Do you write Romanov or Romanoff?

[gogm]

When China really came out of its shell, they told the Anglophone world how to spell Chinese words and names. "Peking" became "Beijing."

There are so many ways to take Russian spellings that it can be exasperating. Take "Nikolaievna." Or is it "Nikolayevna." Or "Nikolaevna." Or "Nickolaievna." Or "Nicolaievna." Or ...

I spell the family name Romanov.

[LauraO]

i ALWAYS write romanov- for some reason (meaning no disrespect for those who use romanoff) i just feel a little disrespectful if i use romanoff- don't know why

[mcdnab]

I tend to use Holstein Gottorp Romanov (g)! However Romanov if referring as we usually are on this forum to before the revolution, I think i read once somewhere that members of the dynasty in exile had tended to use Romanoff in the early years after the revolution perhaps because that is a better or more accurate translation from the Russian as someone already mentioned.

[Tasia]

Romanov!

[Douglas]

As the original uses the Cyrillic alphabet, either spelling might be an option. İ was curious who uses which.  İ used to use Romanov but most of the Romanoff family members that İ know use Romanoff.  So İ have switched.  Now İ use Romanoff.

When I speak of the Imperial Family of Russia, I say Romanov.  If I am hungry for a good meal, I might go to a restaurant called Romanoff's that was founded by a faux royal by the same name.

[Lady Nikolaievna]

Romanov. But sometimes I say "Romanof", it's easier than "Romanov", at least for the ones who speak Portuguese

[Belochka]

In English 'Romanov' is the most accepted form.

In Russian it is written as: Романов

English v = в in Russian

Margarita

[Tasia]

Interesting, Margarita!

[Lady Nikolaievna]

Yes, Margarita. I thought that too. I always write with a "V" but I speak with "F", it just come out.

[Sarushka]

I always write with a "V" but I speak with "F", it just come out.

I believe that's the correct pronunciation. Final consonants in Russian are often devoiced, which means that the "v" sounds like "f" when Romanov is pronounced in Russian.

There's a mini-lesson in consonant devoicing here. (I spotted a few errors, but it'll give you the idea.)

[Lady Nikolaievna]

Thank you, Sarushka, for this information. I liked the website

[Tasia]

One more point to Romanov! Joking
Thanks 2, Sarushka!

[AnastasiaNikolaevna]

As the original uses the Cyrillic alphabet, either spelling might be an option. İ was curious who uses which.  İ used to use Romanov but most of the Romanoff family members that İ know use Romanoff.  So İ have switched.  Now İ use Romanoff.

I guess it's kind of like Tsar or Czar. I've always used Tsar and Romanov, because I think it's the more Russian way, but it could be because that is the first way I learned.

[Tasia]

As the original uses the Cyrillic alphabet, either spelling might be an option. İ was curious who uses which.  İ used to use Romanov but most of the Romanoff family members that İ know use Romanoff.  So İ have switched.  Now İ use Romanoff.

I guess it's kind of like Tsar or Czar. I've always used Tsar and Romanov, because I think it's the more Russian way, but it could be because that is the first way I learned.

Yeah! Here in Brazil most books Tsar is written Czar. I use both, lol.

[AnastasiaNikolaevna]

Hmm...I guess here in the US it's kind of 50/50. I rarely see "Romanoff" written in books, but I see "Czar" very often.