How did Sasha come to be a diminutive for Alexander?

[Polycarp]

@Springtime_for_Spacers

My Ukranian ex pa in law called his son Michael Mahashku.

And Ukrainians speak Ukrainian, a quite different language from Russian. As any Ukrainian will be at great pains to make clear to you, right?

[Polycarp]

@Inner_Stickler

Reading Chekhov without understanding a bit of the russian diminutive process can be confusing. I remember throwing The Cherry Orchard across the room crying that every character had three names and no one was referred to by the name in the character list.

The other one is fun. The Chekhov play known in Russian as Дядя Ваня (transliterated Dyadya Vanya) is usually half-translated (since Dyadya carries a ‘father’ connotation) as “Uncle Vanya.” But to be consistent you should probably translate nickname as well as relational title, and render it “Uncle Johnny.”

[Polycarp]

@Cazzle

Next you’ll be telling us that Nikita is a girl’s name.

Nope. (You do know about Sir Elton, dontcha? ;)) Except for the late premier Khrushchev and one actor/model who apparently were actually named ‘Nikita’ at birth, it’s a diminutive for Nikolai.

[pulykamell]

@Shakester

Slavic, not “Russian”.

People from what used to be Yugoslavia, for instance, aren’t Russians and don’t speak Russian, but they do use the same diminutives in their names, and someone called “Sasha” is just as likely to be Serbo-Croatian as Russian.

Sure, but it doesn’t work in Polish for male names, so you can’t quite extend that to Slavic languages as a rule. In Polish, the male diminutive is usually “-ek” or “-uś” (or even both as “–uśek”). Female names get the “-sia/cia/dzia/nia” and “-ka” endings (I may be missing one in there.)

[Annie-Xmas]

@Elendil_s_Heir

The President’s daughter Sasha is simply named that - it’s not a diminutive for Alexandra, in her case, IIRC.

Nope. It’s a diminiutive for Natasha.

[Acsenray]

@ultrafilter

The question’s in the title. All the other diminutives I can think of are at least a little bit similar to the original name, but this seems to be out of left field.

There are plenty of diminutives in the Anglo-American tradition that are quite distant from the original – Peggy (Margaret), Polly (Mary), Betsy (Elizabeth), Hank (John or Henry), Sandy (Alexander), Dicky (Richard), Bobby/Dobby/Hobby/Nobby (Robert)

[Annie-Xmas]

I’ve never understood how Edward got to be both “Ted” and “Ned.”

[Acsenray]

Those fit right in with the other examples I gave, don’t you think?

[pravnik]

Ditto Jack and John.

[Floater]

@Annie-Xmas

It’s a diminiutive for Natasha.

Which, in itself, is a diminutive for Natalya.

[Chessic_Sense]

@Annie-Xmas

I’ve never understood how Edward got to be both “Ted” and “Ned.”

It’s common (for some reason) to change or add a first letter to a name.

Edward->Ed->Ted/Ned
William->Will->Bill
Richard->Rick->Dick

And in the “last half + diminutive” family, we have:

Anthony->Tony

[dotchan]

Slight hijack, I was very surprised to discover that “Dot” is short for “Dorothy” and not Princess Angelica Francesca Banana Nana Bo Besca III.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@Annie-Xmas

Nope. It’s a diminiutive for Natasha.

Thanks, but the Wiki article cites to an NBC News report that says nothing about her full name actually being Natasha. I’ve read elsewhere - can’t remember where, but it seemed reliable at the time - that her given name is simply Sasha.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@Polycarp

Nope. (You do know about Sir Elton, dontcha? ;)) Except for the late premier Khrushchev and one actor/model who apparently were actually named ‘Nikita’ at birth, it’s a diminutive for Nikolai.

Maybe he was thinking of this: La Femme Nikita - Wikipedia

[Scarlett67]

Then there’s Margaret > Peg.