English Name Thread!

[Sylphid]

Cyrus to Silas isn't even a real change. The way his name is written in kana, both are viable translations. Cyrus just stuck with the fandom.

Does the added 'h' in Rinka's name somehow make the pronounciation easier to figure in English? Because for a non-English speaker like me that one letter makes it equally opposite. Or alternatively sound really stupid.

I can see how Ryouma to Ryoma makes the pronounciation easier for anyone who doesn't know Japanese pronounciation rules though. I think we can be almost certain we'll see "Saizo" later.

Joker to Jakob is baffling, but not really bad. Both are fine with me.

Harold to Arthur and Marx to Xander will take some time to get used to though. I don't even see why the first needed to be changed. Not enough fictional Arthurs?

EDIT: Oh right, Leon to Leo removes some air of nobility from him, but the name itself isn't bad

If the Effie thing is true though... I might have found the first name I actually don't like

...Okay. Sazukaze is one thing, but is Yatogami too hard to pronounce?

At this stage I'm just expecting some of the things we've seen localized will change again as it marches on.

I was going to say that it's probably character limit related problem... And then remembered that Odin's skill needs 8 characters in a weapon name to be effective.

The shortened names sounds silly to me.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Sylphid

[Bovinian]

Does the added 'h' in Rinka's name somehow make the pronounciation easier to figure in English? Because for a non-English speaker like me that one letter makes it equally opposite. Or alternatively sound really stupid.

I can see how Ryouma to Ryoma makes the pronounciation easier for anyone who doesn't know Japanese pronounciation rules though. I think we can be almost certain we'll see "Saizo" later.

I wouldn't normally think NoA is overly concerned with making sure people pronounce the characters' names correctly. Hell, if RD's narrator is to be believed, I pronounced at least a third of its characters' names wrong at the beginning. And none of the other games have these kind of audio cues for reference, besides some of the character voice clips in Awakening.

That all said though, it does seem like for Fates they are making an effort to make sure the Japanese names are more easily pronounced. I agree with the Saizo thing (but I hope they leave Kagerou, Kagero looks really weird for some reason...)

There is absolutely no way to pronounce Rinka any other way unless the speaker is retarded. I'm more of the belief that the spelling embellishment was intentional as a way to make her (and probably her entire clan) have less of a Japanese feel than the other Hoshidans.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Bovinian

[BrandedRogue]

I wouldn't normally think NoA is overly concerned with making sure people pronounce the characters' names correctly. Hell, if RD's narrator is to be believed, I pronounced at least a third of its characters' names wrong at the beginning. And none of the other games have these kind of audio cues for reference, besides some of the character voice clips in Awakening.

That all said though, it does seem like for Fates they are making an effort to make sure the Japanese names are more easily pronounced. I agree with the Saizo thing (but I hope they leave Kagerou, Kagero looks really weird for some reason...)

because Kangaroo ?

[VincentASM]

I was just thinking... maybe Yatogami got renamed because it has alternate forms*, whose names don't fit unless it's shortened.

Like Exalted Falchion and Parallel Falchion.

[spoiler=*]Kinda confirmed in the class reel.

[Kyan Surr]

I kind of understand the fact that they change Japanese inspired names, I supose, to make them easier for us to remember and pronounce but... why they need to change West inspired names like Harold, Marx, Joker... to another ones? I don't understand it.

PS: this is not a complaint at all, I don't mind if they change the names, it is just that I don't see the reason why they should xD

[VincentASM]

I kind of understand the fact that they change Japanese inspired names, I supose, to make them easier for us to remember and pronounce but... why they need to change West inspired names like Harold, Marx, Joker... to another ones? I don't understand it.

PS: this is not a complaint at all, I don't mind if they change the names, it is just that I don't see the reason why they should xD

No worries and sorry that I can't really answer your question, but they've been doing this since the very first game, so it's nothing new at all.

