Affectionate Name for Girlfriend

Question

I am writing a story (set in the modern day) involving a Russian man who has an American girlfriend named Anna.

I'm trying to figure out what affectionate name he might use for her. Specifically:

Is there an appropriate diminutive form for "Anna" in this situation? I found this site, but there are many forms of "Anna". Is there an important distinction between them or is it just a matter of preference?
Is it common to use a pet/tender name instead of the diminutive? This site lists some, but doesn't provide context. For example, is “zvyozdochka” (little star) something you would use for a girlfriend or is it better suited to a small child?

You can listen for this mashine voice https://translate.yandex.ru/?text=%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0%2C%20%D0%90%D0%BD%D1%8E%D1%82%D0%B0%2C%20%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%83%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B0&lang=ru-en and decide yourself, how to transliterate. — Avtokod, Oct 21 '15 at 22:01
I like Annushka (Аннушка). You can meet this version of name in Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita". — Yuliya, Jan 10 '19 at 13:12

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 21 '15 at 08:35

14

Name Anna

Анна - formal
Аня - regular, informal (widely used by friends, parents, boyfriend)
Анечка, Анюта - maybe used by parents, close friends or a boyfriend (your case)
Ань! - regular, the vocative case, used just addressing/calling a person
Анют! - is like the previous one, but more cute

Others forms from the list, such as Аннушка, Ануша, Ануся, Нюня, Нюша, Нюта, may sound strange in modern Russian.

Pet/tender names

Звёздочка is possible, but rarely used. It's more like mother can call her child.

The most popular are:

Зайка, more popular Зая, vocative Зай! - a bunny
Солнышнко, солнце моё - a sun of mine
Родная моя, Роднуля - a relative of mine
Малыш - a little one

answered Oct 21 '15 at 08:35

Roman

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Thanks. How would Анечка be written in anglicized form? Anechka? Аня is Anya if I understand correctly. – Lynn Oct 21 '15 at 13:50
@Lynn I think it depends on your taste )) You should use English language transliteration tradition. Anechka and Anya look well for me though. – Roman Oct 21 '15 at 14:02
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Upvote for mentioning vocative case (Ань). – Adam Bittlingmayer Oct 24 '15 at 08:25

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 21 '15 at 02:27

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Анна is "Аня", "Анюта", "Нюша" and even "Нюра". From this one can derive even more "soft" forms like "Анюточка", "Нюшенька", "Нюрочка" etc.

So, basically all the forms mentioned on the page you've mentioned are valid. Stylistically there are very subtle differences but I guess that your story won't sound unnatural with any of these forms.

As of the second part of your question - "звёздочка" is not a regular noun used in cases of this kind. More likely "солнышко" or, talking of pets, "рыбка", "зайка", "котёночек", "котик".

answered Oct 21 '15 at 02:27

shabunc

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солнышко looks promising. How would one write that in an English story? Like Анюточка would be Annochka if I'm reading that nickname site right. – Lynn Oct 21 '15 at 13:17
nope, Aнюточка is Anyutochka. – shabunc Oct 21 '15 at 13:45
Ah, my mistake. So how would солнышко be written? – Lynn Oct 21 '15 at 13:49
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@Lynn solnyshko (pronounced more like "solnyshkah") – shabunc Oct 21 '15 at 14:11

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 21 '15 at 14:26

In the context of your story, Anechka and/or Anya are probably the best choices. Any more variations will probably confuse your non-Russian readers.

By the way, thank you for checking this. You are doing a great service to those of your readers who are familiar with Russian culture. Typically, seeing what English-language writers do with Russian names makes me cringe.

Affectionate Name for Girlfriend

3 Answers3

Name Anna

Pet/tender names

The most popular are: