Russian Cyrillic to Latin (Transliteration)
Transliterate Russian names, addresses and text into Latin letters by the ICAO table for passports or by the BGN/PCGN system used for place names.
Where the two standards differ
| Letter | ICAO | BGN/PCGN | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Е е | e | ye (at the start of a word and after a vowel, й, ъ or ь), otherwise e | Елена: Elena / Yelena |
| Ё ё | e | ë, yë | Пётр: Petr / Pëtr |
| Й й | i | y | Сергей: Sergei / Sergey |
| Ъ ъ | ie | ” | Подъячев: Podieiachev / Pod”yachev |
| Ь ь | — | ’ | Наталья: Natalia / Natal’ya |
| Ю ю | iu | yu | Юлия: Iuliia / Yuliya |
| Я я | ia | ya | Мария: Mariia / Mariya |
Both write ж zh, х kh, ц ts, ч ch, ш sh, щ shch and ы y; the other letters have one Latin letter each.
How the text is converted
- ICAO: the table in ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3, section 6.B, which ICAO recommends to states for the machine-readable zone of passports. Only plain letters A–Z come out; the table has no row for ь, so it is left out.
- BGN/PCGN: the 1947 system of the US and UK names boards for Russian place names, as published by the UK government (checked November 2022). It uses ë and the apostrophes ’ for ь and ” for ъ.
- Only the Russian alphabet is converted. Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian and other letters such as і, ї, є, ґ or ђ are kept and listed below the result. Punctuation, digits and Latin text are kept.
- Capitals follow the text: Щукин becomes Shchukin, and ЩУКИН becomes SHCHUKIN.
- Everything runs in your browser. The text you enter is not sent to LeedyBox or saved.
Source: ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3, 6.B · Last checked:
Source: BGN/PCGN 1947 System for Russian (PCGN, 2022) · Last checked:
Wrong result? If a letter is converted wrongly, email us the text, the standard you chose and the result you expected, so we can fix it.
Does a sentence on this page sound unnatural in your language? Let us know that too.
How to use
- Type or paste the Russian text. Several lines are fine.
- Choose ICAO for names as in the machine-readable zone of passports, or BGN/PCGN for place names and English texts.
- Pick ALL CAPITALS if a form asks for the name in capitals.
- Copy the result. Letters that are not Russian are listed below it.
Frequently asked questions
Which transliteration standard should I use?
It depends on where the text goes. ICAO Doc 9303 is the table ICAO recommends to states for the machine-readable zone of passports and gives only the letters A–Z (Юлия: IULIIA). BGN/PCGN is the system the US Board on Geographic Names and the UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names adopted for Russian names (Yuliya, Yekaterinburg). For a name that already appears in your passport, copy that spelling.
Why does Юлия become Iuliia?
The ICAO table writes ю as IU and я as IA, so Юлия becomes IULIIA and Мария becomes MARIIA. BGN/PCGN writes yu and ya instead: Yuliya, Mariya.
What happens to ь and ъ?
The ICAO table writes ъ as IE and has no row for ь, so ь is left out: Наталья becomes Natalia and Подъячев becomes Podieiachev. BGN/PCGN keeps both signs as apostrophes: Natal’ya, Pod”yachev.
Can I convert Ukrainian, Belarusian or Serbian text?
Not fully. The tool converts the letters of the Russian alphabet only and keeps letters such as і, ї, є, ґ, ў or ђ, which it lists below the result. These languages have their own rules (Ukrainian г is H, not G, in the ICAO table), so a Russian table gives wrong spellings for them.
Why does ё become e?
In the ICAO table ё is E, the same as е: Пётр becomes Petr. BGN/PCGN writes ë or yë (Pëtr, Yëlkino). Many Russian texts print ё without its dots; the tool can only see the letter that was typed, so type ё where it is meant.
Is the text I enter sent anywhere?
No. The conversion runs in your browser, and the page does not save what you type.