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[Opinions] Svetlana
I think I fell in love with Svetlana while trying to fall asleep last night. As a native speaker of English who has studied Russian but is far from fluent in it, I'm charmed by the sonic contrast between "svet" and "lana" — whereas the former is sharp and self-contained, the latter is open and supple. I'm aware that my pronunciation of "svet" is way more strident than a native Russian speaker's pronunciation, of course. What do you think of this name? These combos?

Svetlana Birgitta
Svetlana Celestina
Svetlana Coppelia
Svetlana Cornelia
Svetlana Cosima
Svetlana Cosmia
Svetlana Crescentia
Svetlana Eloisa
Svetlana Erasmia
Svetlana Eugenia
Svetlana Eulalia
Svetlana Everilda
Svetlana Fabiola
Svetlana Fabricia
Svetlana Frederica
Svetlana Gunilla
Svetlana Hemera
Svetlana Henrietta
Svetlana Herais
Svetlana Hesperia
Svetlana Hypatia
Svetlana Iolanthe
Svetlana Isabella *
Svetlana Isidora
Svetlana Ismeria
Svetlana Margarita
Svetlana Marika
Svetlana Mathilda
Svetlana Mimosa
Svetlana Perdita
Svetlana Pernilla
Svetlana Primula
Svetlana Radhika
Svetlana Sarika
Svetlana Silvia
Svetlana Theodosia
Svetlana Ulrika
Svetlana Violante
Svetlana Violetta
Svetlana Viveka * I like Isabella in the middle slot, where its Georgian(?) elegance resurfaces and supplants its 2010s trinket-like preciousness.

This message was edited 3/6/2021, 2:31 PM

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It's pretty, sounds dated about like Sabrina does to me, though.I like it with Herais and Radhika. Ismeria and Fabricia are neat, too; I don't think I've seen those before.
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I think I'd like Svetlana more if it wasn't always the name comedians, movie producers, etc use to represent and often make fun of a typical Russian woman. Has anyone else noticed this?
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Yeah. That's also a thing with Olga, I feel like.
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Agree.And Tatiana & Natasha for sexy Russians
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Does Natasha have the same vibe/image?
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For me at least Natasha is much more international.
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"Boris and Natasha" as Russian spy names was a familiar trope to me growing up, but I'm not sure how relevant they are anymore!
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Oh, I see!
And I'd like to add my two cents about these particular names, back then, I was always wondering why it's Boris - a full name, and Natasha - NN. Why not Boris and Natalia.
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It's from two characters from an old cartoon from the 50s and 60s. "Boris Badenov" and "Natasha Fatale" worked for someone called "Fearless Leader". Cold War humour I guess.... I'm not sure why it was Natasha over Natalia, and why Boris.
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Thank you!
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Yes, you're right, there's something very stereotypical about Svetlana. Maybe that's why it has such a plastic 90s feeling for me.
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I have such an interesting impression of Svetlana in my head. It makes me think of figure skaters from the 80s or 90s. Like blue eyeshadow, crimped hair, gold heart on a chain over a turtleneck, Lisa Frank-palette windbreakers, and legwarmers. I don't know why I see it this way. I must have seen a Russian figure skater named Svetlana sometime in the 90s and it really stayed with me.So, honouring this day-glo spirit of Svetlana, I like these combos of yours:Svetlana Mimosa
Svetlana Cosima
Svetlana Celestina
Svetlana UlrikaI don't know how good I'd be at comboing Svetlana, but I'll try. I mean obviously I wanna do stuff like Svetlana Jessica and Svetlana Stephanie but I'll restrain myselfSvetlana Aelita
Svetlana Esfir - oh Esfir is so cool!!
Svetlana Faina
Svetlana Galina
Svetlana Jekaterina
Svetlana Marfa
Svetlana Oksana - the other 90s Slavic athlete name that lives in my head
Svetlana Polina
Svetlana Snežana
I accidentally spelled it as "Sveltana" one time and I feel like I need to write a cheesy spy novel with a character named that now

This message was edited 3/7/2021, 4:11 AM

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Svetlana Birgitta .... Brigid is more nicer
Svetlana Frederica .... good one
Svetlana Hermione .... it will be good than Hemera
Svetlana Henrietta .... good one
Svetlana Hypatia .... nice one bruva
Svetlana Iolanthe .... good one
Svetlana Isabella .... I more like combination Svetlana Isolde
Svetlana Marika .... this is form Hungarian Jew or Catholic or Protestant
Svetlana Mathilda .... good one
Svetlana Perdita
Svetlana Silvia .... good one
Svetlana Violetta .... Violet is more likerMy sugestion are Svetlana Viatrix
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Unfortunately, I don't like Svetlana at all, (even Ruslana is better, IMO).
Svetlana (Sveta NN) gives me "mum's name" feeling, even though it's not necessarily a bad thing, for example Melissa is also considered to be outdated, but I still like it.
Hesperia sounds pretty.
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I bad some bad associations with it but the name isn’t really that bad. I like the meaning. I prefer Stelara though.
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It's ok, mn Isabella
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QuoteI'm aware that my pronunciation of "svet" is way more strident than a native Russian speaker's pronunciation...
Out of curiosity, are you using a liquid E? At least, I think that's the linguistic term - basically, are you mentally inserting a Y before the E? That's usually what I do with Russian Es and Is. I do think the name is prettier as "svyit-lana" than "sveht-lana," though it's less intuitive for me as a non-Russian (not even Slavic, though I do live in a highly Polish area).That all said, Svetlana isn't one of my favorite Russian names, though I do see the appeal. And it's more interesting than just Lana by itself. Of your combos, I like:Svetlana Cosima
Svetlana Isidora
Svetlana Mathilda
Svetlana Perdita
Svetlana Pernilla
Svetlana Violante
Svetlana VivekaI would also like to suggest:Svetlana Fotoula
Svetlana Ismene
Svetlana Liselot / Svetlana Liselott / Svetlana Liselotte
Svetlana Pernille
Svetlana Petronel
Svetlana Tallulah / Svetlana Talulla
Svetlana Theresa / Svetlana Therese
Svetlana Therasia
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I had a Polish girl in my class named Svetlana. I didn’t particular like her which influences what I think of the name. I really like the name Lana, but Svet sounds like sweat :/
Edited to add: I like the combo Svetlana Eloisa best!

This message was edited 3/6/2021, 3:15 PM

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