GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION
Anya
Charlotta Ivanovna
Dunyasha
Avdotya
Fyodorovna
Firs
Gayev
Leonid
Lenya
Lopakhin
Yermolai
Alexeyevitch
Pishchik
Simeonov
Ranevskaya
Lyuba
Lyubov
Andreeyevna
Trofimov
Petya
Varya
Varvara
Yasha
Yepikhodov
AH-nyah
SharLOHtah Ee-VAHN-ovna
Doon-YAH-shah
Ahv-DOH-tyah
FYOHdorovna
FEERS
(sounds like English word “ Fierce”)
GUY-yeff (sounds like English word “GUY” plus yeff)
Ley-oh-NEED
LENya
Loh-PAH-kheen
Yehr-mo-LIE
AhlekSEYeveech
PEE-shcheek
Sim-ee-OH-noff
Rah-NYEFF-ska-yah
LYOO-bah
LyooBOHF
AnDREYevna
Troh-FEE-moff
PYEH-tyah
VAH-ryah
Var-VAH-rah
YAH-shah
Yeh-pee-KHOH-doff
Anastasy
Andreyich
Dasha
Dashenka
Deriganov
Fyodor
Grisha
Kardamonov
Kharkov
Kozoyedov
Petrushka
Polya
Ragulin
Yaroslavl
Yashnevo
Yefim
Yegor
Yevstignei
Znoikov
Ah-nah-STAH-sy
An-DREY-eech
DAH-shah
DAHSHenka
Deh-ree-GAH-noff
FYOH-dor
GREE-shah
Kar-dah-MOH-noff
KHAR-koff
Koh-zoh-YEH-doff
Peh-TROOSH-kah
POH-lyah
Rah-GOO-leen
YAH-roh-slavl
YASH-nyeh-vo
Yeh-FEEM
Yeh-GOR
Yehff-steeg-NAY
ZNOY-koff
Re “v” vs. “f”: Pronunciation of the Russian letter for “v” sounds like “v” if followed by a voiced sound (i.e., a vowel or a voiced
consonant), but sounds like "ff" if followed by an unvoiced sound in the phonetic chain. So, the masculine last-name “Ivanov” is
pronounced “ee-vahn-OFF,” the feminine last name “Ivanova” is pronounced “ee-vahn-OHV-ah,” and the feminine patronymic
“Ivanovna” is pronounced "ee-VAHN-ohv-nah." To simplify, all masculine last names ending in the letters "-ov" appear here with the
pronunciation “-off.”