Quote Originally Posted by gRomoZeka View Post
Marusya is short for Mariya (Маруся <- Мария), and indeed it has nothing to do with Alexandra. The girl was just acting out a little. When Gosha stayed unfazed, accepting this false "nickname", she made a vaguely snide remark about calling him "Vasya" then, which is also a diminutive for the "wrong" name - Vasily (Вася <- Василий).
When I lived in Russia, Vasya was a common nickname for cats!!!