# Forum Learning Russian Language Resources for Studying Russian Russian Names  Sergei...in English?

## emka71aln

I have a friend named Sergei (he's Russian) and a lot of his American friends call him Serge (Serj).  Is this common?

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## Pravit

Yeah, even French people do that(Serge). I don't know any Sergeis, but Americans will tend to find a comfortable way of pronouncing foreign names.

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## VendingMachine

> I have a friend named Sergei (he's Russian) and a lot of his American friends call him Serge (Serj).  Is this common?

 Would he prefer they called him Sergei? Think about it. (Hint: Sir Gay)

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## EffMah

> Yeah, even French people do that(Serge). I don't know any Sergeis, but Americans will tend to find a comfortable way of pronouncing foreign names.

 Just like the girl who moved to our town from Vietnam.  Her name is Tsui-Suong (I think that's how it's spelled, but I'm most certainly wrong), and everyone calls her Helen.   ::   
Of course, I call her by her real name...   ::

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## Tambakis

> Originally Posted by emka71aln  I have a friend named Sergei (he's Russian) and a lot of his American friends call him Serge (Serj).  Is this common?   Would he prefer they called him Sergei? Think about it. (Hint: Sir Gay)

 Thats why my friend Sergei goes by Hunter.

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## JJ

The Spanish names are very funny for russians too. Conchita - Кончита, Julia - Хулия, Julio - Хулио, Gomes - Гомес, Pedro - Педро... Guess why?  ::

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## Friendy

Sergey can also be called Seryozha. There's also "Seryoga" (informal) and some Sergeys are called Seryi (literally means "grey", very informal) by close friends.

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## emka71aln

Hmmm.  I guess my best bet would be that it's just easier for Americans to say Serge.

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## guice666

When I saw Sergei, the first thing I thought of was "sir-gey". Maybe I'm just an odd american. 
I've herd the name Sergei a number of times before. Think it was in movies I've watched. I sure didn't know anybody named that.

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## sergei the great

my name is sergei, as is my dad's, but he spells it sergiy
people pronounce both "sir-gay" I curently live in California, I used to live in Canada - english not french, and people there pronounced it serge
I'm fine with both, it doesnt offend me, unless they say "sir-gee" or "sir-ji" - and it happens pretty often more then not. I also hearn "sir-jay" - I think thats not bad either. 
there's Sergei Fedorov famous hockey player and his name is pronounced "sir-gay"

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## Pioner

"Мальчик знаками показал что его зовут Хуан". (с) Фоменко

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## Pioner

У меня есть узбекские друзья с именами Джамшит, Хуршит и some other shit. 
Не знаю, что американцы по этому поводу думают.

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## kalinka_vinnie

> my name is sergei, as is my dad's, but he spells it sergiy
> people pronounce both "sir-gay" I curently live in California, I used to live in Canada - english not french, and people there pronounced it serge
> I'm fine with both, it doesnt offend me, unless they say "sir-gee" or "sir-ji" - and it happens pretty often more then not. I also hearn "sir-jay" - I think thats not bad either. 
> there's Sergei Fedorov famous hockey player and his name is pronounced "sir-gay"

 Do you actually call yourself Sir Gay? Any snide remarks?   ::  Sorry.   ::

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## DDT

Does anybody still name their kids "Gaylord'? How 'bout "The gay lord, Sirgay."

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## Nathan

There are some people with the last name Gaylord in Nashville TN.

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## saibot

The mayor of our city is named Kathleen Gaylord.   

> I have a friend named Sergei (he's Russian) and a lot of his American friends call him Serge (Serj). Is this common?

 Is Serj also an Armenian name?  I have a friend whose family is from Armenia, and everyone calls him Serj, including me.  Is this short for Sergei too?

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## saibot

> Does anybody still name their kids "Gaylord'? How 'bout "The gay lord, Sirgay."

 The mayor of our city is named Kathleen Gaylord.   

> I have a friend named Sergei (he's Russian) and a lot of his American friends call him Serge (Serj). Is this common?

 Is Serj also an Armenian name?  I have a friend whose family is from Armenia, and everyone calls him Serj, including me.  Is this short for Sergei too?

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## fantom605

There is a "Harry Bahls" and a "Richard Bahls" in my hometown.  (now, think of the nickname for "Richard"  and 20 miles away, when I went to high school, there was a girl named "Tera Buttoff" 
   All true.  I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. 
 -Fantom

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## Nathan

As long as we're getting on tangents i went to elementary school with a guy named Lou Willie and another guy named Ricky Seaman.

