Quote Originally Posted by mashamania
Is there a practise in Russian of combining a person's given name with the surname to produce a nickname for that person? For example, would Maria Kirilenko be called Makiri or Maria Sharapova, Mashara? I've heard a few people refer to Maria Kirilenko as Makiri. Is that a Russian practise or just someone being playful with a name?


(btw just fyi, Maria Kirilenko is also a Russian tennis player and the best friend of Maria Sharapova. She's cute too, just like her buddy. :P )
Never heard of such practice.