Cyrillic to Latin Transliterator

How to Use the Cyrillic to Latin Transliterator

1. 1. Choose the language. Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Bulgarian share most letters but romanize them differently — г is g in Russian and h in Ukrainian — so pick the language of the text, not just the script.
2. 2. Paste the text. Names, titles and whole passages all work. Punctuation, numbers and Latin letters pass through untouched, and stress marks are ignored.
3. 3. Compare the systems. Each card shows the same text in one system, with a line on where that system is used. Copy the one your style guide, library or publisher asks for.
4. 4. Check single letters. The letter-by-letter table gives the chosen system's value for every letter, including the position rules — Russian е becomes ye at the start of a word in BGN/PCGN, for example.
5. 5. Going the other way? Switch the direction to Latin → Cyrillic (ISO 9) to turn ISO 9 text back into Cyrillic.

Which Romanization System to Use

There is no single "correct" Latin spelling of a Cyrillic name — each system was designed for a different reader. Here is the converter's own output for Лев Николаевич Толстой, the author of War and Peace:

One name, four spellings. BGN/PCGN's Tolstoy happens to match the familiar English form, but that is luck rather than rule: the traditional spellings Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky come out of none of these systems.

Transliterated Names and Titles in Citations

Reference lists romanize Cyrillic names and titles, and they do it consistently. North American libraries, and the British Library for its newer acquisitions, catalog with the ALA-LC tables, so the spelling in a catalog record — tie bars (t͡s, i͡a) and soft-sign prime (ʹ) included — is usually ALA-LC. How to Cite a Source in Another Language explains what APA, MLA and Chicago each add, such as a bracketed English translation of the title.

• Pick one system and keep it. Every Russian name and title in one reference list should follow the same system — not Tolstoĭ in one entry and Tolstoy in the next.
• Spell an author the way the cited work does. If you used an English translation that prints Leo Tolstoy, cite that edition as Tolstoy, and romanize only what you take from the Cyrillic original.
• Expect simplified ALA-LC in journals. Many publishers drop the tie bars in running text and notes; the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, for one, uses Library of Congress romanization without ligatures for history and literature.
• Use the scholarly system for linguistics. Linguistics journals expect š, č, ž and ju, ja — the Harvard institute and the Zeitschrift für Slavische Philologie both ask for it in linguistic work.

How the Systems Treat the Tricky Letters

Position matters too. In BGN/PCGN Russian, е is ye at the start of a word and after a vowel, й, ъ or ь (Екатеринбург → Yekaterinburg, Змеевка → Zmeyevka). In Ukraine's official system, which BGN/PCGN adopted in 2019, є, ї, й, ю and я take their y- form only at the start of a word, so Ялта is Yalta but Поляна is Poliana. Bulgarian's official system writes a final ия as ia (София → Sofia) and keeps the name of the country as Bulgaria. The converter applies all of these rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which transliteration system should I use for Russian names in a bibliography?

The one your style guide, instructor or publisher names. When nothing is specified, ALA-LC (Library of Congress) is the safest choice for a reference list, because library catalogs use it and readers can find the book from your spelling. Use the same system for every Russian name and title in the list, and keep the spelling printed on a translated edition when you cite that edition.

What is the difference between transliteration and romanization?

Romanization is any conversion into the Latin alphabet. Strict transliteration maps each letter to a fixed letter or sequence so the original can be recovered, and ISO 9 is the purest example. BGN/PCGN leans toward readable English spellings and gives up some of that reversibility — writing е as ye in some positions, and leaving out the Ukrainian soft sign altogether.

Why does ALA-LC use symbols like t͡s and ʹ?

To keep the romanization reversible. The tie bar shows that t͡s is the single letter ц, not т followed by с, and that i͡a is я rather than и plus а. The prime ʹ stands for the soft sign ь and the double prime ʺ for the hard sign ъ. Library catalogs keep these marks; many journals drop the tie bars.

Can I convert Latin text back to Cyrillic?

Only from ISO 9, which gives every Cyrillic letter its own Latin letter, so the original comes back exactly — switch the direction to Latin → Cyrillic (ISO 9). The other systems merge letters (BGN/PCGN writes both э and most е as e), so there is no reliable way back from them.

How are Russian names written in passports?

Russian international passports have used the ICAO Doc 9303 table since 2013: я is ia, ю is iu, й and и are both i, ъ is ie and ь is not written. Наталья becomes Natalia and Юлия becomes Iuliia. That form is right for travel documents, but in a citation use the spelling printed in your source or the system your style requires.

Is it Kyiv or Kiev?

Kyiv is the romanization of the Ukrainian name Київ in Ukraine's official system, which BGN/PCGN has followed since 2019; Kiev comes from the Russian name, Киев. In ALA-LC the Ukrainian name is Kyïv, and in ISO 9 it is Kiïv. Choose the language setting that matches the name you are romanizing.

Does the converter handle pre-1918 Russian spelling?

Yes, for the letters the tables define. Old Russian і, ѣ, ѳ and ѵ are romanized in ALA-LC (ī, i͡e, ḟ, ẏ), ISO 9 and the scholarly system, as are the Bulgarian ѣ and ѫ used before 1945. A hard sign at the end of an old Bulgarian word is written ʺ in ALA-LC, as the Library of Congress table specifies.