I can think of two reasons:

1. The localisers determined that the original name didn't convey the meaning they (or the original developers) wanted, in English.

2. To make the names easier to read? This was the reason for changing Larchel to L'Arachel, I believe.

3. They took inspiration from the beta names in the game code. Like how Ettard became Alondite.

[Kyan Surr]

No worries and sorry that I can't really answer your question, but they've been doing this since the very first game, so it's nothing new at all.

I can think of two reasons:

1. The localisers determined that the original name didn't convey the meaning they (or the original developers) wanted, in English.

2. To make the names easier to read? This was the reason for changing Larchel to L'Arachel, I believe.

3. They took inspiration from the beta names in the game code. Like how Ettard became Alondite.

I see... that makes kind of sense!!

Anyway, thanks for the answer :)

[Sylphid]

That all said though, it does seem like for Fates they are making an effort to make sure the Japanese names are more easily pronounced. I agree with the Saizo thing (but I hope they leave Kagerou, Kagero looks really weird for some reason...)

There is absolutely no way to pronounce Rinka any other way unless the speaker is retarded. I'm more of the belief that the spelling embellishment was intentional as a way to make her (and probably her entire clan) have less of a Japanese feel than the other Hoshidans.

I would honestly rather see her named Kage than Kagero. As stupid as the first is, it still sounds a lot better than kagero to me.

If the extra h carries no obvious clue to help pronounce Rinka, I really don't see the point of naming her that. Her japanese inspired name isn't even the first out there.

I was just thinking... maybe Yatogami got renamed because it has alternate forms*, whose names don't fit unless it's shortened.

Like Exalted Falchion and Parallel Falchion.

[spoiler=*]Kinda confirmed in the class reel.

Exalted Suzu and Parallel Suzu confirmed? xD

[EJ107]

Marx and Leon sound much better than Xander and Leo to me. And I don't get why people keep bringing up the communism thing. Are Americans really that obsessed with communism? While the figures are well known here in the UK I would never have even thought of the association if it wasn't brought up all the time here.

Effie sounded weird at first, but it is an actual name. I don't think elfie is.

Harold being changed to Arthur doesn't really make any sense.

Edited June 18, 2015 by EJ107

[MostAncientOnes]

Joker doesn't make sense as an actual name. I'm ok with Jakob - although I wish it was spelled Jacob.

Remember, if it took more than one shot, you weren't using a Jakobs! Why anyone would sell that out for an inferior imitation brand like Jacobs is beyond me.

[Anacybele]

Kelly, Kerry, Kim and Casey want a word with you.

You're right on the latter three, but Kelly isn't really considered a unisex name anymore. Yeah, it can still be used for a male (I knew someone whose husband was named Kelly), but it's very rare that it does. I've met several Kellys in my life (though with various spellings) and they were all female. I'm a Kelly as well. :P

Chris/Kris is unisex too.

[Elegant Dreamer]

I'm kind of confused why they changed Harold to Arthur. I mean, they're giving us a name already in English! Keep it! It's a gift!

Maybe they had to change Marx because of a . . . certain Marx in Russia . . . so change to be P. C.? Maybe . . . Too bad Marx was more influence by the Marx Brothers otherwise, it would have stayed the same.

They probably changed Joker's name to not to get confused with DC Comics' Joker. Plus, Jakob (with that spelling) seems sexier to me, but that's just me.

This is just my small weird opinion. Thank you for your time and patience.

[Camilla]

You're right on the latter three, but Kelly isn't really considered a unisex name anymore. Yeah, it can still be used for a male (I knew someone whose husband was named Kelly), but it's very rare that it does. I've met several Kellys in my life (though with various spellings) and they were all female. I'm a Kelly as well. :P

Chris/Kris is unisex too.

There were two guys named Kelly in my middle school.

[Robert Stewart]

CORRIN IS NO NAME FOR A MIGHTY WARRIOR

...ahem. Actually, the only real name change I have a problem with is Harold -> Arthur.

oh, and they should have gone with Corran instead of Corrin IMO

[The DanMan]

Leon >>>>> Leo. That's all. We don't even have the Lyon justification anymore, as we've got the (perfectly fine) Harold changed to Arthur.

I've warmed up to Corrin quite a bit. Probably because the first character I think of that shares that name was a boy treated as a slave by his adoptive "father", but was actually the prince of a foreign country.

[Carter]

Ana, you might want to add some because of the Hoshido stream!

Aqua - Azura

Kazahana - Hana

Tsubaki - Subaki

I'll be editing this list too so it's not too difficult to go back again! (plus copy and paste easiness!)

[Tamanoir]

Whoever thought Kazahana will be shortened to Hana can gives themselves a pat in the back.

Also, the place is Fort Jinya (I think it's the right writing.)

[The DanMan]

...Was Kazahana that hard to pronounce? Ditto with Tsubaki. Heck, there's a character from BlazBlue that had the localization change her name to Tsubaki. Aqua=Azura is whatever.

[Tamanoir]

I'm mostly OK with those change.

Aqua to Azura is pretty positive, since it sounds more like a real name (although barely).

Kazahana to Hana, I don't care as much as Suzukaze to Kaze, since it seems more like a name.

Tsubaki to Subaki is the one I like the less, but sure, whatever. I'll get used to it eventually.

[egobarrier]

"Subaki" just feels so wrong. I'm not really sure why, probably because when studying the language I had to learn to differentiate "tsu" and "su." I don't like it, and I don't even particularly care about the character.

I wish they'd kept Aqua for my own convenience, but I can't say I'm surprised. I'm at least glad to know ahead of time.

[falcoknights]

literally "tsubaki" is the exact opposite of hard.

like, i learned about tsunamis in elementary school, and that has the same "tsu-" sound in it. on top of that, even if i hadn't learned about tsunamis, the "tsu-" sound is self explanatory.

azura is farther from a name, tbh. as for "kazahana"

.....

it's about the same as tsubaki for me, aka unnecessary change.

overall, though, i could probably complain about these names for an hour or so. i'm pretty salty about them.

Edited June 19, 2015 by falcoknights

[Titamon]

Azura is gorgeous

[Tamanoir]

"Subaki" just feels so wrong. I'm not really sure why, probably because when studying the language I had to learn to differentiate "tsu" and "su." I don't like it, and I don't even particularly care about the character.

I wish they'd kept Aqua for my own convenience, but I can't say I'm surprised. I'm at least glad to know ahead of time.

Subaki makes me think about some kind of vehicle, maybe because of Subaroo.

[Anacybele]

Just edited the OP. Sorry for the lateness this time, I went and missed the fricken stream because dinner. -_-;

NoA must've been reading my fanfic. Because Azura is the name of the main character in it. lol Okay, I'm kidding, but it's still a pretty funny coincidence given how well-received overall the story is. :P

Edited June 18, 2015 by Anacybele

[falcoknights]

Marx and Leon sound much better than Xander and Leo to me. And I don't get why people keep bringing up the communism thing. Are Americans really that obsessed with communism? While the figures are well known here in the UK I would never have even thought of the association if it wasn't brought up all the time here.

Effie sounded weird at first, but it is an actual name. I don't think elfie is.

Harold being changed to Arthur doesn't really make any sense.

well, communism is seen as really bad, thanks to the cold war, so naturally communism jokes pop up a lot. that's really all there is to it.

as for the names, i do think that's why they changed the name marx, however same as you, i would have never picked it up unless someone pointed it out, and even then. whatever. cold war's over and he's dead and it's a totally unrelated character, so.

as for leon, it's because there's a character in sacred stones named "lyon," and they're pronounced the same, really.

i agree w/ the harold thing, it's really weird. "arthur" just doesn't seem to fit him at all.

i do disagree with you on elfie, though? although that may be because when i hear "effie," i think of the hunger games lady- crazy wigs and all.