History Main / BarelyChangedDubName

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Adiboo}}'' games by ''Creator/CoktelVision'', Adiboo is called Adibou in the original French language.

* ''Manga/InitialD'' under the Tokyopop licensed introduced dub names for many characters. Some get away with it better than others (usually in the form of abbreviations), as shown below, while others had their names left untouched. Furthermore, in a subversion of DubNameChange, the localization ''does'' leave the original names in, albeit only in character profiles, and later characters don't get dub nicknames at all.

* In the German translation of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', Ilia became "Ilya" and Zant became "Zanto".
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', Aryll became "Aril", Medli became "Medolie" and Makar became "Makorus".

* In the Hungarian translation of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', some characters have differently spelled names as the English original; many of them are phonetic transliterations. Frodo to Frodó, Bilbo to Bilbó, Sam to Samu, Took to Tuk, Tom Bombadil to Bombadil Toma, Gollum to Gollam, Sméagol to Szméagol, and, in older editions, Sauron to Szauron and Saruman to Szarumán (newer editions use the original spelling for these two).

*** Akuro to Acro
*** Batto to Bat

** Mark was changed to Marx.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney''
** Akuro to Acro
** Batto to Bat
** Godō to Godot
** Nayuta Sādomadi to Nahyuta Sahdmadhi
** Reifa Padoma Kurain to Rayfa Padma Khura'in
** Inga Karukūru Kurain to Inga Karkhuul Khura'in
** Duruku Sādomadi to Dhurke Sahdmadhi
** Garan Shigataal Kurain to Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in
** Amara Shigatāru Kurain to Amara Sigatar Khura'in
** From ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Gyakuten Kenji 2]]'''s FanTranslation:

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' has a tendency to do this, especially in Parts 1 and 2. Some of the character's names who are [[ShoutOut references]] of music bands have their names slightly changed so as to avoid things like copyright issues. To name a few:

** Cars -> Kars
** ACDC -> Esidisi
** Wham -> Wammu

* From ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Gyakuten Kenji 2]]'''s FanTranslation:
** Delicy Scone to Delicia Scones
** Ami Aizawa to Amy Marsh ([[BilingualBonus "marsh" being the literal translation of "aizawa"]])

** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in the case of Isaku Hyoudou, whose first name is similar to the original, but his last name is replaced entirely - being now called Isaac Dover.

** Scarabi ti Scaraba

** Porky was changed to Pokey. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'' reversed it.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Ellione became "Ellone" in the English translation.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Lightning's real name was changed from [[spoiler:Eclair]] to the similar sounding [[spoiler:Claire]] in the English translation. Vanilla's name also became "Vanille".

* Malik from the Japanese version of ''AnimeYuGiOh'' had just one letter changed for Marik in the English dub.

A subtrope of DubNameChange. When it comes to dubs changing names, it's most common for them to create completely unique names. Other times, however, the translators settle for something close to the original names, such as using a new name that begins with the same letter as the original name.

** In the Hungarian translations, some characters, instead of getting a full DubNameChange or keeping their original names, have their names slightly altered: Minerva [=McGonagall=] to Minerva [=McGalagony=], Argus Filch to Argus Frics, Vincent Crabbe to Vincent Crak, Blaise Zabini to Blaise Zambini, and Igor Karkaroff to Igor Karkarov. The Death Eater named Rowle also gets his name changed to Rowell, because the name "Rowle" was used in an earlier book as Tom Riddle's middle name to keep his SignificantAnagram.

A subtrope of DubNameChange. When it comes to dubs changing names, it's most common for them to create completely unique names. Other times however the translators settle for something close to the original names, such as using a new name that begins with the same letter as the original name.

Some translations take this a little farther. They keep the original name with little to no change in pronounciation by using a similar sounding name from their language. Other times, the names stay the same however are shortened (like "Samson" to "Sam"), usually to make them easier to pronounce or get around LipLock.

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'''s English dub actually keeps the characters names intact however they're OnlyKnownByTheirNickname. So Hikari is called "Kari", Taichi is "Tai", Yamato is "Matt", Takeru is "T.K.", and Koushiro is "Izzy" (his surname being "Izumi").

