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Official Ukrainian transliteration table

Several systems are used by organisations around the world for the transliteration of the Ukrainian alphabet (and those of other Slavonic languages using the Cyrillic script) into the Roman script (“romanisation”). The current official Ukrainian transliteration table, reproduced below, was approved in 2010 by a Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. It essentially provides a correspondence between the letters of the Ukrainian alphabet and letters used to represent the equivalent sounds in written English.

Ukrainian Transliteration Examples
А а A a Алушта
Андрій
Alushta
Andrii
Б б B b Борщагівка
Борисенко
Borshchahivka
Borysenko
В в V v Вінниця
Володимир
Vinnytsia
Volodymyr
Г г H h


(note 1)
Гадяч
Богдан

Згурський
Hadiach
Bohdan

Zghurskyi
Ґ ґ G g Ґалаґан
Ґорґани
Galagan
Gorgany
Д д D d Донецьк
Дмитро
Donetsk
Dmytro
Е е E e Рівне
Олег
Есьмань
Rivne
Oleh
Esman
Є є Ye - beginning of word

ie - elsewhere
Єнакієве

Гаєвич
Короп'є
Yenakiieve

Haievych
Koropie
Ж ж Zh zh Житомир
Жанна
Жежелів
Zhytomyr
Zhanna
Zhezheliv
З з Z z Закарпаття
Казимирчук
Zakarpattia
Kazymyrchuk
И и Y y Медвин
Михайленко
Medvyn
Mykhailenko
І і I i Іванків
Іващенко
Ivankiv
Ivashchenko
Ї ї Yi - beginning of word

i - elsewhere
Їжакевич

Кадиївка
Мар'їне
Yizhakevych

Kadyivka
Marine
Й й Y - beginning of word

i - elsewhere
Йосипівка

Стрий
Олексій
Yosypivka

Stryi
Oleksii
К к K k Київ
Коваленко
Kyiv
Kovalenko
Л л L l Лебедин
Леонід
Lebedyn
Leonid
М м M m Миколаїв
Маринич
Mykolaiv
Marynych
Н н N n Ніжин
Наталія
Nizhyn
Nataliia
О о O o Одеса
Онищенко
Odesa
Onyshchenko
П п P p Полтава
Петро
Poltava
Petro
Р р R r Решетилівка
Рибчинський
Reshetylivka
Rybchynskyi
С с S s Суми
Соломія
Sumy
Solomiia
Т т T t Тернопіль
Троць
Ternopil
Trots
У у U u Ужгород
Уляна
Uzhhorod
Uliana
Ф ф F f Фастів
Філіпчук
Fastiv
Filipchuk
Х х Kh kh Харків
Христина
Kharkiv
Khrystyna
Ц ц Ts ts Біла Церква
Стеценко
Bila Tserkva
Stetsenko
Ч ч Ch ch Чернівці
Шевченко
Chernivtsi
Shevchenko
Ш ш Sh sh Шостка
Кишеньки
Shostka
Kyshenky
Щ щ Shch shch Щербухи
Гоща
Гаращенко
Shcherbukhy
Hoshcha
Harashchenko
Ю ю Yu - beginning of word

iu - elsewhere
Юрій

Корюківка
Yurii

Koriukivka
Я я Ya - beginning of word


ia - elsewhere
Яготин
Ярошенко

Костянтин
Знам'янка
Феодосія
Yahotyn
Yaroshenko

Kostiantyn
Znamianka
Feodosiia

Notes

  1. The letter combination "зг" is transliterated as "zgh" (e.g. Згорани – Zghorany,
    Розгон – Rozghon) as opposed to "zh", which represents the Ukrainian letter ж.
  2. The Ukrainian soft sign (ь) and apostrophe are not transliterated.

Spelling of Ukrainian personal names

In cases where the customary Roman-script spelling of a person’s Ukrainian name is known (e.g. from official documents, publications authored by the individual, a memorial inscription, etc), then this spelling is used in the encyclopaedia. In other cases personal names are transliterated in accordance with the above official Ukrainian transliteration table.

Several factors may have affected the way in which a person’s customary Roman-script spelling became established. In many cases the person will have transliterated their name (or the name may have been transliterated by officials) into a Roman-script language other than English. This applies, for example, in the case of Ukrainians originating from lands which were part of the Polish state between the two world wars. Their names were generally transliterated into Polish. Names in foreign passports issued in the Soviet Union were transliterated into French. Some individuals living in German-speaking countries before coming to the UK had their names transliterated into German. Some Ukrainian names were transliterated not directly from the Ukrainian, but from their Polish, Russian or other equivalents. Some people avoided transliteration altogether and anglicised their names (forenames, surnames, or both), as in Петро (Petro) – Peter.

The following table shows the main differences between the transliteration of Ukrainian letters according to the English-oriented Official Ukrainian transliteration table and transliterations into Polish, French and German.

English-oriented Polish French German
вvww
жzhżjsch, sh
зzzs
йY, ijj
уuou
хkhchch
цtscz, ts
чchcztchtsch
шshszchsch
щshchszczchtchschtsch