The following is the list of cities in Belarus that underwent a name change in the past.
Most formal name changes in Belarus took place when the country was a member of the Soviet Union (1919-1991).
A problem with namings of Belarusian cities is their being multiple times translated into several languages officially used on the Belarusian lands: Old Belarusian (Ruthenian), Polish, Russian, Modern Belarusian.
A significant wave of "automatical" city renamings followed the annexation of Belarus by the Russian Empire in the late 18th century, when the Russian administration transcribed the names of many cities from Polish language and not from Old Belarusian. Hence, the Russian name of Hrodna was taken directly from Polish language instead of the ancient Ruthenian name Gorodno/Horodno (Городно). The Polish Brześć Litewski was translated into Brest-Litovsk (Брест-Литовск) instead of using the traditional Ruthenian Berestye (Берестье). Most of the Russian-translated names have been put into Belarusian language by the Soviet language reforms of the 1930s.
| Historical Ruthenian name | Lithuanian name | Polish name | Russian name since 19th century as transcribed from Polish | Modern Belarusian name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mien'sk (Мѣньскъ) | Minskas | Mińsk Litewski | Minsk (Минск) | Minsk (Мінск), although Miensk (Менск) also informally used |
| Berestie (Берестье) | Lietuvos Brasta | Brześć Litewski | Brest-Litovsk (Брест-Литовск), later just Brest (Брест) | Brest (Брэст), although Bieraście (Берасьце) also informally used |
| Horodno (Городно) | Gardinas | Grodno | Grodno (Гродно) | Hrodna (Гродна), although Horadnia (Горадня) or Harodnia (Гародня) also informally used |
| Novohorodok (Новогородокъ) | Naugardukas | Nowogródek | Novogrudok (Новогрудок) | Navahrudak (Навагрудак), although Navaharodak (Навагародак) or Navahradak (Наваградак) also informally used |
| Mery, Myory (Меры) | Miorai | Miory | Miory (Миоры) | Mijory (Міёры), although Miory (Мёры) also informally used |
Besides that, namings of the cities in Modern Belarusian language differ from namings in other languages.
Soviet city renamings
edit- Drissa → Verkhnyadzvinsk
- Kojdanaŭ → Dziarzhynsk
- Prapošask → Prapojsk → Slavgorod → Slawharad
- Šaciłavičy → Svietlahorsk