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Help[Opinions] Re: Ukrainian name spelling
in reply to a message by Anya Mel’nik or Mel’nyk
I think there's a good chance Americans would recognize these as Eastern European (though probably not specifically Ukrainian) - Maryna, Daryna, Petro, Mykola, Halyna, Iryna, Kateryna, Khrystyna, Klyment, Vasylyna, Zoryana, Illya, Maksym, Oleksandr, Oleksandra, Svitlana, Vasyl, Vadym, Danyil; maybe Oleh because it looks like Oleg, but it looks more like Ole
I think these are the most likely to be read as kre8tyv - Davyd, Martyn, Larysa, Mykyta, Kalyna, Karyna, Danylo, Maryana, Kyrylo - also maybe Denys, although I like the look of it more than Dennis. (Kyrylo does remind me of Kiril which I'd recognize as Eastern European, but I think more people would associate trendy Kylo and guess it was some kre8tyv elaboration of that. I think *lo in general seems trendy -for example Arlo and Milo- which is why I included Danylo.)
Ihor, Havryil, Yosyp, Pylyp, Anzhela, and Odarka kind of look ambiguously foreign to me? Not really in a trendy kre8tyv way though. Havryil reminds me of Gavril (which I think is recognizable to many Americans as being an Eastern European version of Gabriel?) once I sound it out, but I didn't immediately make the connection. Yosyp is also obviously like Osip (which I mainly recognize because of Osip Mandelstam, not because it's obviously a variant of Joseph) if I say them, but again, I didn't make the connection intuitively...I don't know that people would recognize them as variants or have any idea where they come from. Same for Semen, but that seems more unfortunate.
I think these are the most likely to be read as kre8tyv - Davyd, Martyn, Larysa, Mykyta, Kalyna, Karyna, Danylo, Maryana, Kyrylo - also maybe Denys, although I like the look of it more than Dennis. (Kyrylo does remind me of Kiril which I'd recognize as Eastern European, but I think more people would associate trendy Kylo and guess it was some kre8tyv elaboration of that. I think *lo in general seems trendy -for example Arlo and Milo- which is why I included Danylo.)
Ihor, Havryil, Yosyp, Pylyp, Anzhela, and Odarka kind of look ambiguously foreign to me? Not really in a trendy kre8tyv way though. Havryil reminds me of Gavril (which I think is recognizable to many Americans as being an Eastern European version of Gabriel?) once I sound it out, but I didn't immediately make the connection. Yosyp is also obviously like Osip (which I mainly recognize because of Osip Mandelstam, not because it's obviously a variant of Joseph) if I say them, but again, I didn't make the connection intuitively...I don't know that people would recognize them as variants or have any idea where they come from. Same for Semen, but that seems more unfortunate.
This message was edited 3/22/2025, 7:15 PM
