> I have a Russian "Dictionary of English Surnames" (A.I.
> Rybakin. Moscow: Russkij Jazyk. 1986), where a Russian
> transliteration is provided for each headword. Nearly all
> surnames in <h> have Russian <x>, but in some cases a <g>
> spelling is given as a "traditional" variant.
> I've found such
> options for Halifax (Galifaks) Halley (Gallej)
...
<Xalifaks> and <Xamilton> look awful to me, and <Xemps^ir> makes me feel
a bit incomfortable. <Robin Xud> is definitely a different character
(say, a 20th century trade union militant ;) ). I have a strong feeling
that at least some of these spellings are modernizing suggestions rather
than reflect the actual usage (or am I behind the age?). <Xeminguej> is
OK (the name reached the Soviet Union mostly by the fifties), but
<S^erlok Xolms> evidently breaks the rule. I wouldn't wonder if it
turned out he was +<Gol'ms> in the earliest translations.
Sergei