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## Pioner

> There is a "Harry Bahls" and a "Richard Bahls" in my hometown.  (now, think of the nickname for "Richard"  and 20 miles away, when I went to high school, there was a girl named "Tera Buttoff" 
>    All true.  I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. 
>  -Fantom

 maybe she was Russian (by ancestors), with last name something like: Бутов?

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## Pioner

> Is Serj also an Armenian name?  I have a friend whose family is from Armenia, and everyone calls him Serj, including me.  Is this short for Sergei too?

 No, Sergey (Serj) is a Russian name, but Armenians could use it as well.

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## The Hatred

Sir Gay, what a funny joke!   ::

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## vy

Если вы хотите, чтоб имя звучало по-русски, но не как "Господин Гей", то лучше говорить С*е*ргий. Это старославянская форма имени, хоторая до сих пор широко используется в церковном обиходе. 
А вообще, таким образом исковеркать и испохабить можно любое слово, не только имя.  
Vladimir Putin - what did he put in?
Билл Клинтон - кого же это он бил?
Пол Маккартни - половина(1/2) Маккартни
Ринго Стар - Ringo is old 
Если обо всём этом думать- свихнуться можно. Особенно причудлив китайский язык. Не знаю, что означает имя Ху-Яо-Бан, а по-русски, если произнести быстро, звучит как отборная матерщина. 
So the conclusion is: the puns are unavoidable.

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## Rtyom

Есть вполне приемлемый английский вариант - и нечего голову ломать: Sergius.

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## Suzu

> Is Serj also an Armenian name?  I have a friend whose family is from Armenia, and everyone calls him Serj, including me.  Is this short for Sergei too?

 It's russian name but Armenia used to be part of USSR, so there is a lot of things there left from Russians. I would dare to say that almost everyone there still speak russian like they used to. Correct me if I am wrong.  ::    

> Есть вполне приемлемый английский вариант - и нечего голову ломать: Sergius.

 Segius Maximus! 
Anyways my Dads name is Sergei, Americans usually pronounce it Serj.

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## Анатолий

> I have a friend named Sergei (he's Russian) and a lot of his American friends call him Serge (Serj).  Is this common?

 Nothing is wrong with the name - I have colleagues and friends called Sergey/Sergei (whatever spelling). The most common abbreviation is Serge (not Serj) to match the French spelling, although it's pronounced Serzh (Сэрж) in French, Serge, in English should be pronounced Serj, not Serjy (I heard it many times by English speakers). As for Sergey/Sergei (Серг*е*й) - yeah, it is pronounced as Sir G*a*y or S*i*rghey in English - I wouldn't worry about the pun, the historic meaning of "gay" is merry, not homosexual. My friends called Sergei/Sergey never complained about being teased or something. 
When Sergey is pronounced as one word, it sounds OK. I wouldn't worry about changing or accommodating the name (a Russian habit). Americans call him your friend Serge because introduces himself this way or because he is sick of correcting them. 
I taught everyone around me to pronounce my name correctly - Anat*o*li. Compared to Europe (e.g. Anatole is a common name in France) Australians are not familiar with many male Russian names, they have to be taught.

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## Анатолий

> ...
> Если обо всём этом думать- свихнуться можно. Особенно причудлив китайский язык. Не знаю, что означает имя Ху-Яо-Бан, а по-русски, если произнести быстро, звучит как отборная матерщина.

 The syllable HUI (ХУЙ) in Chinese is very common, has many meaning (pronounced with different tones but sounds like a swearword to Russians - it means "dick". 
One common meaning is can, be able to or meeting - written as the same character. (4th tone - falling) 
Wo hui shuo Zhongguohua - Во хуй шо Чжунгохуа. - I can speak Chinese. 
Ni hui-bu-hui shuo Zhongguohua - Ни хуй-бу-хуй шо Чжунгохуа? Can you speak Chinese? 
Hui jia - Хуй цзя. () To return home. (hui is pronounced with 2nd tone - rising) 
Etc, etc. 
Well, Russians just need to get used to it, if they learn Chinese, otherwise too many phrases will sound like swearing. 
By the way, Russian "типа" ("нового типа") - sounds as the same swearword to Chinese (spelled "jiba" in pinyin but in fact, sounds like "типа").

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