Name translations

[Comte Arnau]

Since the names of Popes and Royal Family Members are traditionally translated, from tomorrow on Kate Middleton will be called by its translation in quite a few European languages. Guillermo de Gales and Catalina Middleton in Spanish, for instance.

Surnames are not usually translated, but if they were, Kate Middleton would be:

Catalina Mediavilla in Spanish
Caterina Vilamitjana in Catalan
Cathérine Demieville in French
Katharina Mittelstadt in German
...

Just as a linguistic divertimento:

Michael Schumacher would be Miguel Zapatero (Bernd Schuster would be Bernardo Zapatero), while José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero would be Josef-Ludwig Von Roderick Schumacher (or Schuster) in German.

A few Anglicizations of famous names:

Johann Sebastian Bach = John S. Brook
Romy Schneider = Rosemary Taylor
Antonio Banderas = Anthony Banner
Penélope Cruz = Penny Cross
Juliette Binoche = Juliet Robins
Gerhard Schröder = Gerald Carter
Jeanne Moreau = Jane Moore
Giuseppe Verdi = Joseph Bertson
Adriana Volpe = Adrianne Fox


Just noticed my name and surname are very 'translatable' to a lot of languages, but I'm not putting them here. ;)

[Treffie]

^From tomorrow, Kate Middleton will be called Princess William of Wales/Princesa Guillermo de Gales :)

[shortskirtlongjacket]

Giuseppe Verdi = [B]Joseph Bertson

Really? I guess I've been wrong all these years in referring to the composer as "Mean Joe Green". :p

[The Lawspeaker]

^From tomorrow, Kate Middleton will be called Princess William of Wales/Princesa Guillermo de Gales :)
In Dutch she would keep her name but receive the title 'Prinses van Wales". Her husband would be the 'Prins van Wales".

Names are not commonly translated here but titles usually are.

[Wyn]

Juliette Binoche = Juliet Robins


Binoche = Son of Robin? :P

[Comte Arnau]

Really? I guess I've been wrong all these years in referring to the composer as "Mean Joe Green". :p

Now that I think of it, I could be wrong. Not because it means Green -which I also thought for a long time :D. The reason is different:

Many Italian surnames ending in -i are not plurals, but patronymical. So Verdi would be 'son of Verd' rather than 'greens'. Apparently Verd is the Italianization -by bethacism- of the Germanic name Bert. So I thought about Bertson as the equivalent to Verdi, son of Bert. Probably a mistake, because apparently Bertson is son of Bert/Bart, which is Bartholomew, of Aramaic origin, not Germanic.

My excuses to you all. :rolleyes2:

[Magister Eckhart]

Wilhelm Richard Wagner = William Richard Wainwright
Meister (Johannes) Eckhart von Hochheim = Master (John) Eggert Highhouse
Adolf Hitler = Adolph Heather
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein = Lord Albert Wenceslaus Eusebius, Baron Woodstone
Jan Hus = John Goose
Martin Luther = Martin Tribe
Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens (Adrian VI) = Hadrian Florenceson Boyce
Marqués Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro = Lord Ferdinand Court, Marquess of Redmont-Slate

This is fun.

[Comte Arnau]

Binoche = Son of Robin? :P

Binoche is apparently a matronym of Binet, short for Robinet, diminutive for Robin/Robert. :)

[Osweo]

Meister (Johannes) Eckhart von Hochheim = Master (John) Eggert Highhouse
Higham, surely.

Adolf Hitler = Adolph Heather
I thought Hitler was cognate with 'hut', like 'cotter' or the like. As such, AEthelwulf Scholes would make more sense.

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein = Lord Albert Wenceslaus Eusebius, Baron Woodstone.

Vaclav/Vyacheslav/Wenzel might as well be taken further. 'Higher Glory'... hmmm... Heahwuldor Hrothheah... :p
aw shite, hang on;

from Slavic *vetye- "greater"
:rage It's not 'high' after all. :mad:

hmm, and 'Yekaterina Srednevskaya' :D

[Magister Eckhart]

Higham, surely.

Thank you. I thought that Highhouse was a bit lunky.


I thought Hitler was cognate with 'hut', like 'cotter' or the like. As such, AEthelwulf Scholes would make more sense.

"Hitler" is actually a corruption of "Heidler" which itself is derived from "heid" meaning "heath" and "-ler", making it "one who dwells by the heath" or "one of the heath", serving a similar function to the English "-er" or "-ling".


Vaclav/Vyacheslav/Wenzel might as well be taken further. 'Higher Glory'... hmmm... Heahwuldor Hrothheah... :p
aw shite, hang on;

:rage It's not 'high' after all. :mad:

hmm, and 'Yekaterina Srednevskaya' :D

I think I'll leave it as Wenceslaus. :P

[Odoacer]

"Hitler" is actually a corruption of "Heidler" which itself is derived from "heid" meaning "heath" and "-ler", making it "one who dwells by the heath" or "one of the heath", serving a similar function to the English "-er" or "-ling".

In fact, I think you are confusing Heide ['haɪ də] "heath" (itself a surname) with an alternate spelling of Hitler, Hiedler ['hid lɐ]. (Note the relative positions of the "e" and "i".)

