In the Black Widow where she and Natasha underwent training in the Red Room Academy to become master spies and assassins. Before that, they were adopted by undercover agents Alexei Shostakov and Melina Vostokoff who raised them as their daughters while posing as an ordinary family living in Ohio. Marvel's Black Widow developed the complicated history both Yelena and Natasha share, but an even more tricky part of their past lies in the fact that they both have different last names.
In Russian culture, it's common for individuals to have three parts to their name: first, patronymic (e.g. Ivanovich: son of Ivan), and surname. Yelena, however, was only ever addressed as "Yelena Belova", whereas her sister's full Russian name is Natasha Alianovna Romanoff. This naming convention is oddly different from Natasha's. It's unusual for Yelena to not share either the patronymic or surname with her sister. This suggests that either Yelena and Natasha do not share a family line, or that "Belova" was used outside typical naming conventions. In Russian, however, Belova actually means "white", which alludes to her really being the "White Widow", her actual alias in Marvel Comics.
Why Yelena's Name Is Strange In The MCU
In Black Widow, Natasha often referred to Yelena as "little one", encouraging her to find what makes her unique. In Russian cultures, the first and patronymic names would often be used together for formal contexts. Though, the issue is that "Belova" does not fall under a traditional patronymic name and should be considered a surname instead.
Yelena's full name follows an incorrect style of naming in Russian, which is quite an odd error by Marvel. Her lack of a patronymic name helps to prove that she and Natasha aren't biologically related but actually are adoptive sisters, which is shown in the MCU. Yelena's name makes sense with her family's complicated history but also departs from the structure used by Natasha. "Belova" is not really meant to be an actual last name, so it alludes more so to her alias in the comics, White Widow.
How The MCU's White Widow Is Different To The Comics
Natasha and Yelena's on-screen narrative worked well for the MCU, but their story on the pages of Marvel Comics was quite different. In the comics, the two of them were never part of a family of any sort, and they weren't actually sisters. The one thing they did share a connection with was the Red Room where Yelena desired to become the new Black Widow after her sister defected to the United States. For this reason, the comic book version of Yelena always viewed Natasha as a rival versus an ally.
Additionally, Yelena's connection with Cuba in the comics was more pleasant than audiences saw in Black Widow. Yelena and Natasha were violently separated from one another to later the Red Room in the film. In the comics, however, Cuba is where Yelena chooses to retire the mantle of Black Widow and ends up living a more peaceful life. Her character in the comics might differ from what's presented in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but if Yelena's future has her become the White Widow, it'll be interesting to see how this affects Marvel's ever-growing storylines.
