How do you say "godmother" in Russian?

крестная мать

krestnaja mat'

Noun Cyrillic

In Russian, "godmother" is крестная мать (krestnaja mat').

Listen to the pronunciation:

Free Russian learning game. No sign-up, play in browser. See all games

Pronunciation

Try reading krestnaja mat' slowly first, in four pieces, then speed up while keeping "krest" louder than its neighbours, since the first syllable takes the stress here.

Writing and usage

крестная мать is written using cyrillic. It's a noun, part of the vocabulary taught in the Noun Town language learning game.

Example sentence

Крестная подарила ей ожерелье.

Krestnaja podarila ej ozherel'e.

Her godmother gave her a necklace.

Test your Russian knowledge in our free browser games.

How to remember крестная мать

Think of "krestnaja mat'" as a pet name for a godmother; say the pet name a few times and the real word follows naturally.

Related words

Browse all Russian words in the glossary.

Questions about крестная мать

How do you pronounce крестная мать?

Try reading krestnaja mat' slowly first, in four pieces, then speed up while keeping "krest" louder than its neighbours, since the first syllable takes the stress here.

Is крестная мать formal or casual?

крестная мать is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech.

How is крестная мать used in Russian?

крестная мать is used the same way as the equivalent English noun. For example: Крестная подарила ей ожерелье. (Her godmother gave her a necklace.).

Where can I practice Russian words for free?

You can play free Russian minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, no sign-up required. Every word in the Russian glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Godmother" in other languages

Curated by Jack Ratcliffe

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Russian language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

Noun Town language-learning game on PC, Mac and VR

The full experience

Noun Town on PC, Mac & VR

These browser games are just a taste. The full Noun Town is a bigger, deeper 3D world: explore a living town, talk to its characters and learn thousands of words in immersive VR, Mixed Reality, or on your computer. It's an award-winning game with 590+ reviews on Steam and 12 languages to learn.

See the full game ▶

Spot an error? Email us at contact@noun.town