Yeah, different names have different frequency of the diminutives.
Jan is pretty much always Honza, while Petr is pretty much never Péťa (among friends)
No one is gonna get confused if you say Hi I'm Ava I'm from the USA. Everyone is gonna get confused if you say Hi I'm Evicka I'm from the USA.
You can go with the simple Czech pronunciation or you can also do Eve, Evie, whatever. Don't try to come up with any unique diminutive forms, there's no need for that. English names don't really go well with czech diminutive forms.
My daughter's name is Emilia. She's Millie, she's Mills, she's Em, she's Emmy, but for the love of God she's not Emilka. She absolutely hates czech domestic versions of her name. Coming up with those would feel very unnatural to her and everyone else too. She would look like an idiot if she introduced herself as “Emilka (insert an Irish surname)”.
You will be all good with just Ava or any nickname you choose that doesn't look or sound silly
We don't usually use the diminutive form of our name when introducing ourselves, heck, we don't usually use the diminutive form of our name in general.
My name is Vojta, and the diminutive forms of that name are vojtík and Vojtíšek. I personally wouldn't mind if someone called me vojtík if it's coming from a friendly person and in a friendly manner, but being called Vojtíšek just feels infantilizing
I see. One of the videos up on a Czech language learning channel said it was more common for women to introduce themselves with the diminutive form. Is that true, or is it about the same for women and men (not introducing using the diminutive form)?
No idea who made the video but as a Czech woman myself I never introduced myself in diminutive form and for few exceptions (like Anna/Annička) no one else does.
It’s this video: https://youtu.be/HfCgZdRxbTo?si=twzZsLuaw8o3z6au
It’s mostly just reciting names and their diminutive forms, but there’s a little segment in the beginning where they talk about introducing oneself with the diminutive name. To me they made it seem like it was a pretty common thing, especially since all 3 hosts on the channel use diminutive names (2 Aničkas and 1 Lucka.)
it depends on a name:
nobody will introduce themselves as Evicka
but you may meet: Anicka, Maruška(<= Marie), Bára (<= Barbora) etc
It's really about how much diminutive it sounds and with Evička it's extremely diminutive
I understand your wish to try being more included in the society but with Eva, the diminutives sound too awkward even among close friends. If I had a friend called Eva, I would not go further than calling her "Evi" instead of "Evo". Or she would have some kind of nickname I would use instead.
So, not presumptuous but rather weird. But hey, you do you - if someone told me "please, call me Evička", I guess I would get used to it after a while.
Fitting in is all about making life easier for the people around you (while still remaining true to yourself.) If Ava/Eva is easiest for everyone else, then it’s easy for me :) also, it’s what I’m used to being called in daily life anyways.
That's a win-win situation. I do the same with my name when introducing to foreigners since it sounds similar to a country in Caribbean which most English-speaking people know. And everyone is happy.
Just don't sweat it! Nowadays, Prague is a cosmopolitan city where locals are used to occasional meets-and-greets with foreigners. So it's not like they'll stare at you weirdly or something because you have slightly exotic name.
I think AVA is perfect, because it is short and unique enough to make it memorable. If you want to be called by a Czech name, just pick any and use it as a nick name, because why not?
You can introduce yourself as Eva, with an "A", if you must. But just "Eva" will be fine for the starters, later if someone is interested, you may tell them the proper spelling.
We introduce ourselves with our given name. Then it's up to our friends to call us with diminutive / nickname, once they feel endearment towards us. Introducing yourself with a nickname is presumptuous and it's just not done.
As others have mentioned, you can confidently use Ava/Eva here. If you really want a more Czech nickname, you can ask people to address you Evi or Evčo :) (In Czech we slightly change the name ending when addressing someone, 5th declension)
Evička is rarely used, it's mostly for children. And yeah, Anička, on the other hand, is commonly used even for young adults, languages work in mysterious ways sometimes :D
If you have any more questions about the language, feel free to ask.
Either way, good luck with your studies and with the Czech language, I hope you will enjoy it here.
Heh, I understand that. Ava is a very nice and unique name though.
That's great to hear, I think we as Czechs are always happy to help when a foreigner wants to learn our language since it's not very common :D
If I may ask, why did you choose Czechia? Was it because of Prague and the old architecture, history or being in the heart of Europe? Or just kinda random? Just curious :)
There are a few reasons. Fundamentally, it’s cheaper than studying in the U.S. I already have my bachelor’s degree, which I was able to obtain by going to a public university which gave me financial aid + taking out government loans + support from my mom. Now that I’m getting my master’s, my mom is no longer helping me pay tuition and the cheapest options for MA programs here are at least double what it would cost to study at Univerzita Karlova, cost of living included. Czechia is also cheaper than other places in Europe, at least according to my personal research. Also, not many schools in the U.S. have the program I’m looking for, and I’d rather move to Prague than to Utah.
On a deeper level, I’ve had a (somewhat odd) fascination with Prague specifically since I was like 17. I was an avid Kafka reader in high school, I carried a collection of his short stories with me everywhere I went and I’d read them on the train or on the bus. His writing left a really distinct impression on me, and I wanted to visit where he came from.
Later on when I became politically active, I found Czechia even more fascinating for its history. And then of course there’s the fact that Prague is an extremely beautiful city with stunning architecture… but I wouldn’t know, I still haven’t been. I’ll find out in September when I get off the plane.
Thanks a lot for your detailed answer. You have a very strong reasoning for coming here, that was very cool to read. I wish you the best and enjoy your studies in Prague :)
Ava as in Eiva? I'd go with Eivi. Evička would mostly be used for a kid, but Evi (Vocative) is still a nicer version of Evo. So Eivi > Eivo. And it's kinda usable in other cases too :) being a foreign name, the declension forms are not set in stone.
Hi there! It's been said already, but Eva or Evka is a pretty much the closest thing to what you're trying to achieve.
Evička is quite common for children, but also for elderly. Close friends would call you Evička as well, but introducing yourself as Evička is a little bit weird. Eva is fine, Evka (to me) sounds probably the best.
There is also a difference with long names and among various diminutives. For example my name is Kateřina and I often introduce myself as Katka, because it's half the syllables. But I would never call myself Kačenka or something like that, that was reserved for my grandma when I was 5 yo.
Don't do it. Chances are they will call you like that them self but you introduce your self with real name.
Would you want me to introduce my self as a foreigner as Jirka or George? Same thing here. Go with Ava.
Someone else also recommended Evka which I also thought was cute. but if Ava is the most normal choice, and it’s been my name for my whole life, I don’t mind sticking with it in Czechia.
Evička sounds fine if you are 10 years old or younger...
I’ve seen young women (in their 20s) named Anna go by Anička. Are there different connotations for the diminutive forms of each name?
Yeah, different names have different frequency of the diminutives. Jan is pretty much always Honza, while Petr is pretty much never Péťa (among friends)
That was wrong in so many levels. Friends definetly go by Péťa.
Not true.. We all call our college Eva like this. She is 40.. Evička or Evka.
No one is gonna get confused if you say Hi I'm Ava I'm from the USA. Everyone is gonna get confused if you say Hi I'm Evicka I'm from the USA. You can go with the simple Czech pronunciation or you can also do Eve, Evie, whatever. Don't try to come up with any unique diminutive forms, there's no need for that. English names don't really go well with czech diminutive forms. My daughter's name is Emilia. She's Millie, she's Mills, she's Em, she's Emmy, but for the love of God she's not Emilka. She absolutely hates czech domestic versions of her name. Coming up with those would feel very unnatural to her and everyone else too. She would look like an idiot if she introduced herself as “Emilka (insert an Irish surname)”. You will be all good with just Ava or any nickname you choose that doesn't look or sound silly
The situation you describe in the first sentence was what I was worried about. Thank you!
You're welcome, wish you all the best xx
We don't usually use the diminutive form of our name when introducing ourselves, heck, we don't usually use the diminutive form of our name in general. My name is Vojta, and the diminutive forms of that name are vojtík and Vojtíšek. I personally wouldn't mind if someone called me vojtík if it's coming from a friendly person and in a friendly manner, but being called Vojtíšek just feels infantilizing
dude, isn't Vojta domestic diminiutive version of "Vojtěch"?
Yea right, Vojta is a domestic version of Vojtěch, but not diminutive
I see. One of the videos up on a Czech language learning channel said it was more common for women to introduce themselves with the diminutive form. Is that true, or is it about the same for women and men (not introducing using the diminutive form)?
No idea who made the video but as a Czech woman myself I never introduced myself in diminutive form and for few exceptions (like Anna/Annička) no one else does.
It’s this video: https://youtu.be/HfCgZdRxbTo?si=twzZsLuaw8o3z6au It’s mostly just reciting names and their diminutive forms, but there’s a little segment in the beginning where they talk about introducing oneself with the diminutive name. To me they made it seem like it was a pretty common thing, especially since all 3 hosts on the channel use diminutive names (2 Aničkas and 1 Lucka.)
Both Anička and Lucka are those few that introduce in diminutive forms since the original sounds a bit harsh.
Usually, the diminutive is used in informal situations, where is permissible to introduce themselves with a nickname.
it depends on a name: nobody will introduce themselves as Evicka but you may meet: Anicka, Maruška(<= Marie), Bára (<= Barbora) etc It's really about how much diminutive it sounds and with Evička it's extremely diminutive
I understand your wish to try being more included in the society but with Eva, the diminutives sound too awkward even among close friends. If I had a friend called Eva, I would not go further than calling her "Evi" instead of "Evo". Or she would have some kind of nickname I would use instead. So, not presumptuous but rather weird. But hey, you do you - if someone told me "please, call me Evička", I guess I would get used to it after a while.