Hitler is supposed to have been from either Hütte "hut" + -ler ("hut dweller" = Cotter, perhaps), or possibly a word for "shepherd" derived from hüten "to guard." This would be reflected in the variant spelling Hüttler. Otherwise, it is conjectured that the name may be derived from Czech Hidlar or Hidlarcek.

[Äike]

SpongeBob SquarePants = Käsna-Kalle Kantpüks

:P

[Comte Arnau]

In fact, I think you are confusing Heide ['haɪ də] "heath" (itself a surname) with an alternate spelling of Hitler, Hiedler ['hid lɐ]. (Note the relative positions of the "e" and "i".)

Hitler is supposed to have been from either Hütte "hut" + -ler ("hut dweller" = Cotter, perhaps), or possibly a word for "shepherd" derived from hüten "to guard." This would be reflected in the variant spelling Hüttler. Otherwise, it is conjectured that the name may be derived from Czech Hidlar or Hidlarcek.

Interesting.

Then Adolf Hitler in Spanish would be Adolfo Cabañero. A bit hick. :p

[Magister Eckhart]

In fact, I think you are confusing Heide ['haɪ də] "heath" (itself a surname) with an alternate spelling of Hitler, Hiedler ['hid lɐ]. (Note the relative positions of the "e" and "i".)

Hitler is supposed to have been from either Hütte "hut" + -ler ("hut dweller" = Cotter, perhaps), or possibly a word for "shepherd" derived from hüten "to guard." This would be reflected in the variant spelling Hüttler. Otherwise, it is conjectured that the name may be derived from Czech Hidlar or Hidlarcek.

Yep, that would be the problem. :embarrassed

Minor dyslexia I guess.

At any rate, I suppose that would make his name "Hutling" or "Hoveler"? Adolf Shepherd might word too...

[Osweo]

In fact, I think you are confusing Heide ['haɪ də] "heath" (itself a surname) with an alternate spelling of Hitler, Hiedler ['hid lɐ]. (Note the relative positions of the "e" and "i".)
Not to mention that Haydn /aɪ/ is a surname of this same meaning in the same Mundartraum, making even less likely that the vowel would end up as the /ɪ/ in Onkel Dolfi's Familie. :thumb001:

Hitler is supposed to have been from either Hütte "hut" + -ler ("hut dweller" = Cotter, perhaps), or possibly a word for "shepherd" derived from hüten "to guard." This would be reflected in the variant spelling Hüttler.
Exactly the alternative I had in mind.

Otherwise, it is conjectured that the name may be derived from Czech Hidlar or Hidlarcek.
I've seen this before, and always wanted to ask whether these 'Czech' names are themselves simply adoptions of the same Bavarian surname into Slavonic. I can't see an obvious Czech meaning to them, you see.

At any rate, I suppose that would make his name "Hutling" or "Hoveler"? Adolf Shepherd might word too...
I suppose the huts in question are the summer pasture cabins of the high slopes, like the Welsh hafdy and so on.
As such, 'shieling' might be a better English equivalent. Edulf Shields! That actually gives us a fine Northumbrian name, in so far as Eadwulf was a name of two Earls of Bamburgh, and we have the town of North Shields on the Tyne. :p

[Odoacer]

I've seen this before, and always wanted to ask whether these 'Czech' names are themselves simply adoptions of the same Bavarian surname into Slavonic. I can't see an obvious Czech meaning to them, you see.

I would agree. To my mind, Hüttler "hut dweller" is the most reasonable etymology.

[Moustache]

Lándzsarázó Vilmos - William Shakespeare

Jakabfi Mihály - Michael Jackson

etc.

[Joss]

Nicholas Cage: Nicolas Jaula. .
Johnny Cash : Juan Efectivo. .
Stephen King: Esteban Rey. .

[Comte Arnau]

Johnny Cash : Juan Efectivo. .


Lol! A funny one! :D:thumb001:

Actually, Cash is a Gaelic surname in origin (Cass, Caisse...), probably deriving from a word for castle. So the real equivalent would be Juanito Castillo. :)

[Joss]

Lol! A funny one! :D:thumb001:

Actually, Cash is a Gaelic surname in origin (Cass, Caisse...), probably deriving from a word for castle. So the real equivalent would be Juanito Castillo. :)

I know it sounds great, I was about to write "Juanito" Efectivo, but then i thought that it would be too much lol.

[Kurdi Mede]

Nicholas Cage: Nicolas Jaula. .
Johnny Cash : Juan Efectivo. .
Stephen King: Esteban Rey. .

"jaun" means "my dear" in kurdish.

[The Lawspeaker]

Nicholas Cage: Nicolaas Kooi(stra)
Johnny Cash : Jan(tje) Poen -- or maybe Jan de Rijke ('the Rich") or Jan Rijkaard ("Richman")
Stephen King: Steven de Koning.

[Comte Arnau]

Johnny Cash : Jan(tje) Poen -- or maybe Jan de Rijke ('the Rich") or Jan Rijkaard ("Richman")

Surnames are an old thing. If one has a meaning that looks too modern, it's obvious that the real meaning is probably different.

In this case, it'd be Jantje Slot. ;)

[The Lawspeaker]

Surnames are an old thing. If one has a meaning that looks too modern, it's obvious that the real meaning is probably different.

In this case, it'd be Jantje Slot. ;)
-tje is used in a diminutive so the correct form would be Jan Slot.