Happier Abroad Forum Community

Recently the company I'm working for is looking to expand into Eastern Europe. We brought a couple Russian guys in and, I had to explain the difference between "Ivan" and "Yvonne" in American English.

Seems that they did not realize "I-ven" is generally considered male, versus "E-Vonne" is generally considered female (i.e. Yvonne Strahovski). They did not seem to make the distinction and thought "Yvonne" was French.

Is something lost in translation here?

It is a classic Homophone name that is pronounced the same, but are for the other sex. There are other examples such as Sasha and Misha which are boys nicknames in Russia for Alexander and Mikhail respectively, but they are commonly girls names in the USA.