Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, Masha () is a diminutive of

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

. It has been used as a

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

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

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...

is "Macha". In

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

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

Jewish name The Jewish name has historically varied, encompassing throughout the centuries several different traditions. This article looks at the onomastics practices of the Jewish people, that is, the history of the origin and forms of proper names. His ...

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

Moshe Moses ( el, Μωϋσῆς),from Latin and Greek Moishe ( yi, משה),from Yiddish Moshe ( he, מֹשֶׁה),from Modern Hebrew or Movses (Armenian: Մովսես) from Armenian is a male given name, after the biblical figure Moses. According to ...

(Moses).

Other diminutives of Maria

There are a large number of

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified 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. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

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

Notable people

Masha Bruskina Maria "Masha" Bruskina ( be, Марыя Барысаўна Брускіна ''Marïya Barïsawna Bruskina''; russian: Мария Борисовна Брускина ''Mariya Borisovna Bruskina''; 1924 – 26 October 1941 in Minsk) was a Be ...

(1924–1941), Soviet partisan of the Minsk Resistance * Masha Dashkina Maddux, Ukrainian dancer *

Masha Gessen Masha Gessen (born 13 January 1967) is a Russian-American journalist, author, translator and activist who has been an outspoken critic of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the former president of the United States, Donald Trump. Gess ...

(born 1967), Russian and American journalist and author * Maria Kolenkina, Russian socialist revolutionary of the late 19th century *

Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova Maria and Daria ('Masha and Dasha') Krivoshlyapova (Мария и Дарья Кривошляповы; 3 January 1950 – 17 April 2003) were '' Ischiopagus tripus'' conjoined twins from Russia. They were removed from their mother's custody at b ...

(1950–2003), Russian conjoined twins * Masha Lubelsky (born 1936), Israeli politician *

Masha Ma Masha Ma is a Chinese fashion designer. Her collections have been featured in leading publications such as '' Vogue'', ''Elle'', '' Harper's Bazaar'', '' Pop'', French ''Playboy'', '' Cosmopolitan'' and '' L'Officiel''. Career Masha Ma receive ...

, 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 "Whe ...

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 Maria Viktorovna, ("Viktorovna" is a patronym; her surname is not known) (born July 22, 1986), known professionally as Gentle Whispering ASMR, is a Russian-American ASMR performer and YouTube personality. Her YouTube videos are considered among ...

(born 1986), Russian-American YouTuber and ASMR performer * Maria Vladimirovna "Masha" Alyokhina (born 1988), Russian political activist and musician.

Fictional characters

* Masha, heroine of the Russian TV series ''

Masha and the Bear ''Masha and the Bear'' (russian: Ма́ша и Медве́дь, translit=Masha i Medved ) is a Russian preschool comedy computer-animated television series created by Oleg Kuzovkov and produced by Animaccord Animation Studio, loosely based on the ...

'' * Masha, heroine of

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

's novel ''

The Captain's Daughter ''The Captain's Daughter'' (russian: «Капитанская дочка», Kapitanskaya dochka) is a historical novel by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. It was first published in 1836 in the fourth issue of the literary journal ''Sovremen ...

'' * Masha, one of the title characters in ''The Three Sisters'' (play) by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

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

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'', another Chekhov play * Masha, in the ''Tokyo Mew Mew'' manga series * Masha Rostova, Elizabeth Keen's birth name in the TV series ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily sur ...

'' * Masha, part of Elizabeth's entourage in the film ''

Young Frankenstein ''Young Frankenstein'' is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder also starred in the lead role as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor F ...

'' * Masha, obsessed fan in '' The King of Comedy'' (1983) played by Sandra Bernhard * Marya "Masha" Morevna, main character in '' Deathless'', a retelling of Russian folklore * Maria "Masha", title character in Hayden Kopser's novella ''Masha'' (2021) * Masha Dmitrichenko, in the miniseries ''Nine Perfect Strangers'', based on the novel of the same name

References

{{given name Russian feminine given names Hypocorisms