She is the wife of the original Vladimir Kyrilytch and mother of the second. Her maiden name was Ratcliffe, and the couple adopted it as their married name. Over time, the "c" and "e" were dropped from the spelling. In The Mansion, her first name is given as Nelly.
Eula identifies the first American "Ratliff" to Gavin Stevens as Ratliff's "six or eight or ten times grandfather": although presumably he originally came from Russia, he arrived in the new world as an ensign in the British army. He became a prisoner of war in Virginia, but escaped and was rescued by "a woman of course, a girl, that hid him and fed him" (338). After the Revolution he became "a Virginia farmer" (338).
