New resource - Table of Translated Names

[Thande]

This is an unfinished piece of work I've done as a resource for people looking for names in various languages to use in TLs and stories.

In particular a lot of these would be suitable royal names.

I don't know why it's pixellated, maybe because I made it in Publisher.

If anyone knows any of the translations I've left blank (esp. for Ethiopian), post them.

 

[False Dmitri]

Nice! I know there are sites out there that do this, but I can never find the good ones. This is a good resource to have.

 

[MrP]

I've got Niketes for Victor in Greek, but that might be a/the victor as opposed to Victor.

 

[Communist Wizard]

Alfons is there in Russian, but it's more often used as a term for young men preying on older rich women.

 

[Lord Insane]

Alfons is used as a name in Sweden as well. Hm... some names might be problematic; Jörgen and Georg are Swedish names as well!

 

[Doctor What]

You've been busy.

Nice table. Thanks!

'Niccolo' can also be spelled with just one 'c' as well in Italian - that's the way it's written for my dad.

 

[Thande]

I know there are lots of variations as well, I just picked what seemed the most common ones to avoid cluttering it.

 

[hsthompson]

The Spanish has a few mistakes:

Alexander - Alejandro

James - Jaime
Jacob - Jacobo

Diego would also do, but would not probably do for a king.
If you want an old style form, Yago would also do (where Santiago comes from)

Nicholas - Nicolás

And may I add Catalan to the list

Alexander - Alexandre
Alphonse - Alfons
Andrew - Andreu
Catherine - Catalina
Charles - Carles
David - David
Edward - Eduard
Elisabeth - Isabel
Ferdinand - Ferràn
Francis - Francesc
Frederick - Frederic
George - Jordi
Henry - Enric
James - Jaume
Joan - Joana
John - Joan
Joseph - Josep
Lewis - Lluís
Margaret - Margarida
Mark - Marc
Mary - María
Matthew - Mateu
Michael - Miquel
Nicholas - Nicolau
Paul - Pau
Peter - Pere
Philip - Felip
Richard - Ricard
Robert - Robert
Stephen - Esteve
Theodore - Teodor
Thomas - Tomàs
William - Guillem
Victor - Víctor

Notes on Catalan names not in your list which are quite common:
Joachim - Joaquim
Earnest - Ernest
Vincent - Vicent
Montserrat - Montserrat (feminine)
Meritxell - Meritxell (feminine) is pretty much the national common name in Andorra (famous Virgin apparition)
Special mention for Pau which is gender neutral as it means both Paul(masculine) and Peace(feminine)

In Spanish they would be Joaquín, Ernesto, Vicente
Pau in Spanish would be Paz if feminine, and is also relatively common.

Relatively common in peninsular Spanish is Concepción (feminine), which is not used in South America. The familiar form for it is Conchita, which can mean "little shell" and in South American Spanish "a certain part of the female anatomy".

Oddly enough, while Catalan names are very uncommon outside of Catalonia, some Basque names are relatively and consistently popular in Spanish (and Catalan).

Aitana (Gloria), Ainhoa (virgin), Ainara (swallow), Begoña(under foot) for girls

Aitor (good father), Gorka (farmer - could be George?) for boys

Aitana has apparently found its way into Portuguese as well.

Obligatory humorous aside.

For those that know a bit of Spanish and were not aware of it, the most original names in the whole known Universe have to be the people of Santo Domingo.

Where else can you find people who have as first name:

Winston Churchil (and then the surnames), Elton Jhon (yes, Jhon), Bruce Lee,
Peligroso (dangerous), Adicto (addicted), Anal (yes, that), Hirohito, Chicle Faustino (Chewing Gum Faustino), Mazda Altagracia, Coca (Coke), Rambo, Gandalf, Alien (surnames Sesale -pretty much ComesOut- and Yedi, yes, Jedi), Joe Dimagio Fernandez, Baby Ruth Tejeda...

... the moment you find a guy named Calendario (calendar) and then another called Thermo, followed by Hervido (boiled), Celsius and Fahrenheit...

...I can only conclude we're too freaking boring. These people have no fear of ridicule and I salute them.

 

[Lord Insane]

I know there are lots of variations as well, I just picked what seemed the most common ones to avoid cluttering it.

