this, I want to make it clear that I love -a ending names for boys, and also that I would never give a Russian nickname as a full name for either a boy or a girl. But I want to know if Misha would be an acceptable nickname for a girl in certain circumstances.
My reasoning is thus:
I do know (basically) how Russian nicknames are formed: take a syllable from the full name and add a diminutive suffix like -sha, -ya, etc. Eg. NiKOLai -> Kolya | MAria -> MAsha
In the same way, Aleksander becomes Sasha. But so does Aleksandra. Which makes me wonder if there in nothing about Misha that is inherently masculine sounding (to Russians or Russian speakers), it only seems that way because (as far as I know, and would love to be corrected if this is wrong) there is no Russian feminine version of Mikhail.
My question is this: if a girl was called Michelle or Mikaela and knew Russians/lived with Russians/went to live in Russia, would she be given the nickname Misha?
From what I know, it only seems logical.
They get very angry about it. I'm sure you can imagine. You've all such comments in the comments sections.
In light of this, I want to make it clear that I love -a ending names for boys, and also that I would never give a Russian nickname as a full name for either a boy or a girl. But I want to know if Misha would be an acceptable nickname for a girl in certain circumstances.
My reasoning is thus:
I do know (basically) how Russian nicknames are formed: take a syllable from the full name and add a diminutive suffix like -sha, -ya, etc. Eg. NiKOLai -> Kolya | MAria -> MAsha
In the same way, Aleksander becomes Sasha. But so does Aleksandra. Which makes me wonder if there in nothing about Misha that is inherently masculine sounding (to Russians or Russian speakers), it only seems that way because (as far as I know, and would love to be corrected if this is wrong) there is no Russian feminine version of Mikhail.
My question is this: if a girl was called Michelle or Mikaela and knew Russians/lived with Russians/went to live in Russia, would she be given the nickname Misha?
From what I know, it only seems logical.
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
In Russia probably not. But as an American I like it on both genders.
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Thanks for your reply. Can I ask why you say probably not in Russia..? Do you have any reasoning for it, or is it just a feeling?
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I want to say I know a female Misha named Mihaila, but it was so long ago that the nickname might have been something different but similar. She from Croatia or somewhere in that region as well, not Russian.
Not what you asked, but I love the nickname Misha for a boy, I am a big fan of "soft" sounds in boys names.
Not what you asked, but I love the nickname Misha for a boy, I am a big fan of "soft" sounds in boys names.
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Thank you so much for your answer! It got me very excited because I can see from Mihaila that there is also Michala, which is Czech. And Czech and Russian, while not mutually intelligible, are related... Which means there have must probably been Michalas in Russia at some point...
Thank you again!
Also, I'm glad you like the name (:
Thank you again!
Also, I'm glad you like the name (:
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Hi !!!!
I like very much your question!
You have axplained all about your reason and also about Misha and his/her history and usage.
Yes! It is like Aleksandr/Aleksandra nn "Sasha"..
It is both masculine and feminine.
Misha is like these names for me!
Well...my personal taste is masculine but I think it is perfect for a girl named Michaela or other names like this.
I love movies so I can tell you about "Hannibal Rising" a 2007 film where Hannibal Lecter who was born in Lithuania has a sister named Mischa. I don't know if it is a nn but it is perfect as it is.
So Misha/Mischa is a girl name...and it is nice as a full name too!
Byeeeeeeeeeeee
I like very much your question!
You have axplained all about your reason and also about Misha and his/her history and usage.
Yes! It is like Aleksandr/Aleksandra nn "Sasha"..
It is both masculine and feminine.
Misha is like these names for me!
Well...my personal taste is masculine but I think it is perfect for a girl named Michaela or other names like this.
I love movies so I can tell you about "Hannibal Rising" a 2007 film where Hannibal Lecter who was born in Lithuania has a sister named Mischa. I don't know if it is a nn but it is perfect as it is.
So Misha/Mischa is a girl name...and it is nice as a full name too!
Byeeeeeeeeeeee
This message was edited 2/9/2016, 2:15 PM
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I saw about "Mischa" in that movie in the comments section on Misha. People were complaining about it because apparent Misha shouldn't be transcribed as Mischa or be given to a girl, and they seem the think the author (author? Director? I don't know) hadn't done their research properly. I'd be very interested to discover if Mischa in that movie was a nickname for something...
Anyway, thanks for your reply (:
Anyway, thanks for your reply (:
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Russian names can be tricky because a lot of them end in vowels and to many non-Russian speakers, it seems strange that it would be a male name that ends in an A but in other languages, female names are more likely to end in vowels, especially A's.
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Yes, I am aware... -a do not seem any more feminine to me than names ending in any other letter, but I live in an (officially) English-speaking country, so I hear a lot of people saying that names ending in -a sound girly/like they should be given to a girl.
With my question, I'm trying to find out if Russian speakers would object to a girl named Michelle or Mikaela having the nickname Misha.
With my question, I'm trying to find out if Russian speakers would object to a girl named Michelle or Mikaela having the nickname Misha.
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