I love Russian names, too. Russian names just seem to extra spice, like Russian music.
My ear can usually recognise music done by Russian composers just because of they style in which they were written.
I must say that it is nice to find someone else who appreciates
Olga as much as I do. :)
My favourite Olga-combo for the last two years has been
Olga Violet Lavinia (though I went through an
Olga Violet Christabel stage for a while).
My favourite pet form is Olishka, though I also love
Olya. Thankfully, in Russian, hypocoristics (which is probably the more correct term for the names we're labelling as 'nicknames') aren't exclusive. It's normal for one to have many hypocoristics, so little
Olga could be Olishka,
Olya, Olenka, etc. There's a saying in Russia that the more nicknames you have, the more loved you are. :)
Alexei is very nice, and the pet form
Alyosha is so precious.
Maria, of course, is a favourite of mine. Of OTMA, Grand Duchess
Maria Nikolaievna has always been my favourite, and when I think of this name,
Maria's saucer eyes always come to mind. Of her sisters, she was considered to be the most kind and thoughtful. Once when she was a little girl, she was caught by her mother stealing a couple of cookies, and the Czarina thought she should go to bed without any dinner as punishment. Her father, however, said, 'I was always afraid of the wings growing. I am glad to see she is only a human child.'
So, while
Maria may be bland and boring to others. I associate it with all those amiable, lovable qualities that were so oft written of the grand duchess. Mashka is a cute pet name, but then I'm biased. :) I also like
Masha and Marushya.
I don't really like
Modest for actual usage, but Mussorgsky has a special place in my heart, and for that association alone,
Modest is near and dear.
Lev is a wonderful name, but I like the Hebrew pronunciation more than the Russian one, and it has great meanings in both languages.
Aleksandr with
Sasha as a pet name is so handsome.
Sasha sounds so handsomely masculine.
Ilya is great. Short, simple, but possessing a great strength.
Tatiana is a beautiful name. Very regal and commanding. It has a kind of respectable aloofness about it. It's a name to respect, that's for sure.
A lot of the names you've listed are names of my beloved Romanovs who I've fangirled since childhood. (It all started when I watched the
Ingrid Bergman version of
Anastasia at age eight.) So, when ever I see
Olga,
Tatiana,
Maria,
Anastasia, and
Alexei, I associate the names with the good qualities of their namesakes.

However, if you do contemplate
Anastasia some more, keep in mind that
Anya is not a hypocoristic (despite what the cartoon
Anastasia may say ;)).
Anya is a pet form of
Anna. Unfortunately, I don't personally find any of the pet names of
Anastasia attractive.
Since you're into Russian names, would you be interested in
Irina (
Ira, Irishka, Irinka) or
Kseniya /
Ksenia (Zenoushka)? Or even
Nina so you can get the pet name Ninotchka. XD Sorry, had a Garbo moment. I better stop before I start quoting the movie.
This message was edited 6/18/2008, 10:52 PM