Russian names are used in the country of Russia and in Russian-speaking communities throughout the world. See also about Russian names.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
AbakanАбакан(Settlement & River)Russian Possibly from Khakas аба (aba) meaning "bear" or "father" and хан (khan) meaning "blood". This is the name of a city and river in Russia.
AktauАктау(Settlement)Russian, English From Kazakh Ақтау (Aqtau) meaning "white mountain", derived from ақ (aq) meaning "white" and тау (tau) meaning "mountain". This is the name of a city in Kazakhstan.
AktobeАктобе(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English, Russian From Kazakh Ақтөбе (Aqtobe) meaning "white hill", derived from ақ (aq) meaning "white" and төбе (töbe) meaning "hill". This is the name of a region of, as well as a city in, Kazakhstan.
AlmatyАлматы(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian Meaning uncertain, possibly from Kazakh алма (alma) meaning "apple". This is the name of the largest city in Kazakhstan.
AltaiАлтай(Political Subdivision & Mountain)Altai, Russian, Mongolian, Kazakh, English From the Turkic roots altun meaning "gold" and tag meaning "mountain". This is the name of a mountain range in Central and East Asia as well as two territories of Russia.
AltayАлтай(Political Subdivision & Mountain)Altai, Russian, Mongolian, Kazakh, English Altai, Russian, Mongolian and Kazakh alternate transcription of Altai as well as an English variant.
AnadyrАна́дырь(Political Subdivision)Russian (Archaic) Although the town itself has only been in existence for just over a century, the origins of the name Anadyr are much older. The name initially derives from the Yukaghir word "any-an" meaning "river"
AstanaАстана(Settlement)Kazakh, English, Russian Means "capital city" in Kazakh, ultimately from Persian آستانه (astaneh). This was the name of the capital city of Kazakhstan until 2019, when it was renamed Nur-Sultan.
BaikalБайкал(Body of Water)Russian, English From Buryat Байгал (Baygal) of uncertain origin, perhaps from the Turkic roots baj meaning "rich" and kol meaning "lake" or from Mongolian байгалийн нуур (baigaliin nuur) meaning "natural lake"... [more]
BaikonurБайконур(Settlement)Russian, English From Kazakh Байқоңыр (Bayqonyr) meaning "wealthy brown" or "fertile land with many plants", derived from бай (bay) meaning "rich, wealthy" and қоңыр (qonyr) meaning "brown"... [more]
BakuБаку(Settlement)English, Russian, Persian From Azerbaijani Bakı from Persian باکو (baku), which is of uncertain meaning. One popular etymology suggests that it means "wind-pounded city" from Persian باد (bad) meaning "wind" and کوبیدن (kubidan) meaning "to pound, to beat", given in reference to the area's frequent storms and high winds... [more]
BashkortostanБашкортостан(Political Subdivision)Russian From Bashkir Башҡортостан (Bashqortostan), which is from башҡорт (bashqort), the name of the people, combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan 2) meaning "land of"... [more]
BaykonurБайконур(Settlement)Russian Alternate transcription of Russian Байконур (see Baikonur).
BelgorodБелгород(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Russian Means "white city" from Russian белый (beliy) meaning "white" and город (gorod) meaning "city, town". This is the name of an oblast (a type of administrative division) of, as well as a city in, Russia.
BishkekБишкек(Settlement)Kyrgyz, English, Russian Meaning uncertain. One theory suggests that it comes from a word meaning "whorl, whisk" in Kyrgyz, referring to a tool used to prepare kumis, a traditional dairy product. It could also mean "five heights" from Kyrgyz беш (besh) meaning "five" and бийик (biyik) meaning "tall, high", or it could mean "five chiefs" from беш (besh) meaning "five" and the Turkish title beg meaning "chieftain, master"... [more]
BukharaБухара(Settlement)English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Kazakh, Russian, Ukrainian From Uzbek Buxoro, itself derived from Persian بخارا (bokhara) of uncertain meaning, possibly from Sogdian βuxārak meaning "place of good fortune". Alternately it may have come from Sanskrit विहार (vihara) referring to a Buddhist monastery... [more]
BulunksyБулу́нский(Region)Russian I don't know if it's the actual etymology or if it just 'looks similar,' but a search for 'etymology of bulunsky' turns up a lot of results about "Blue Sky"
ChechnyaЧечня(Political Subdivision)Russian, English Means "(place) of the Chechens", derived from the Russian name for the Chechen people. The exonym is of uncertain meaning, with Russian folk etymologies suggesting that it originates from the name of a village; on the other hand, it may be derived from the Kabardian name Шашан (Shashan)... [more]
Chernobyl'Чернобыль(Other)Russian, English Russian name for the Chernobyl Power Plant and the English name for it. It is also to Russian form of the name of a village in Ukraine. It is dervied from "чёрный" (chyornyy) meaning "black". For the Ukrainian form, see Chornobyl'.
ChernogoriyaЧерногория(Country)Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Russian, Tajik, Uzbek From a calque of the Serbo-Croatian name Crna Gora meaning "black mountain", derived from Russian чёрный (chyorniy) meaning "black" and гора (gora) meaning "mountain"... [more]
ChitaЧита(Political Subdivision)Russian "birch mat" or "clay" or "dirt (on the shore), slate, coal" or "blue" or "black earth (coal slate), coal" or "dwelling" or "upper reaches" or possibly the short form of a diminutive of a diminutive of a name that means "conception" (possibly referring to "The Immaculate Conception")
ChukotkaЧукотка(Political Subdivision)Russian, English Derived from the Russian name Чукчи (Chukchi), referring to the native people who originally inhabited the area. The word Chukchi is derived from Chukchi Chauchu meaning "rich in reindeer", used by the Reindeer Chukchi people to distinguish themselves from the Maritime Chukchi (the Anqallyt meaning "sea people")... [more]
DagestanДагестан(Political Subdivision)Russian Derived from Turkish dağ meaning "mountain" and the Persian suffix ستان (stan 2) meaning "land of". This is the name of a federal subject of Russia.
DushanbeДушанбе(Settlement)Tajik, English, Russian Mean "Monday" in Tajik, so named for a popular market that used to be held in the area on Mondays. This is the name of the capital city of Tajikistan.
EkibastuzЭкибастуз(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian Means "two heads of salt" from Kazakh екі (eki) meaning "two", бас (bas) meaning "head" and тұз (tuz) meaning "salt". This is the name of a city in Kazakhstan.
GroznyГрозный(Settlement)Russian, English Means "formidable, menacing, fearsome" in Russian. This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
IlimИлим(River)Russian, Arabic I couldn't find the meaning of the river's name, but Wiktionary (without mentioning the river) says it's a Turkish word with an Arabic root that means "Knowledge, Science"
KaragandaКараганда(Settlement)English, Russian From Kazakh Қарағанды (Qaraghandy), which is derived from қараған (qaraghan) meaning "caragana" (a type of flower). This is the name of a city in Kazakhstan.
KarakalpakstanКаракалпакстан(Political Subdivision)English, Russian From Karakalpak Қарақалпақстан (Qaraqalpaqstan), itself from the name of the Karakalpak people combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan 2) meaning "land of"... [more]
KazanКазань(Settlement)Tatar, Russian Probably derived from Turkic qazan meaning "kettle, cauldron". This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Tatarstan.
KazbekКазбек(Mountain)Russian, English From Arabic قاضي (qadi) meaning "judge, arbiter" combined with the Turkish military title beg meaning "chieftain, master". This is the name of a dormant stratovolcano and mountain located in the central Caucasus.
Kenai(Region, River & Settlement)Indigenous American, Dena'ina, Russian From a Dena'ina word meaning "flat, meadow, open area with few trees; base, low ridge." This is the name of a town, peninsula, borough and river in Alaska.
KhabarovskХаба́ровск(Political Subdivision)Russian The Russians founded the military outpost of Khabarovka (Хаба́ровка), named after YerofeyKhabarov... [more]
Kiev(Settlement)Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, German, English The name Kiev comes from a medieval legend about the founding of the city told by a Chronicler of Rus-Ukraine. It was three brothers, Kie, Shchek and Khoriv, and their sister Lebid, who were the founders.
KokshetauКокшетау(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian Means "blueish mountain" from Kazakh көкше (kökshe) meaning "blue, blueish" and тау (tau) meaning "mountain". This is the name of a city in Kazakhstan.
KolymaКолыма(Body of Water & River)Russian Originated in the tundra Yukaghir word kulumaa, which means river.
KomiКоми(Political Subdivision)Komi, Russian From the name of the Komi people, which is most likely derived from the Finno-Ugric word kojema meaning "man, human", but also possibly from the name of the Kama River... [more]
Kremenchug-konstantinovskoyeКременчуг-Константиновское(Settlement)Russian Kremenchug-Konstantinovskoye is a rural locality in Russia. It translates to Kremenchug named after Konstantin in Russian.
MakhachkalaМахачкала(Settlement)Russian Means "Makhach's fortress", from the given name Makhach and Kumyk къала (qala) meaning "fortress". This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Dagestan, named in honour of Magomed-Ali "Makhach" Dadaev (1882-1918), a Dagestani revolutionary.
MalorossiyaМалороссия(Country & Region)Russian Means "Little Russia" (малый/malyy + россия/rossiya), a historical term denoting to what now is mostly Ukraine.
MaykopМайкоп(Settlement)Russian From Adyghe Мыекъуапэ (Myeqwapa) meaning "cape of apples", from мые (mye) meaning "apple" and къуапэ (qwapa) meaning "cape, gorge, height". This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Adygea.
MinskМинск(Settlement)Belarusian, English, Russian From Old East Slavic Мѣньскъ (Menisku), which was derived from a river named Men. This is the name of the capital city of Belarus.
Murmansk(Settlement)Russian Murmansk is a port city in north Russia. Founded in 1916 , being the last settlement founded is the Russian empire.... [more]
NazranНазрань(Settlement)Russian From Ingush Наьсаре (Nasare) possibly from Нясара (Nyasara), supposedly the name of the first person to settle in the region. This is the name of a town in Ingushetia that served as the republic's capital until 2000.
NeftekamskНефтекамск(Settlement)Russian From Russian нефть (neft) meaning "oil, petroleum" combined with the name of the Kama River. This is the name of a city in Bashkortostan, Russia.
NeriungriНерюнгри(Political Subdivision)Russian comes from the Evenk word for "grayling" (species of freshwater-fish in the family of salmon) ... the second largest town in the Sakha Republic, Russia and the administrative center of Neryungrinsky District
Nizhny NovgorodНижний Новгород(Other)Russian, Medieval Russian, English Derived from "нижний (nizhny)" meaning lower, "новый (novy)" meaning new, and "город (gorod)" meaning city. It joins together to mean "Lower New City" or could also be called "Lower Novgorod".... [more]
Novaya ZemlyaНовая Земля(Island)Russian Means "new land" from Russian новая (novaya) meaning "new" and земля (zemlya) meaning "land, soil, earth". This is the name of an Arctic archipelago in northern Russia.
NovorossiyaНовороссия(Region)Russian Means New Russia, from новый (novyy) meaning new and Россия (Rossiya) meaning Russia. Historically it was used to describe a region of land around the Ukrainian coastline, but in contemporary usage it refers to the group of 8 regions in Ukraine* (Donyetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozh'ye, Kherson, Khar'kov, Odessa, Dnyepr, Nikolayev) that are predominantly Russian... [more]
Nur-SultanНур-Султан(Settlement)Kazakh, English, Russian From the given name Nursultan. This is the name of the capital city of Kazakhstan, which was renamed in honour of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev (1940-)... [more]
NyukzhaНюкжа(Region, Settlement, Body of Water & River)Evenki, Russian From nyukhzach meaning ‘to wander’.