# 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 (1933)
* 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 (1780) → Kirov (1934)
* 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 (1972)
* 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 (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