Nisse if you're talking aboout small forms of these names then surely there are lots of variations.
Irina - Ira, Irisha, Irochka, Irinka.
Olga - Olya, Olenka, Olechka.
And so and so and so...
We prefer to use small forms instead of full names:)
Hey even my nickname is a small version:)
But you have to admit that there are many many girls with the name Natalia -or a varient of it. I have a daughter Natalie (but it is a very uncommon name here in U.S.). I tried not to write to girls with the name Natalia because of my daughters name - although I wroy=te to a few Natashas (but not Tim's !)
Now Ludmila's, I wrote to a lot of them! Lucy is of course Ludmila. Maybe their names somehow shape or go along with their personalities .
Ben do you want to say that every name that ends with "a" is Russian???? LOL!!!
You're not correct. many names that we use in Ukraine and Russia, came from Ancient Greece, Rome, Byzantium...