History Main / ThisIsMyNameOnForeign

* Before the 20th century, it was the norm to translate the given names of rulers into different languages, although these days it only seems to be the case with the popes and in multilingual countries. The late [[UsefulNotes/ThePope pope]] Josef Ratzinger for instance is called Benedictus in Latin, Benedict in English, Benoît in French, Benedikt in German, Benedetto in Italian and Benedicto in Spanish. A former King of the Belgians was called Baudouin in French and Boudewijn in Flemish. While no longer common practice for contemporary rulers, historical monarchs will more often than not still be known in foreign languages by their translated names, simply because those translations had been in use for centuries before translation of names fell out of style.

* ''Film/WhereEaglesDare'' (and [=Alistair MacLean=]'s thriller novel it was based on) has SOE commando Major John Smith talk his way past his Gestapo captors using his cover identity of Major Johann Schmidt of SS Military Intelligence.

* The ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' villain the Red Skull often Anglicizes his birth name, Johann Schmidt, into John Smith as a disguise (though he has used [[MasterOfDisguise dozens of others]]). The opposite was done in [=Alistair MacLean=]'s 1967 WWII thriller novel (and the 1968 film version) ''Film/WhereEaglesDare'', where SOE commando Major John Smith talks his way past his Gestapo captors using his cover identity of Major Johann Schmidt of SS Military Intelligence.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'':

* The ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' villain the Re dSkull often Anglicizes his birth name, Johann Schmidt, into John Smith as a disguise (though he has used [[MasterOfDisguise dozens of others]]). The opposite was done in [=Alistair MacLean=]'s 1967 WWII thriller novel (and the 1968 film version) ''Film/WhereEaglesDare'', where SOE commando Major John Smith talks his way past his Gestapo captors using his cover identity of Major Johann Schmidt of SS Military Intelligence.

** In ''Asterix and Son'', a Roman named Odoriferus infiltrates the Gaulish village under the name Aromatix.
* Talia from the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics is the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, whose name means "The Demon's Head". When she took over ComicBook/LexLuthor's company, she used the alias 'Talia Head' ([[PretentiousPronunciation using the English pronunciation of the surname 'Heed']]).
* The ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' villain the ComicBook/RedSkull often Anglicizes his birth name, Johann Schmidt, into John Smith as a disguise (though he has used [[MasterOfDisguise dozens of others]]). The opposite was done in [=Alistair MacLean=]'s 1967 WWII thriller novel (and the 1968 film version) ''Film/WhereEaglesDare'', where SOE commando Major John Smith talks his way past his Gestapo captors using his cover identity of Major Johann Schmidt of SS Military Intelligence.

* In one of the Last 52 universes in ''Comicbook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'', the chief psychiatrist at a surprisingly cheerful and non-BedlamHouse-seeming Arkham Asylum is named Gottlieb, and claims to have no connection to Amadeus Arkham. After the asylum's dark secret has been revealed, he notes that Gottlieb and Amadeus mean the same thing ("beloved of God").

* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'':

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TheNameIsBondJamesBond The name is Bondov. Jerzy Bondov]].[[note]][=FIY=], 'Jerzy' is "George", not "James". In Polish, not Russian.[[/note]]]]

* '' ComicBook/{{Commando}}''. A British officer by the name of Taylor is revealed to be a German spy who says his real name is "Schneider" which, he points out, is German for [[{{Pun}} tailor]]. The man [[JustBetweenYouAndMe he's revealing this to]] exclaims: "Schneider, Taylor--of course!" as if that's somehow significant--it's not like he'd heard the spy's German name before.

* Before the 20th century, it was the norm to translate the given names of rulers into different languages, although these days it only seems to be the case with the popes and in multilingual countries. The late [[UsefulNotes/ThePope pope]] Josef Ratzinger for instance is called Benedictus in Latin, Benedict in English, Benoît in French, Benedikt in German, Benedetto in Italian and Benedicto in Spanish. A former King of the Belgians was called Baudouin in French and Boudewijn in Flemish.

* In the UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch version of ''VideoGame/IceClimber'', the [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] gives the Condor's name as "Hentori", which is just Japanese for "weird bird". This is not present in the UsefulNotes/{{NES}} version.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheLivingDaylights https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/name_on_foreign.jpg]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TheNameIsBondJamesBond The name is Bondov. Jerzy Bondov.]] [[note]] [=FIY=], "Jerzy" is "George", not "James". In Polish, not Russian.[[/note]] ]]

* At one point in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Steven and the Gems need to infiltrate a Gem facility. Steven suggests disguises, calling himself "Esteban Universidad", despite his name [[HumansAreInsects not mattering to any of the gems running it]]. Amusingly, [[GratuitousSpanish his translation is wrong]], as it's actually equivalent to "Steven Univers'''ity'''". ("Universe" in Spanish would be "universo".)

* Charles Lutwidge Dodgson took a (vague) Latin version of his given names (''Carolus Ludovicus'') as a pen name, reversed it, and there we have it - Creator/LewisCarroll.

* Creator/GalGadot's parents Hebraized their surname from "Greenstein" to "Gadot".

* French food conglomerate Danone operates in the US as Dannon, a presumably more English-sounding name. The Danone name change was for phonetic reasons. If an American were to read Danone aloud they'd say Dan-On-Ee or Dan-One or some variation. In French, Danone sounds (almost) exactly like the American pronunciation of Dannon. Hence they maintained the phonetics of their original name by altering the spelling to fit the phonetics of another language, emphasizing the sound of the brand name over its written form. It makes sense, as you can enter a store and ask for Danone/Dannon and be understood, accent or no accent. In theory. Similarly, the Japanese Kashio is Casio in the US. And in fiction, Gojira becomes Franchise/{{Godzilla}}.

* Before the 20th century, it was the norm to translate the given names of rulers into different languages, although these days it only seems to be the case with the popes and in multilingual countries. The retired pope (Josef Ratzinger) for instance is called Benedictus in Latin, Benedict in English, