What would be a better short form of the name Vladimir?

My Dad (whose first name is Vladimir) and I had a sort of an argument the other day. You see, in Slovak a short or familiar form of Vladimir is Vlado. But my Dad told me that when he was in England, people told him that for native English speakers it would be easier to say Vlad. I'm rather dubious about it, so I ask you, the good (English-speaking) people of teh JCC, to tell me what would be easier for you to say - Vlad or Vlado?



P.S.: On a related note, my Mum calls my Dad Vladek, which, I believe, comes from Polish...

 

How about Vladdy?

 

I like that.

 

Yeah, in the US he would be shortened to Vlad.

But I think you should just call him MirCat.

 

I like Vladik, but I prefer Vlad over Vlado.

 

teh vlahstahh

 

Vlader

 

In Waiting for Godot the character of Vladimir goes by the nickname "Didi"...

 

It's not really a question of 'easiness', because Vlad and Vlado are pretty much equally easy to pronounce, but "Vlad" seems to be the accepted short form of Vladimir in the English-speaking world. I don't think I've ever heard Vlado before.

 

Ah, OK. That seems reasonable. Thanks!

 

I know a Vladimir at work. We call him Vlad.

 

Acceptable alternate forms of Vladimir: Dracula, Vampire, Blood sucker, Impaler (short, of course, for Vlad the Impaler)

True story.

 

Side question:

All the Russian Vladimirs I've met put the emphasis on the 'di' syllable rather than the 'Vla' as most Americans tend to. Is your father the same way, and if so, does he ever get annoyed by people calling him VLADimir?

 

Vlad.

 

You forgot Count

 

We're Slovaks, not Russians. While it's true that Russians pronounce it VlaDImir, in Slovak language the stress is always on the first syllable. So it's VLAdimir for my Dad. Or, to be completely correct, it's Vladimír (í being pronounced like a long "ee").

As long as you don't suggest Putin...

 

I'm partial to Vlad, as in Vlad the Impaler.

 

Entirely intentional. Count is reserved for only one man:

[image=http://wirelessdigest.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/sesame_street_count_dracula.jpg]

 

I know a guy named Vladamir, and he goes by Vlad.

 

To my native English-speaking ears, Vlado sounds too much like a nickname given by friends and family, whereby an "O" is added to the end of a name - ie Steven becomes Steve-O, Robert becomes Bob-O, etc. Vlad is what I hear most often, although I'm familiar with Vladek, too.

That being said, I think that is the most ridiculous thing to argue about.

 

Vlad.

Dim.

Mir.

Dimi.

Imir.

Lad.

Dimir.

Or George.

 

[image=http://gbob.onlinegamers.org/vamp2.bmp]
Your post makes my chocolaty marshmallows soggy with sadness.

 

It's a common thing in Slovak language that short/familiar forms of male names end with an "o". E.g. Matej (Matthew) -> Mato, Jozef -> Jozo, Peter -> Peto, Juraj (George) -> Juro. It's a bit different from what you just said, because the "normal" short form of Steven is Steve.

It wasn't a real, heated argument or anything. I guess we ran out of more interesting topics to discuss...

 

Just refer to him by doing this: