List of renamed cities and towns in Russia

This is a list of Russian towns and cities that were renamed.

Background

Historical reasons behind geographical renaming were

• a particularly large number of cities and towns were renamed in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917
• more renamings happened during the whole history of the Soviet Union for political reasons
• in 1945, German cities around Königsberg were made part of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave, see list of cities and towns in East Prussia
• soon after the reconquest of Southern Sakhalin in 1945, Japanese placenames were replaced with Russian ones.
• Circa 1972-73, many Chinese or Chinese-sounding place names in the Russian Far East were replaced with Russian-sounding ones.
• in 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, renamings (often for restoration of original names) happened, although infrequently.

List

In the list below sometimes the year of renaming appears in brackets after the new name.

• Abinsky → Abinsk (1963)
• Adygeysk (1969) → Teuchezhsk (1976) → Adygeysk (1992)
• Aksayskaya → Aksay (1957)
• Alexandria (1838) → Dakhovsky (1864) → Dakhovsky Posad (1874) → Sochi (1896)
• Alexandrovsk (1896) → Polyarny (1939)
• Alexandrovskaya → Alexandrovka → Alexandrovsky (1917) → Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky (1926)
• Alexandrovskoye (1860) → Alexandrovka (1926) → Krasnopartizansk (1931) → Kuybyshevka-Vostochnaya (1936) → Belogorsk (1957)
• Alexeyevsk (1912) → Svobodny (1917)
• Almetyevo → Almetyevsk
• Antrea → Kamennogorsk (1948)
• Apsheronskaya (1863) → Apsheronsk (1947)
• Armyansky Aul (1839) → Armavir (1848)
• Arzamas-16 (1946) → Kremlyov (1991) → Sarov (1995)
• Astapovo → Lev Tolstoy (1918)
• Balanda → Kalininsk (1962)
• Bashanta → Gorodovikovsk (1971)
• Batalpashinkaya (1804) → Batalpashinsk (1931) → Sulimov (1934) → Yezhovo-Cherkessk (1937) → Cherkessk (1939)
• Beloozero (862) → Belozersk (1777)
• Belorechenskaya (1863) → Belorechensk (1958)
• Beloretsk → Mezhgorye (1995)
• Belotsarsk (1914) → Khem-Beldyr (1918) → Kyzyl (1926)
• Bikinskaya → Bikin
• Biryuch (1905) → Budyonny (1919) → Krasnogvardeyskoye (1958) → Biryuch (2007)
• Bobriki → Donskoy
• Bobriki → Stalinogorsk (1934) → Novomoskovsk (1961)
• Bogdanovo → Spassk → Bednodemyanovsk (1925) → Spassk (2005)
• Bolokhovsky → Bolokhovo
• Bondyuzhsk (1885) → Bondyuzhsky (1928) → Mendeleyevsk (1967)
• Borovskaya Sloboda → Bor (1938)
• Beryozovskoye (Björkö) → Koivisto → Primorsk (1948)
• Chegem Pervy → Chegem
• Chembar → Belinsky (1948)
• Chertanla → Novyy Uzen' (1835) → Novouzensk
• Chesnokovka → Novoaltaysk (1962)
• Chelyabinsk-40 (1945) → Chelyabinsk-65 → Ozyorsk (1994)
• Chelyabinsk-70 → Snezhinsk (1991)
• Chibyu (1929) → Ukhta (1939)
• Chinnay → Krasnogorsk
• Cranz → Zelenogradsk (1945)
• Dalles (1924) → Lesozavodsk (1932)
• Darkehmen → Angerapp (1938) → Ozyorsk (1945)
• Derbinskoye (1880) → Tymovskoye (1945)
• Dmitriyev → Dmitriyev-na-Svape → Dmitriyev
• Dmitrovka (1711) → Dmitrovsk → Dmitrovsk-Orlovsky (1929) → Dmitrovsk (2005)
• Dokshukino (1913) → Nartkala (1967)
• Dolgoprudny → Dirizhablstroy → Dolgoprudny
• Dvigatelstroy → Kaspiysk (1947)
• Dzerzhinsky → Sorsk (1966)
• Elektroperedacha → Elektrogorsk (1946)
• Enso (1887) → Svetogorsk (1948)
• Esutoru → Uglegorsk (1946)
• Fischhausen → Primorsk (1946)
• Friedland → Pravdinsk (1946)
• Galkino-Vrasskoye (1884) → Ochiai (1905) → Dolinsk (1946)
• Goly Karamysh → Baltser → Krasnoarmeysk (1942)
• Gorodetsk → Bezhetsk (1766)
• Gorodok → Zakamensk (1959)
• Grushyovskaya → Gornoye Grushyovskoye → Alexandrovsk-Grushyovsky → Shakhty (1921)
• Gukovsky → Gukovo
• Gumbinnen → Gusev
• Gundorovka (1681) → Donetsk (1955)
• Gzhatsk (1718) → Gagarin (1968)
• Heiliegenbeil → Mamonovo (1945)
• Heinrichswalde → Slavsk
• Iletskaya Zashchita → Iletsk → Iletskoye → Iletskaya Zashchita → Sol-Iletsk
• Iman (1859) → Dalnerechensk (1972)
• Insterburg → Chernyakhovsk (1946)
• Ivanovo-Voznesensk → Ivanovo
• Izhevsky Zavod (1760) → Izhevsk (1807) → Ustinov (1984) → Izhevsk (1987)
• Izhma (1939) → Sosnogorsk (1957)
• Kainsk (1772) → Kuybyshev (1935)
• Kalata (1675) → Kirovgrad (1932)
• Kaliningrad (1938) → Korolyov (1996)
• Kamen → Kamen-na-Obi
• Kamenskaya → Kamensk-Shakhtinsky
• Kamensky Zavod → Kamensk-Uralsky
• Kamyshin (1667) → Dmitriyevsk (1710) → Kamyshin (1780)
• Kasivabora → Severo-Kurilsk
• Khabarovka → Khabarovsk
• Kharovsky → Kharovsk
• Khibinogorsk → Kirovsk, Murmansk Oblast
• Khlynov → Vyatka → Kirov
• Khonto (1789) → Nevelsk (1947)
• Khotchino → Gatchina → Trotsk (1923) → Krasnogvardeysk (1929) → Gatchina (1944)
• Khrushchyovskaya → Uzlovaya
• Kiyskoye → Kiysk (1856) → Mariinsk (1857)
• Kodinsky → Kodinsk
• Kolchugino (1763) → Lenino (1922) → Leninsk-Kuznetsky (1925)
• Komsomolsky (1962) → Yugorsk (1992)
• Korela → Keksgolm → Priozersk (1948)
• Korsakovsky Post → Otomari → Korsakov
• Kozlov (1635) → Michurinsk (1932)
• Königsberg → Kaliningrad (1946)
• Krasnaya Sloboda → Krasnoslobodsk
• Krasnoflotsky → Krasnoarmeysky → Krasnoarmeysk
• Krasnoyarsk-26 → Zheleznogorsk
• Kremlyov → Sarov (1995)
• Krestov Brod (1916) → Roshal (1917)
• Kseniyevsky (1896) → Asino (1930)
• Kudelka (1889) → Asbest (1928)
• Kukarka (1594) → Sovetsk (1937)
• Kurgannaya → Kurganinsk
• Kushvinsky Zavod → Kushva
• Kuznetsk (1618) → Novokuznetsk (1931) → Stalinsk (1932) → Novokuznetsk (1961)
• Kuznetsovo (1806) → Konakovo (1930)
• Labiau → Polessk (1946)
• Labinskaya → Labinsk
• Lagan (1870) → Kaspiysky (1944) → Lagan (1991)
• Lakinsky → Lakinsk
• Laptevo (1578) → Yasnogorsk (1965)
• Lazdinay (1734) → Lazdenen (1938) → Krasnoznamensk (1946)
• Lermontovsky → Lermontov
• Likhvin (1565) → Chekalin (1945)
• Lopasnya → Chyornoye Ozero → Chekhov
• Losinaya Sloboda → Losino-Petrovsky
• Lyantorsky → Lyantor
• Lyutoga → Rudaka → Aniva
• Maoka (Mauka) → Kholmsk
• Mechetnaya → Nikolayevsk → Pugachyov
• Medvezhyya Gora → Medvezhyegorsk
• Melekess → Dimitrovgrad
• Mikhaylovskoye → Shpakovskoye → Mikhaylovsk
• Mikhaylovsky Zavod → Mikhaylovsk
• Mikoyan-Shakhar → Klukhori → Karachayevsk
• Mukhtuya → Lensk
• Muravlenkovsky → Muravlenko
• Mysovaya → Mysovsk → Babushkin
• Naberezhnye Chelny → Brezhnev → Naberezhnye Chelny
• Nadezhdinsk → Kabakovsk → Nadezhdinsk → Serov
• Naykhoro → Gornozavodsk
• Nazyvayevskaya → Nazyvayevka → Nazyvayevsk
• Neuhausen → Guryevsk
• Nevdubstroy (1929) → Kirovsk (1953)
• Nevyansky Zavod → Nevyansk
• Nezametny (1923) → Aldan (1939)
• Nikolayevsky → Nikolayevsk → Nikolayevsk-na-Amure
• Nikolo-Pestrovka → Nikolo-Pestrovsky → Nikolsk
• Nikolskoye → Nikolsk → Nikolsk-Ussuriysky (1898) → Voroshilov (1935) → Ussuriysk (1957)
• Nikolsky Khutor (1860) → Sursk (1953)
• Nizhnetagilsky Zavod → Nizhny Tagil
• Nizhnevartovsky → Nizhnevartovsk
• Nizhnevolzhskoye (1963) → Nizhnevolzhsk (1967) → Narimanov (1984)
• Nizhniye Kresty → Chersky (1963)
• Nizhny Novgorod → Gorky (1932) → Nizhny Novgorod (1990)
• Noda → Chekhov (1947)
• Nolinsk (1668) → Molotovsk (1940) → Nolinsk (1957)
• Novaya Derevnya → Alexandrovsky → Novonikolayevsky → Novonikolayevsk → Novosibirsk
• Novaya Pokrovka → Svoboda (1943) → Liski → Georgiu-Dezh (1965) → Liski (1990)
• Novgorod → Veliky Novgorod (1998)
• Novo-Mariinsk → Anadyr
• Novoalexandrovskaya → Novoalexandrovsk
• Novokuybyshevsky → Novokuybyshevsk
• Novopavlovskaya → Novopavlovsk
• Novotroitsk → Baley
• Novovoronezhsky → Novovoronezh
• Novy Zay → Zainsk
• Novye Petushki → Petushki
• Nyakh → Nyagan
• Obdorsk → Salekhard
• Olensk → Vilyuysk
• Olkhovsky → Artyomovsk
• Olzheras → Mezhdurechensk
• Omutninsky Zavod → Omutninsk
• Oraniyenbaum → Lomonosov
• Orenburg (1743) → Chkalov (1938) → Orenburg (1957)
• Oreshek → Nöteborg → Shlisselburg → Petrokrepost → Shlisselburg
• Orlov → Khalturin → Orlov
• Osinovka → Osinniki
• Ostyako-Vogulsk → Khanty-Mansiysk
• Pavlovo → Pavlovsky Posad
• Pavlovsk → Slutsk → Pavlovsk
• Pechory → Petseri → Pechory
• Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky → Ryazan
• Permskoye → Komsomolsk-na-Amure
• Pervomaysky → Novodvinsk
• Pesochnya → Kirov
• Petergof → Petrodvorets → Petergof
• Petropavlovsky → Petropavlovsky Port → Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
• Petropavlovsky → Severouralsk
• Petrovskoye → Petrovsk-Port → Makhachkala
• Petrovskoye → Svetlograd
• Petrovsky Zavod → Petrovsk-Zabaykalsky
• Pillau → Baltiysk
• Pokrovskaya → Pokrovsk → Engels
• Pokrovskoye → Pokrovsk
• Porechye → Demidov
• Poshekhonye → Poshekhonye-Volodarsk → Poshekhonye
• Prishib → Leninsk
• Protva → Zhukov
• Pryoysish-Elau → Bagrationovsk
• Pyora → Gondatti → Vladimiro-Shimanovsky → Shimanovsk
• Raduga → Vladimir-30 → Raduzhny
• Ragnit → Neman
• Ranenburg → Chaplygin
• Rastyapino → Dzerzhinsk
• Rauschen → Svetlogorsk
• Raychikha → Raychikhinsk
• Romanov-Borisoglebsk → Tutayev
• Romanov-na-Murmane → Murmansk (1917)
• Romanovsky → Kropotkin
• Saint Petersburg (1703) → Petrograd (1914) → Leningrad (1924) → Saint Petersburg (1991)
• Samara → Kuybyshev → Samara
• Selyutora → Siritoru → Makarov
• Semyonovka → Arsenyev
• Serdobol → Sortavala
• Sereda → Furmanov
• Sergiyev Posad → Sergiyev (1919) → Zagorsk (1930) → Sergiyev Posad (1991)
• Sergiyevskoye → Plavsk
• Shakhty → Gusinoozyorsk
• Sharypovskoye → Sharypovo → Chernenko → Sharypovo
• Shcheglovo → Shcheglovsk → Kemerovo
• Shikhrany → Kanash
• Shkotovo-17 → Tikhookeansky → Fokino
• Sieklakhti → Lakhdenpokhya
• Simbirsk → Ulyanovsk
• Skalisty → Gadzhiyevo
• Slavyanskaya → Slavyansk-na-Kubani
• Solnechnogorsky → Solnechnogorsk
• Sorochinskoye → Sorochinsk
• Spassk → Spassk-Tatarsky → Kuybyshev → Bolgar
• Spasskoye → Spassk → Spassk-Dalny
• Spasskoye → Spassk → Spassk-Ryazansky
• Stakhanovo → Zhukovsky
• Stallupönen → Nesterov
• Stary Rogozhsky Yam → Bogorodsk → Noginsk
• Stavropol → Togliatti
• Stavropol → Voroshilovsk → Stavropol
• Stupinskaya → Elektrovoz → Stupino
• Suchansky Rudnik → Suchan → Partizansk
• Sudostroy → Molotovsk → Severodvinsk
• Sundyr → Mariinsky Posad
• Suyetikha → Biryusinsk
• Sverdlovsk-45 → Lesnoy
• Svobodny → Cherepanovo
• Svyatoy Krest → Prikumsk → Budyonnovsk → Prikumsk → Budyonnovsk
• Syana → Kurilsk
• Sysertsky Zavod → Sysert
• Taldom → Leninsk → Taldom
• Tapiau → Gvardeysk
• Tashino → Pervomaysk
• Temir-Khan-Shura → Buynaksk
• Terijoki → Zelenogorsk
• Tetyukhe → Dalnegorsk
• Tikhmenevsky → Sikuka → Poronaysk
• Tikhoretskaya → Tikhoretsk
• Tilsit → Sovetsk
• Tomarioru → Tomari
• Tomsk-7 → Seversk
• Toro → Shakhtyorsk
• Troitsa → Udomlya
• Troitsko-Zaozyornoye → Zaozyorny
• Troitskosavsk → Kyakhta
• Troitskoye → Troitsky → Troitsk
• Trongzund → Uuras → Trongzund → Vysotsk
• Trotsk → Chapayevsk
• Truyevo-Naryshkino → Kuznetsk
• Tsaritsyn (1589) → Stalingrad (1925) → Volgograd (1961)
• Tsarskoye Selo → Detskoye Selo → Pushkin
• Tsaryovokokshaysk → Krasnokokshaysk → Yoshkar-Ola
• Tsimlyanskaya → Tsimlyansk
• Tulatovo → Iriston → Beslan
• Turyinsky → Krasnoturyinsk
• Tver → Kalinin (1931) → Tver (1990)
• Tyndinsky → Tynda
• Udinsk → Verhneudinsk → Ulan-Ude
• Ulala → Oyrot-Tura → Gorno-Altaysk
• Uralmedstroy → Krasnouralsk
• Usolye → Usolye-Sibirskoye
• Ust-Abakanskoye → Khakassk → Abakan
• Ust-Belokalitvenskaya → Belaya Kalitva
• Ust-Katavsky Zavod → Ust-Katav
• Ust-Medveditskaya → Serafimovich
• Ust-Sheksna → Rybansk → Rybnaya Sloboda (1504) → Rybnoy → Rybinsk (1777) → Shcherbakov (1946) → Rybinsk (1957) → Andropov (1984) → Rybinsk (1989)
• Ust Zeysky military post → Blagoveshchensk
• Vasilyovo → Chkalovsk
• Vayenga → Severomorsk
• Velikoknyazheskaya → Proletarskaya → Proletarsk
• Velyaminovsky → Tuapse
• Verkhneudinsky → Verkhneudinsk → Ulan-Ude
• Vinodelnoye → Ipatovo
• Vladikavkaz → Ordzhonikidze → Dzaudzhikau → Ordzhonikidze → Vladikavkaz
• Vladimirovka → Toyokhara → Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
• Volkhovstroy → Volkhov (1940)
• Volna-Khristianovsky → Novokhristianovskoye → Khristianovskoye → Digora
• Volodary → Volodarsk
• Vorontsovo-Alexandrovskoye → Sovetskoye → Zelenokumsk
• Voskresenskoye → Voskresensk → Istra (not to be confused with another Voskresensk)
• Voznesenskaya → Vereshchagino
• Vyzhaikha → Krasnovishersk
• Yagoshikha (1723) → Perm (1781) → Molotov (1940) → Perm (1957)
• Yakovlevskoye → Privolzhsk
• Yama → Yamsky Gorodok → Yama → Yamburg → Kingisepp (1922)
• Yauntlatgale → Abrene → Pytalovo
• Yegorshino → Artyomovsky
• Yekaterinburg (Екатеринбург) → Sverdlovsk → Yekaterinburg
• Yekaterinodar (1794) → Krasnodar (1920)
• Yekaterinenstadt (Baronsk) → Marxstadt → Marks
• Yuryuzansky Zavod → Yuryuzan
• Zaozyorny-13 → Krasnoyarsk-45 → Zelenogorsk (1992)
• Zarinskaya → Zarinsk
• Zatishye → Elektrostal
• Zavolzhye → Zavolzhsk
• Zavoyko → Yelizovo
• Zernovoy → Zernograd
• Zeysky Sklad → Zeya-Pristan → Zeya
• Zhdanovsk → Zapolyarny
• Zheleznodorozhny → Yemva
• Zhirnoye → Zhirnovsky → Zhirnovsk
• Zimmerbude → Svetly
• Zlatoust-36 → Tryokhgorny
• Zmeiny → Never-1 → Rukhlovo → Skovorodino

See also

• List of inhabited localities in Kaliningrad Oblast, with former names from East Prussia (list)
• List of places named after Lenin
• List of places named after Stalin
• List of renamed cities in Armenia
• List of renamed cities in Azerbaijan
• List of renamed cities in Belarus
• List of renamed cities in Estonia
• List of renamed cities in Georgia
• List of renamed cities in Kazakhstan
• List of renamed cities in Kyrgyzstan
• List of renamed cities in Latvia
• List of renamed cities in Lithuania
• List of renamed cities in Moldova
• List of renamed cities in Tajikistan
• List of renamed cities in Turkmenistan
• List of renamed cities in Uzbekistan
• List of renamed cities in Ukraine
• List of names of European cities in different languages
• List of Asian city names in different languages

Further reading

• G.R.F. Bursa (1985). "Political Changes of Names of Soviet Towns". Slavonic and East European Review. 63 (2): 161–193. JSTOR 4209080.