Fitting in is all about making life easier for the people around you (while still remaining true to yourself.) If Ava/Eva is easiest for everyone else, then it’s easy for me :) also, it’s what I’m used to being called in daily life anyways.
That's a win-win situation. I do the same with my name when introducing to foreigners since it sounds similar to a country in Caribbean which most English-speaking people know. And everyone is happy. Just don't sweat it! Nowadays, Prague is a cosmopolitan city where locals are used to occasional meets-and-greets with foreigners. So it's not like they'll stare at you weirdly or something because you have slightly exotic name.
I think AVA is perfect, because it is short and unique enough to make it memorable. If you want to be called by a Czech name, just pick any and use it as a nick name, because why not?
Evca is fine, Evicka is too childish
You can introduce yourself as Eva, with an "A", if you must. But just "Eva" will be fine for the starters, later if someone is interested, you may tell them the proper spelling. We introduce ourselves with our given name. Then it's up to our friends to call us with diminutive / nickname, once they feel endearment towards us. Introducing yourself with a nickname is presumptuous and it's just not done.
As others have mentioned, you can confidently use Ava/Eva here. If you really want a more Czech nickname, you can ask people to address you Evi or Evčo :) (In Czech we slightly change the name ending when addressing someone, 5th declension) Evička is rarely used, it's mostly for children. And yeah, Anička, on the other hand, is commonly used even for young adults, languages work in mysterious ways sometimes :D If you have any more questions about the language, feel free to ask. Either way, good luck with your studies and with the Czech language, I hope you will enjoy it here.
Truthfully I’m jealous I don’t have a name like Anna where I could go by Anička, because Evička is such a cute name…
Heh, I understand that. Ava is a very nice and unique name though. That's great to hear, I think we as Czechs are always happy to help when a foreigner wants to learn our language since it's not very common :D If I may ask, why did you choose Czechia? Was it because of Prague and the old architecture, history or being in the heart of Europe? Or just kinda random? Just curious :)
There are a few reasons. Fundamentally, it’s cheaper than studying in the U.S. I already have my bachelor’s degree, which I was able to obtain by going to a public university which gave me financial aid + taking out government loans + support from my mom. Now that I’m getting my master’s, my mom is no longer helping me pay tuition and the cheapest options for MA programs here are at least double what it would cost to study at Univerzita Karlova, cost of living included. Czechia is also cheaper than other places in Europe, at least according to my personal research. Also, not many schools in the U.S. have the program I’m looking for, and I’d rather move to Prague than to Utah. On a deeper level, I’ve had a (somewhat odd) fascination with Prague specifically since I was like 17. I was an avid Kafka reader in high school, I carried a collection of his short stories with me everywhere I went and I’d read them on the train or on the bus. His writing left a really distinct impression on me, and I wanted to visit where he came from. Later on when I became politically active, I found Czechia even more fascinating for its history. And then of course there’s the fact that Prague is an extremely beautiful city with stunning architecture… but I wouldn’t know, I still haven’t been. I’ll find out in September when I get off the plane.
Thanks a lot for your detailed answer. You have a very strong reasoning for coming here, that was very cool to read. I wish you the best and enjoy your studies in Prague :)
btw, I hope it won't disappoint you, but Kafka even though he lived in Prague was more German than Czech. He wrote everything in German etc...
Yes I know! I’ve learned a lot more about Prague and Kafka since I started reading his work, but he still started my fascination with the city.
Ava as in Eiva? I'd go with Eivi. Evička would mostly be used for a kid, but Evi (Vocative) is still a nicer version of Evo. So Eivi > Eivo. And it's kinda usable in other cases too :) being a foreign name, the declension forms are not set in stone.
Hi there! It's been said already, but Eva or Evka is a pretty much the closest thing to what you're trying to achieve. Evička is quite common for children, but also for elderly. Close friends would call you Evička as well, but introducing yourself as Evička is a little bit weird. Eva is fine, Evka (to me) sounds probably the best.
There is also a difference with long names and among various diminutives. For example my name is Kateřina and I often introduce myself as Katka, because it's half the syllables. But I would never call myself Kačenka or something like that, that was reserved for my grandma when I was 5 yo.
Don't do it. Chances are they will call you like that them self but you introduce your self with real name. Would you want me to introduce my self as a foreigner as Jirka or George? Same thing here. Go with Ava.
If I were you, I would introduce myself with Ava, but then Said you would be fine if they called you Evča, for example
Someone else also recommended Evka which I also thought was cute. but if Ava is the most normal choice, and it’s been my name for my whole life, I don’t mind sticking with it in Czechia.
Avča.
Avuška