Indeed. It might be wierd when the most uncommon variation is the one that the people in question would think of when asked to say 'their' version of a certain name, but that is uncommon.

Though... why Matteus as the Swedish Matthew? The far more common variant is Mattias.

 

[Susano]

German:

Elisabeth, with h.

Johann is a correct form, but I think Johannes is more common. Foreign rulers would I think always be translated as Johannes, but there were German petty rulers both named Johannes and Johann.

Matthäus is the name of the biblical Matthew, and the family name of a famous football player , but normally used form, also by rulers, would be Matthias (/E: Ah, damn, LI beat me to it, sorta-kinda )

Nikolaus is a correct form and the German name of the saint, but... hm. The normal form of it in German would be the (shortened form) Klaus, but that is a very... non-noble name. Then again, I couldnt recally any ruler named Nikolaus, either...

I dont know your source for Filip , but it should be Philipp. Thats not even a "more common version" thing, Filip is just not German

Steffen of course is another such story - correct form, but the usual translation, and the form fit for royals and nobles, would be Stefan.

Sorry I cant be of much help in filling out the blanks.

 

[Lord Insane]

Matthäus is the name of the biblical Matthew, and the family name of a famous football player , but normally used form, also by rulers, would be Matthias (/E: Ah, damn, LI beat me to it, sorta-kinda )

Made worse by me being wrong, sort of- the most common Swedish variant is, in fact, the shortened form, Mats, if all the different spellings of Mattias that still count as Mattias in SCB's statistics of most popular names are taken as their own names.

Actually... looking closely, this table is wierd- some of the names are clearly the more common variant, instead of the closer variants, whereas some are quite uncommon, but much closer to international standards, and some choices are just plain bizarre- Nikolaj is less common a Swedish name than Nikolaus, and it would seem Nikolaus is the official translation, except for when it comes to Slavs.

 

[wilcoxchar]

Excellent list!

One name I think you should add is the Spanish Rodrigo and its equivalents. I think the English equivalent is Roderick.

 

[Thande]

I mainly did it by looking at the Wikipedia pages about monarchs (because I wanted the formal forms that would be used for monarchs) in different languages. Problems arise however because sometimes they translate the name and sometimes they don't (e.g. in English how Spain had Charles IV during the Napoleonic Wars but nowadays has Juan Carlos, not John Charles).

Carry on any corrections and I'll incorporate them in a future version.

 

[Susano]

Made worse by me being wrong, sort of- the most common Swedish variant is, in fact, the shortened form, Mats, if all the different spellings of Mattias that still count as Mattias in SCB's statistics of most popular names are taken as their own names.

Ah, but would such a shortened form be fit for royals and nobles? Its mostly for translation of their names, after all. Same with my Nikolaus/Klaus... though making quick "Klaus von" and "Nikolaus von" google searches it seems Nikolaus would indeed really be the appropriate form for royals and nobles...

 

[Analytical Engine]

A few minor points for Welsh (mostly nitpicking)-

John can also be translated as "Ioan" (used in the Welsh translation in the gospel of St. John for example). "Ieuan" is Welsh for "Johannes".

The Welsh for "Theodore" is "Tudur". "Tudor" is the Anglicisation.

Elizabeth would be spelt with an 's'. "Betsan" is Welsh for "Betty". "Lizzy" would be "Lissi".

"Harri" is simply Welsh for "Harry". The Welsh for "Henry" is "Eurig" (derived from "Erik").

If you like, I could fetch my Welsh-English dictionary and look some more name translations for you. (A few Roman emperor names in there, for example.)

 

[The Professor]

Since the Gaelic for Richard, Charles, James, Joseph etc are obviously from Norman French, I wonder what they'd be in a No/Failed Norman Invasion TL?

Riaceard, Caerlas, Eamas, Eosamh etc?

