Ukrainian Letters Є, Ї, Ґ: How They Get Lost in Translation and Why It Matters

Yefrosyiniia Galagan is applying for permanent residence in Germany. Her passport says Yefrosyiniia Galagan. Her translated birth certificate says Efrosiniya Galagan. Her university diploma (translated back in 2008) says Efrosinia Halahan. Three documents - three different spellings of the same name. The officer at Auslanderbehorde looks at the stack and asks: “Is this one person or three?”

The translators didn’t “mess up.” The problem runs deeper - three letters in the Ukrainian alphabet, Є, Ї, and Ґ, have no direct equivalents in either the Latin alphabet or Russian Cyrillic. These letters get “lost” during translation, transliterated differently across systems, and create real problems with immigration applications, employment, and document recognition abroad.

The Three “Problem” Letters: Why They’re Special¶

The Ukrainian alphabet has 33 letters. Three of them - Ґ, Є, Ї - don’t exist in any other Cyrillic script used today. They’re exclusively Ukrainian, and that’s exactly why they cause the most transliteration headaches.

Є - “ye” or just “e”?¶

Ukrainian Є represents the sound /ye/ (like in “yes”). In Russian, the equivalent is simply Е (without the initial y-sound). When transliterating, Є can become:

• Ye - at the beginning of a word per CMU Resolution №55: Євген = Yevhen
• Ie - after a consonant: Андрієнко = Andriienko
• E - if the translator transliterated from the Russian version of the name (Евгений = Evgeniy)
• Je - following German phonetics: Jewhen

Result: Євгенія Коваленко can appear in different documents as Yevheniia, Evgeniya, Ievheniia, or even Jewgenija.

Ї - “yi” or just “i”?¶

The letter Ї represents the sound /yi/ and exists only in Ukrainian. Russian doesn’t have it at all - it’s replaced with И or softened И. During transliteration:

• Yi - at the beginning of a word per CMU №55: Їжакевич = Yizhakevych
• I - after a consonant: Київ = Kyiv (not Kyïv or Kyjiv)
• Ji - under older systems or DSTU 9112:2021 (system A)
• Disappears entirely as a distinct sound - in some translations Київ becomes Kiev (from Russian Киев)

According to DSTU 9112:2021, which came into effect on April 1, 2022, there are now two legitimate transliteration systems for this letter: Kyїv (system A) and Kyjiv (system B). This expanded the number of possible variants even further.

Ґ - “g” that’s actually “g” (but different)¶

Most Slavic languages have one letter for the /g/ sound. Ukrainian has two: Г (/h/, like in English “have”) and Ґ (/g/, like in English “go”). During transliteration:

• G - per CMU №55: Ґалаґан = Galagan
• H - if the translator confused Ґ with Г (or transliterated from Russian, where Г always = G)

The problem is compounded by history. In the 1930s, Soviet authorities removed the letter Ґ from the Ukrainian alphabet. It was only restored in 1990. So in documents from older generations, this letter is often missing - instead of Ґалаґан, it was written as Галаган, which when transliterated from Ukrainian gives Halahan instead of Galagan.

Why These Letters Get “Lost” in Translation¶

The problem exists on multiple levels simultaneously, and each adds its own layer of chaos.

Different Transliteration Systems¶

The world never agreed on a single way to render Cyrillic in Latin letters. For Ukrainian alone, there are at least five official or semi-official systems:

System	Є	Ї	Ґ	Used by
CMU №55 (2010)	Ye/ie	Yi/i	G	Ukrainian passports since 2015
DSTU 9112:2021 (A)	Je	Ї (kept)	G	Libraries, academic texts
DSTU 9112:2021 (B)	Je	Ji	G	Alternative academic
ISO 9:1995	Ê	Ï	G’	International standardization
Library of Congress	Ie/Ye	Ï	G	US libraries
Old passport (pre-2007)	Ye/E	I/Y	G/H	Old passports

A translator working on a birth certificate can pick any of these systems - depending on their training, the destination country, or simply habit. A sworn translator in Germany might transliterate differently than a translation bureau in Kyiv.

Transliteration from Russian Instead of Ukrainian¶

This is the most common cause of discrepancies. Soviet-era documents (birth certificates before 1991, diplomas, work history books) contain names in Russian. When translating, the translator can either:

1. Transliterate from what they see (Russian Cyrillic) - and Євген becomes Evgeniy
2. First “restore” the Ukrainian form of the name, then transliterate - and Євген becomes Yevhen

Both approaches are technically correct, but they produce different results. And if one document package contains both a Soviet diploma (translated from Russian) and a current passport (transliterated from Ukrainian) - discrepancies are inevitable.

