What is this page for? This material is intended to clearly demonstrate how first and last names can be written in Latin script if the original civil status records or documents were composed in Cyrillic.
There are cases where a person was born in Moldova and is a citizen of, for example, Russia. They reside, say, in Italy.
Their goal is Italian citizenship.
They have been complying with Italian laws and residency rules in that country for many years. The time comes to apply for citizenship. And it turns out.
That the spelling of their surname in their Russian international passport, for example, Gordeychuk — is a transliteration into English of the surname Гордейчук, while in the Moldovan birth certificate the spelling of the surname is Gordeiciuc. The surname is the same, but the spelling is different. The same happens with first names. Why does this happen?
First, he was most likely born before Moldova gained independence, i.e., during the USSR era. And his surname is recorded in the Soviet birth certificate in Cyrillic in the Moldovan language. According to the laws of the Republic of Moldova, such surnames are transliterated from Cyrillic according to the rules of the Romanian language (the Moldovan language based on the Latin script).
Second, when transliterating Cyrillic surnames into English, the rules differ due to the peculiarities of sound pronunciation in the two different languages.
What is the solution?
You need to obtain a special document that confirms that your surname in the Russian (Ukrainian, Belarusian, or Kazakh) passport, written in English letters, matches the spelling in the Romanian language.
And depending on where it is submitted (to which country), it is then legalized or apostilled.
Our agency can help in such cases. We already have experience resolving these issues. We have at least two methods for handling such situations.
Contact us and we will help. Attention! These services are paid. Consultations on them are also paid.
Below is a table with the rules for transliterating Russian names into Latin script. The table contains:
- Russian name
- Transliteration in English
- Transliteration in German (as an example of a Latin-script language different from English and Romanian)
- Transliteration in Romanian
Vowels
| Russian letter | English transliteration | German transliteration | Romanian transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| а | a | a | a |
| е | e | je | e |
| ё | yo | jo | io |
| и | i | i | i |
| о | o | o | o |
| у | u | u | u |
| ы | y | y | i |
| э | e | e | e |
| ю | yu | ju | iu |
| я | ya | ja | ia |
Consonants
| Russian letter | English transliteration | German transliteration | Romanian transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| б | b | b | b |
| в | v | w | v |
| г | g | g | g |
| д | d | d | d |
| ж | zh | sch | j |
| з | z | s | z |
| к | k | k | c |
| л | l | l | l |
| м | m | m | m |
| н | n | n | n |
| п | p | p | p |
| р | r | r | r |
| с | s | s | s |
| т | t | t | t |
| ф | f | f | f |
| х | kh | ch | h |
| ц | ts | z | ț |
| ч | ch | tsch | c / ci, ce |
| ш | sh | sch | ș |
| щ | shch | schtsch | șt/șc |
| ь | (soft sign not transliterated) | (not transliterated) | (not transliterated) |
| ъ | (hard sign not transliterated) | (not transliterated) | (not transliterated) |
| й | y | j | i/j/ii |
Examples of name transliteration from Russian
| Russian name | English transliteration | German transliteration | Romanian transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Александр | Alexander | Alexander | Alexandru |
| Александра | Alexandra | Alexandra | Alexandra |
| Алексей | Alexey | Alexej | Alexei |
| Анастасия | Anastasia | Anastasia | Anastasia |
| Андрей | Andrey | Andrei | Andrei |
| Борис | Boris | Boris | Boris |
| Валерия | Valeria | Valeria | Valeria |
| Виктор | Viktor | Viktor | Victor |
| Виктория | Victoria | Viktoria | Victoria |
| Вячеслав | Vyacheslav | Wjatscheslaw | Veaceslav |
| Галина | Galina | Galina | Galina |
| Глеб | Gleb | Gleb | Gleb |
| Григорий | Grigory | Grigori | Grigore (Grigorii, Grigori) |