 

[LSCatilina]

Some occitan traductions of this names

Alexandre/Alissandre
Anfós
Andreu/Andriu/Andrieu
Cataline/Catarina
Carles
David
Eduard
Elisabeta
Ferrand
Francés
Frederic
Jòrdi/Jòrgi/Jòri
Enric -> Aimeric, Aimeri, Emeric
Jacme/Jaume
Joan/Jan
Josèp
Loís
Margarida
Marc
Maria
Matiu/Matèu/Matièu
Miquèl/Miquèu
Nicolau
Pau
Pèire
Felip
Ricard
Robèrt
Estève
Teodòr
Thomé
Guilhèm
Victór

Some additional names for High middle ages (if need, i have a comparaison table with germanic/Latin/french/occitan, just ask)

Latin / French / Occitan


Odo Oddo - Eudes - Odon
Hugues Hugo - Hugues - Uc/Ugon
Pippin Pippinus - Pépin - Pipin
Thierry Theodoricus - Thierry/Théodoric - Teuric
Raoul Radulfus - Raoul - Raol
Lothar Lotharius - Lothaire/(Ludhier/Loudier/Luhier/Louyer) - Lotari
Clovis Chlodovicus - Clovis - Loïc
Dagobert Dagobertus - Dagobert/(Daibert/Dagbert)
Bernard Bernardus - Bernard - Bernart/Bernat
Béranger Berengarius - Bérenger - Berenguièr/Berengier

(non-conventional traductions, names found in documents)

Some additional names, again

(occitan is between french and castillan)

Leon
Leo/Leonis - Léon - Leon/Liunet - León - / - Leo/Leone - ///// - Lev - Leon/Lew - // - Arslán - Λέων (Löwe) - // - Leon

Geoffrey
Geoffroi - Jaufre - Godofredo - Godofredo - Goffredo - // - Jafrez - Gottfried - Godfried - Goffrya - Godfryd - Gottfrid - //////

Anthony
Antonius - Antoine - Antòni - Antonio - António - Antonio - // - Anton - Anton - / - Anton - /// - Antal - ////

Lawrence
Laurentius - Laurent - Laurenç - Lorenzo - Lourenço - Lorenzo - // - Lauris - Lorenz/Laurenz - // - Wawrzyn - /// - Laurentiu - Lavréndios -

Florent
Florens - Florent - Florenç - Florencio - / - Fiorenzo - /// - Florens - Floris - / - Florencjusz - Florent -

Vincent
Vincentius - Vincent - Vincenç - Vicente - Vicente - Vicenzo - // - Visant - Vincent - Vincent - Vicentji - Wincenty - Vince - Vikéndios - Manswr - /

Patrick
Patricius - Patrice - Patrici - // - Patrizio - Padraig - / - Paden - /// - Patryk - ///////

Martin
Martinus - Martin - Marti - Martin - / - Martino - // - Marzin - /// - Marcin - //////

Marcel
Marcellus - Marcel - Marcèl

Sergius - Serge - Sergi - Sergio - Sérgio - Sergio - / - / - / - / - / - Sergueï - Sergiusz - / - / - Szergiusz - Sergiu - Sergios - Sarkis/Sarjis

Felix
Felix - Félix - Feliç - / - Felix - Felice - /// - Felix - Felix - Felics - Feliks - Felix - / - Félix

Fidelis - Fidèl/Fidèu - / - Fidel - Fedele

Renatus - René - Renat

Lupus - Loup - Lop - Lope - / - Lupo



i will work on occitan common names in Middle ages with traduction

 

[Thande]

Thanks for all the comments/corrections everyone. Maybe I should make another separate table which shows the common contractions/informal names? Like Sepp, Hans, Sasha, Diego etc.

 

[serebryakov]

Russian has one more form of "George": Yegor.
Also, many of these names would be considered "foreign" and unsuitable for Russian people in pretty any pre-XX century timeline (if Russian is Orthodox, at least).

 

[Theodoric]

Your Dutch names are a tad archaic, 'biblical' as it were.
And the informal and formal names are a bit randomly used; 'Jaap' is an informal form of Jacob, while 'Hendrik' would have the informal form 'Henk', though listing them all for all names would make things way too complicated. Best to stick to the formal ones.
To list:
Matthew should be Matthijs (or Matthias, for formality's sake)
Margaret should be Margreet
Michael should be Michiel, though Michaël is technically correct, with or without the diæresis. (in any case, not a likely royal name anyway)
Philip can be 'Filips', but 'Filip' (or even Philip) is used more often these days. 'Filips' would fit best in a historic context.
Robert can be Robbert, but that's a very uncommon variation.
Stefanus should be Stefan or Stephan (Steven is the arch-Dutch version, but a bit vulgar, perhaps)
Katrina is, well, not that Dutch, but Katrijn isn't very royal either. I'd advice anyone to use Catharina instead.