As the State Migration Service of Ukraine explains:

Surnames and given names of Ukrainian citizens, written in Latin letters in documents issued by authorized bodies, may differ from the spelling in documents issued later. This is due to changes in transliteration standards.

IT Systems That Don’t Support Special Characters¶

Even if the translator did everything right, the name can get distorted at the data entry stage. Foreign IT systems often:

• Don’t support diacritics (Ï, Ê from ISO 9) - they just strip them down to I, E
• Don’t distinguish case during searches - Yevhen and YEVHEN become different records
• Auto-“correct” unfamiliar letter combinations - Yizhakevych might become Yizhakevich
• Have character limits - Yefrosyiniia gets truncated to Yefrosyini

A separate issue is the apostrophe in surnames. Ukrainian surnames like Pov’yalov, Kuz’myak, Stef’yuk contain an apostrophe that’s a mandatory part of Ukrainian spelling. But in most foreign databases, the apostrophe is a special character that either gets deleted or breaks the input form.

Real Consequences: What Can Go Wrong¶

Different name spellings across documents aren’t just a cosmetic inconvenience. Here are specific situations where this problem has real consequences.

Immigration Application Delays¶

Immigration services compare data across documents. If the name in a translated birth certificate (Nataliia) doesn’t match the name in a translated diploma (Natalya) - the application gets returned with a request to explain the difference. According to practicing immigration lawyers, name discrepancy is one of the top 5 reasons for document packages being sent back for revision.

USCIS officially requires that transliteration in translations match the applicant’s passport spelling. If the passport says Yevheniia but the translated birth certificate says Evgeniya - you need an affidavit of name discrepancy explaining why.

Banking and Financial Institution Problems¶

Banks abroad open accounts under the name shown in your passport. If you then bring a translated income statement where your name is spelled differently - the bank may refuse to accept the document. Rules are particularly strict at German banks and in the UAE, where KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures are very rigid.

Notarization Becomes Harder¶

A notary in Germany (Notar) cross-checks document data against the client’s passport. If the name in the translation doesn’t match the passport - the notary can refuse to notarize. And here’s the thing: the notary isn’t obligated to understand the nuances of Ukrainian transliteration. For them, Yevhen and Evgeniy are two different names.

Diploma and Qualification Recognition¶

When applying for diploma recognition in Germany (Anerkennung) or through anabin, all documents must be under one name. A discrepancy between passport and translated diploma = additional request, additional time, sometimes additional payment for a new translation.

How to Avoid Problems: Practical Tips¶

1. Always Match Your Passport¶

Golden rule: the transliteration of your name in any translation should match the spelling in your international passport. That’s the document they check first.

Before ordering a translation: - Open your passport to the name page - Photograph or write down the EXACT Latin spelling - Provide this information to the translator with a note: “Please use this transliteration for my name”

2. Check the Translation After Receiving It¶

Don’t be lazy - compare every letter. Typical places where Є, Ї, Ґ get “lost”:

• Patronymic (if it contains these letters)
• Surname (especially if it contains Є or Ґ)
• City names (Kyiv, Irpin, Goronda)
• Names of educational institutions

3. Ask the Translator to Add a Note¶

If the original document (like a Soviet-era birth certificate) has the name in Russian and it differs from the passport transliteration - a good translator will add a note:

Name in original: Евгения (Russian). Transliteration performed according to the applicant’s passport: Yevheniia.

Notes like these resolve 90% of questions from officials.

4. Prepare an Affidavit of Name Discrepancy¶

If your document package still has discrepancies (for example, an old translation that can’t be redone) - prepare an Affidavit of Name Discrepancy. It’s a formal statement explaining that different spellings refer to the same person.

For USCIS, this is a standard procedure. For German Auslanderbehorde, it’s less formalized but still works as an explanatory letter (Erklarung).

5. Keep All Previous Translations¶

If you’ve ever had a document translated before and the name was spelled differently - don’t throw that translation away. In some situations, an old translation can serve as evidence that the discrepancy has existed for a long time and isn’t an attempt at fraud.

How This Works in Different Countries¶

The response to name spelling discrepancies varies by country.