* The English dubbers for ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' had English names created just in case but ended up using the Japanese names. The Latin American Spanish and Tagalog dubs ended up using the names though. Most names used the "names that start with the letter" but Anthy's and Juri's dub names sound quite similar to their originals. They were renamed "Angie" and "Julie".

* The original ''Anime/SailorMoon'' English dub mostly used completely new names however a few characters have barely edited names. "Ami Mizuno" became "Amy Anderson" (occasionally "Amy Mizuno")[[note]]Ami and Amy are pronounced differently between Japan and English[[/note]], Rei's name was changed to "Raye", and Minako became "Mina" (which was already a nickname of hers).

[[folder: Film -- Animation]]
* Bartok the bat from ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' is renamed Bartek in Hungary, so that his name doesn't get confused with the famous Hungarian composer Music/BelaBartok.

[[folder: Literature]]
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In the german dub Lannister changed to Lennister.

** The nature of the person who stole Voldemort's Horcrux at the end book six relied on identifying who initialed the letter to Voldemort "RAB". Barring the introduction of a new character, there were a few characters who could have those initials running around, but then the fans got online and compared the line in various translated works across multiple languages and found that each separate translation had one character who was consistently on the list [[spoiler: Regulus Arcutus Black]]. Not only that, but it spoiled where the Horcrux was taken, resulting in a massive IKnewIt in the next book.
** In the Hungarian translations, some characters, instead of getting a full DubNameChange or keeping their original names, have their names slightly altered: Minerva [=McGonagall=] to Minerva [=McGalagony=], Argus Filch to Argus Frics, Vincent Crabbe to Vincent Crak, Blaise Zabini to Blaise Zambini and Igor Karkaroff to Igor Karkarov. The Death Eater named Rowle also gets his name changed to Rowell, because the name "Rowle" was used in an earlier book as Tom Riddle's middle name to keep his SignificantAnagram.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

[[folder: Video Games]]
* Most English ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' names are nothing like their Japanese versions. Exceptions exist though, such as Peliko to Pelly and Grace to Gracie (combined with a [[ShesAManInJapan gender difference]]).
* ''VideoGame/DanballSenki'' changes its characters names from Ban Yamano to Van Yamano, Ami Kawamura to Amy Cohen, Kazu Aoshima to Kaz Walker, and Jin Kaidou to Justin Kaidou.
* ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'':
** Porky was changed to Pokey. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'' reversed it.
** Threek to Threed
** Scarabi ti Scaraba

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' Ellione became "Ellone" in the English translation.

* ''Videogame/MegaManX'' In most cases, Maverick Bosses (the usual Mega Man 8 bosses set, for X series) have their name changed in the overseas version in a certain way: In the original, they follow ALizardNamedLiz (e.g Web Spidus, Cyber Kujacker), while in the localized version they're changed into SpeciesSurname (e.g Web Spider, Cyber Peacock).

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* Briefly done in the Italian dub of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'', where in the first few seasons the names of Patrick, Gary, Sandy and the Krusty Krab were replaced with their respective Italian phonetic spellings (Patric, Gheri, Sendi and Krasti Krab).
* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats''

[[/folder]]

** "Bādakku" became "Bardock".

* In the Hungarian translation of ''Literature/TheJungleBook'', most characters have their names phonetically transliterated: Mowgli to Maugli, Baloo to Balú, Bagheera to Bagira, Shere Khan to Sir Kán, Hathi to Háti and Kaa to Ká, among others.
* In the Hungarian translation of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', some characters have differently spelled names as the English original; many of them are phonetic transliterations. Frodo to Frodó, Bilbo to Bilbó, Sam to Samu, Took to Tuk, Tom Bombadil to Bombadil Toma, Gollum to Gollam, Sméagol to Szméagol, and, in older editions, Sauron to Szauron and Saruman to Szarumán (newer editions use the original spelling for these two).

* In the Romanian dub of ''Series/LazyTown'', Stephanie's name is changed to Stefania.

* In the Latin American dub of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', the eponymous show is called as "Animanía" (pronounced as "Anima-NEE-ah"). Likewise, in the Romanian dub it's called "Animaniacii".