List of Renamed Cities and Towns in Russia

Reasons for geographical renaming in Russia 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 due to 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

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 (rural locality) (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 → Budyonny → Krasnogvardeyskoye → Biryuch (2007)
• Bobriki → Donskoy
• Bobriki → Stalinogorsk (1934) → Novomoskovsk (1961)
• Bogdanovo → Spassk → Bednodemyanovsk (1925) → Spassk (2005)
• Bolokhovsky → Bolokhovo
• Bondyuzhsk → Mendeleyevsk
• 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)
• Darkehmen → Angerapp (1938) → Ozyorsk (1945)
• Dmitriyev → Dmitriyev-na-Svape → Dmitriyev
• Dmitrovka → Dmitrovsk → Dmitrovsk-Orlovsky → 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 → Donetsk
• Gzhatsk → Gagarin
• Heiliegenbeil → Mamonovo
• Heinrichswalde → Slavsk
• Iletskaya Zashchita → Iletsk → Iletskoye → Iletskaya Zashchita → Sol-Iletsk
• Iman → Dalnerechensk
• Insterburg → Chernyakhovsk
• Ivanovo-Voznesensk → Ivanovo
• Izhevsky Zavod → Izhevsk → Ustinov → Izhevsk
• Izhma → Sosnogorsk
• Kainsk → Kuybyshev
• Kalata → Kirovgrad
• Kaliningrad → Korolyov
• Kamen → Kamen-na-Obi
• Kamenskaya → Kamensk-Shakhtinsky
• Kamensky Zavod → Kamensk-Uralsky
• Kamyshin → Dmitriyevsk → Kamyshin
• Kasivabora → Severo-Kurilsk
• Kaspiysky → Lagan
• Khabarovka → Khabarovsk
• Kharovsky → Kharovsk
• Khibinogorsk → Kirovsk, Murmansk Oblast
• Khlynov → Vyatka → Kirov
• Khonto → Nevelsk
• Khotchino → Gatchina → Trotsk (1923) → Krasnogvardeysk (1929) → Gatchina (1944)
• Khrushchyovskaya → Uzlovaya
• Kiyskoye → Mariinsk
• Kodinsky → Kodinsk
• Kolchugino → Lenino → Leninsk-Kuznetsky
• Komsomolsky → Yugorsk
• Korela → Keksgolm → Priozersk
• Korsakovsky Post → Otomari → Korsakov
• Kozlov → Michurinsk
• Königsberg → Kaliningrad
• Krasnaya Sloboda → Krasnoslobodsk
• Krasnoflotsky → Krasnoarmeysky → Krasnoarmeysk
• Krasnoyarsk-26 → Zheleznogorsk
• Kremlyov → Sarov
• Krestov Brod → Roshal
• Kseniyevsky → Asino
• Kudelka → Asbest
• Kukarka → Sovetsk
• Kurgannaya → Kurganinsk
• Kushvinsky Zavod → Kushva
• Kuznetsk → Novokuznetsk → Stalinsk → Novokuznetsk
• Kuznetsovo → Konakovo
• Labiau → Polessk
• Labinskaya → Labinsk
• Lakinsky → Lakinsk
• Laptevo → Yasnogorsk
• Lazdinay → Lazdenen → Krasnoznamensk
• Lermontovsky → Lermontov
• Likhvin → Chekalin
• 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 → Kirovsk
• Nevyansky Zavod → Nevyansk
• Nezametny → Aldan
• Nikolayevsky → Nikolayevsk → Nikolayevsk-na-Amure
• Nikolo-Pestrovka → Nikolo-Pestrovsky → Nikolsk
• Nikolskoye → Nikolsk → Nikolsk-Ussuriysky → Voroshilov → Ussuriysk
• Nikolsky Khutor → Sursk
• Nizhnetagilsky Zavod → Nizhny Tagil
• Nizhnevartovsky → Nizhnevartovsk
• Nizhnevolzhsk → Narimanov
• Nizhny Novgorod → Gorky → Nizhny Novgorod
• Noda → Chekhov (2004)
• Nolinsk → Molotovsk → Nolinsk
• 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
• Novonikolayevsk → Novosibirsk
• 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 → Chkalov → Orenburg
• 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
• Perm → Molotov → Perm
• 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 → Zagorsk → Sergiyev Posad
• 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 → Stalingrad → Volgograd
• Tsarskoye Selo → Detskoye Selo → Pushkin
• Tsaryovokokshaysk → Krasnokokshaysk → Yoshkar-Ola
• Tsimlyanskaya → Tsimlyansk
• Turyinsky → Krasnoturyinsk
• Tver → Kalinin → Tver
• 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 → Rybnoy → Rybinsk → Shcherbakov → Rybinsk → Andropov → Rybinsk
• 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)
• Volodary → Volodarsk
• Vorontsovo-Alexandrovskoye → Sovetskoye → Zelenokumsk
• Voskresenskoye → Voskresensk → Istra (not to be confused with another Voskresensk)
• Voznesenskaya → Vereshchagino
• Vyzhaikha → Krasnovishersk
• Yakovlevskoye → Privolzhsk
• Yama → Yamsky Gorodok → Yama → Yamburg → Kingisepp (1922)
• Yauntlatgale → Abrene → Pytalovo
• Yegorshino → Artyomovsky
• Yekaterinburg → Sverdlovsk → Yekaterinburg
• Yekaterinodar → Krasnodar
• 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