Country	Attitude Toward Discrepancies	What to Do
Germany	Strict. Auslanderbehorde demands explanation	Erklarung + translation matching passport
USA	Formalized. USCIS accepts Affidavit	Affidavit of Name Discrepancy
Canada	IRCC tolerant of minor discrepancies	Explanatory letter + passport copy
UK	UKVI checks thoroughly	Covering letter with explanation
Poland	Relatively lenient (they know the issue)	Usually a verbal explanation is enough
Israel	Very strict for Aliyah	All documents must be aligned

As the UK Government Knowledge Base notes about Ukrainian documents:

Ukrainian identity documents may show different transliterations of the same name depending on when and by which authority the document was issued.

Even the British government recognizes that different transliterations of the same name in Ukrainian documents are normal - not a sign of fraud.

Special Cases That Create Additional Problems¶

Soviet-Era Documents (Pre-1991)¶

In Soviet-era birth certificates, the name is recorded in Russian. If the translator doesn’t know that the Russian Евгения is Ukrainian Євгенія, they’ll transliterate from Russian and get Evgeniya instead of the passport’s Yevheniia. That’s a four-letter difference.

Tip: when ordering translation of a Soviet document, always include a passport copy and ask the translator to match the passport transliteration.

Double Surnames¶

Ukrainian double surnames after marriage (Kovalenko-Petrenko, Sydorenko-Galagan) add another layer of complexity. The hyphen between parts may disappear, each part may be transliterated using different systems, and the order of parts may change.

Names with Apostrophes¶

Surnames like Stef’yuk, Pov’yalov, Kuz’myak contain an apostrophe that’s a mandatory part of Ukrainian spelling. But under CMU №55 transliteration rules, the apostrophe simply isn’t rendered in Latin letters. Stef’yuk becomes Stefiuk. And in some foreign databases, the apostrophe can break the data entry system entirely.

Patronymics with Є, Ї¶

Male patronymics derived from names with Є (Yevhenovych, Yelyseiovych) are complex to transliterate. Євгенович under CMU №55 = Yevhenovych - 12 characters. If the database accepts a maximum of 10 characters in the middle name field - the name gets truncated.

What You Can Do at the Document Preparation Stage¶

If you’re just starting to gather documents for immigration or employment abroad:

1. Audit all your documents - write down how your name appears in each document (passport, ID card, diplomas, certificates). If there are discrepancies - you know in advance
2. Order all new translations from the same translator - this reduces the risk of different transliterations
3. Ask every translator to follow your passport spelling - it’s not hard, but translators often forget to check
4. Verify through the official SMSU transliteration service - enter your name and see how it should look under current rules
5. Prepare an explanatory letter in advance - don’t wait for the official to ask

If you’re planning to submit documents to a country with strict requirements (Germany, USA, Israel) - also read about how to properly prepare documents for translation.

FAQ¶

Which Ukrainian alphabet letters don’t have equivalents in the Latin alphabet?¶

Three letters - Є, Ї, Ґ - exist only in Ukrainian Cyrillic. They don’t have unambiguous Latin equivalents, so each transliteration system renders them differently. Additional problems come from Г (which in Ukrainian = /h/, not /g/), Х, Щ, Ю, Я - they’re also transliterated inconsistently.

Can I ask a translator to use a specific transliteration of my name?¶

Yes, and it’s recommended. When ordering a translation, provide the translator with a copy of your passport and ask them to use the passport spelling of your name. Most professional translators accept this request without question - it’s standard practice.

What should I do if I already have documents with different transliterations?¶

It depends on the situation. If the difference is minor (Nataliia vs Nataliya) - an explanatory letter usually suffices. If the difference is substantial (Yevheniia vs Evgeniya) - you may need an Affidavit of Name Discrepancy or even a retranslation.

Does the Kyiv vs Kiev transliteration affect my documents?¶

Directly - no, if it’s just a city name in an address. But if the translator wrote “Kiev” (from Russian) instead of “Kyiv” - that’s a signal they may have transliterated your name from Russian too. Check the entire translation carefully.

Which transliteration system should I use for documents?¶

For immigration documents - whichever is used in your international passport. That’s CMU №55 from 2010 for passports issued after 2015. For academic texts - DSTU 9112:2021. For international library records - ISO 9 or Library of Congress.

Do I need to redo old translations with the correct transliteration?¶

Not always. If you’re submitting a document package and some translations have a different transliteration - add an explanatory letter. But if it’s a critical document (diploma for recognition, certificate for citizenship) and the discrepancy is significant - it’s better to order a new translation.