Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, Masha () is a diminutive of Maria. Also as in Ukrainian is a diminutive of Mariia or

Mariya Mariya is a variation of the feminine given name Maria. People * Mariya Abakumova (born 1986), Russian Olympic javelin thrower * Mariya Agapova (born 1997), Kazakhstani mixed martial arts fighter * Mariya Alyokhina (born 1988), Russian polit ...

. It has been used as a

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

or as a pet name for women named Maria or Marie. An alternative spelling in the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...

is "Macha". In

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

and Slovene, "Maša" is a diminutive of "Marija" but can be a given name in its own right. The

Jewish name Jewish names, specifically one's given name, have varied over time and by location and ethnic group. Other types of names used by Jewish people include the surname and the religious name known as the Hebrew name. Given names Given names, also ...

Masha () is of Biblical extraction. Tradition has it that the first Masha was named after a departed male named Moshe (Moses).

Other diminutives of Maria

There are a large number of

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

s (nicknames) in Russian for ''Maria'' beside ''Masha'': * Marusya () * Manya () * Manyunya () * Manyasha () * Mashunya () * Mashuta () * Mashenka () * Mar'ya () * Mashulya () * Mashka ()

Notable people

* Masha Bruskina (1924–1941), Soviet partisan of the Minsk Resistance * Masha Dashkina Maddux, Ukrainian dancer * Masha Gessen (born 1967), Russian and American journalist and author * Maria Kolenkina, Russian socialist revolutionary of the late 19th century * Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova (1950–2003), Russian conjoined twins * Masha Lubelsky (born 1936), Israeli politician * Masha Ma, Chinese fashion designer *

Masha Rasputina Masha Rasputina (Russian: Маша Распутина, born Alla Nikolayevna Ageeva, Russian: Алла Николаевна Агеева) is a Russian pop singer, who went through her peak of popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. In 2003, she scored ...

(born 1964), Russian pop singer *

Masha (singer) Masha Shirin (born ), professionally known as Masha, is a Latvian-born American pop/rock singer-songwriter. Career On June 5, 2012, Masha was featured on VH1's '' Big Morning Buzz Live'' show, where she performed a rendition of Rihanna's "Where ...

or Masha Shirin (born 1990 or 1991), Latvian-born American pop singer *

Marie Yovanovitch Marie Louise "Masha" Yovanovitch (born November 11, 1958) is a Canadian-American former diplomat and retired senior member of the United States Foreign Service. She served in multiple State Department posts, including Senior Advisor to the Under ...

(born 1958), American diplomat who served as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Ukraine * Maria "Masha Scream" Arkhipova (born 1983), lead singer of the Russian folk metal band Arkona * Maria Viktorovna (born 1986), Russian-American YouTuber and ASMR performer * Maria Vladimirovna "Masha" Alyokhina (born 1988), Russian political activist and musician. * Masha Efrosynina (born 1979), Ukrainian television host * Masha Kondratenko (born 1999), Ukrainian pop singer

Fictional characters

* Masha, heroine of the Russian TV series '' Masha and the Bear'' * Masha, heroine of Pushkin's novel '' The Captain's Daughter'' * Masha, one of the title characters in ''The Three Sisters'' (play) by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

* Masha, Ilya's and Polina's daughter in ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'', another Chekhov play * Masha, in the ''Tokyo Mew Mew'' manga series * Masha, part of Elizabeth's entourage in the film '' Young Frankenstein'' * Masha, obsessed fan in '' The King of Comedy'' (1983) played by Sandra Bernhard * Maria "Masha", title character in Hayden Kopser's novella ''Masha'' (2021) * Masha Dmitrichenko, in the series ''Nine Perfect Strangers'', based on the novel of the same name * Maria "Masha" Mikhailovna Kujō, a character from the light nove/anime series '' Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian'' * Marya "Masha" Morevna, main character in '' Deathless'', a retelling of Russian folklore * Masha Rostova, Elizabeth Keen's birth name in the TV series ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an international criminal and one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives ...

References

{{Spoken Wikipedia, date=2023-03-19, En-Masha-article.ogg Russian feminine given names Ukrainian feminine given names Feminine given names Hypocorisms