| Денис | Denis | Denis | Denis |
| Дмитрий | Dmitry | Dmitri | Dumitru (Dmitrii, Dmitri) |
| Евгений | Evgeny | Jewgeni | Eugen (Evghenii, Evgheni) |
| Екатерина | Ekaterina | Jekaterina | Ecaterina |
| Igor | Igor | Igor | Igor |
| Ilya | Ilya | Ilja | Ilia |
| Irina | Irina | Irina | Irina |
| Konstantin | Konstantin | Konstantin | Constantin |
| Constance | Constance | Konstanze | Constanța |
| Kirill | Kirill | Kirill | Chiril |
| Ksenia | Ksenia | Xenia | Xenia |
| Leonid | Leonid | Leonid | Leonid |
| Lyubov | Lyubov | Ljubow | Liubov |
| Maxim | Maxim | Maxim | Maxim |
| Margarita | Margarita | Margarita | Margarita |
| Maria | Maria | Maria | Maria |
| Mikhail | Mikhail | Michail | Mihail |
| Natalia | Natalia | Natalia | Natalia |
| Oksana | Oksana | Oxana | Ocsana |
| Olga | Olga | Olga | Olga |
| Pavel | Pavel | Pawel | Pavel |
| Polina | Polina | Polina | Polina |
| Pyotr | Pyotr | Pjotr | Petru |
| Roman | Roman | Roman | Roman |
| Svetlana | Svetlana | Swetlana | Svetlana |
| Semen (Semyon) | Semen (Semyon) | Semjon | Semion |
| Sergey | Sergey | Sergej | Serghei |
| Sofia | Sofia | Sophia | Sofia |
| Stanislav | Stanislav | Stanislaw | Stanislav |
| Tatyana | Tatyana | Tatjana | Tatiana |
| Timofey | Timofey | Timofei | Timofei |
| Fyodor | Fyodor | Fjodor | Feodor |
| Yulia | Yulia | Julia | Iulia |
| Yuri | Yuri | Jurij | Iurie (Iurii, Iuri) |
| Yana | Yana | Jana | Iana |
| Yaroslav | Yaroslav | Jaroslaw | Iaroslav |
Transliteration of Surnames from Russian into Latin Script
| Russian Surname | English Transliteration | German Transliteration | Romanian Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivanov | Ivanov | Iwanow | Ivanov |
| Petrov | Petrov | Petrow | Petrov |
| Sidorov | Sidorov | Sidorow | Sidorov |
| Smirnov | Smirnov | Smirnow | Smirnov |
| Kuznetsov | Kuznetsov | Kusnezow | Cuznețov |
| Popov | Popov | Popow | Popov |
| Vasilyev | Vasilyev | Wassiljew | Vasiliev |
| Mikhailov | Mikhailov | Michailow | Mihailov |
| Novikov | Novikov | Nowikow | Novicov |
| Fyodorov | Fyodorov | Fjodorow | Feodorov |
| Morozov | Morozov | Morosow | Morozov |
| Volkov | Volkov | Wolkow | Volcov |
| Sokolov | Sokolov | Sokolow | Socolov |
| Lebedev | Lebedev | Lebedew | Lebedev |
| Kozlov | Kozlov | Koslow | Cozlov |
| Stepanov | Stepanov | Stepanow | Stepanov |
| Semyonov | Semyonov | Semjonow | Semionov |
| Pavlov | Pavlov | Pawlow | Pavlov |
| Alexandrov | Alexandrov | Alexandrow | Alexandrov |
| Egorov | Egorov | Jegorow | Egorov |
| Nikolaev | Nikolaev | Nikolajew | Nicolaev |
| Zaytsev | Zaytsev | Sajzew | Zaițev |
| Solovyov | Solovyov | Solowjow | Soloviov |
| Bogdanov | Bogdanov | Bogdanow | Bogdanov |
| Orlov | Orlov | Orlow | Orlov |
| Yefimov | Yefimov | Jefimow | Efimov |
| Makarov | Makarov | Makarow | Makarov |
| Afanasyev | Afanasyev | Afanasjew | Afanasiev |
| Dmitriyev | Dmitriyev | Dmitrijew | Dmitriev |
| Grigoryev | Grigoryev | Grigorjew | Grigoriev |
| Romanov | Romanov | Romanow | Romanov |
| Belyaev | Belyaev | Beljajew | Beliaev |
| Tarasov | Tarasov | Tarassow | Tarasov |
| Borisov | Borisov | Borisow | Borisov |
| Frolov | Frolov | Frolow | Frolov |
| Sergeyev | Sergeyev | Sergejew | Sergheev |
| Zakharov | Zakharov | Sacharow | Zaharov |
| Medvedev | Medvedev | Medwedew | Medvedev |
| Antonov | Antonov | Antonow | Antonov |
| Titov | Titov | Titow | Titov |
| Krylov | Krylov | Krylow | Crîlov |
| Nikitin | Nikitin | Nikitin | Nichitin |
| Kulikov | Kulikov | Kulikow | Culicov (Culcov) |
| Karpov | Karpov | Karpow | Carpov |
| Chapaev | Chapaev | Tschapajew | Ciapaev |
| Chernenko | Chernenko | Tschernenko | Cernenco |
Notes:
- English transliteration often follows the BGN/PCGN or ISO 9 standard, where certain sounds are rendered with specific letter combinations (e.g., “zh” for “ж”, “kh” for “х”).
- German transliteration differs by using letter combinations characteristic of the German language (e.g., “sch” for “ш”, “tsch” for “ч”, “w” for “в”).
- Romanian transliteration adapts Russian names to the phonetics and orthography of the Romanian language, using special letters (e.g., “ș” for “ш”, “ț” for “ц”).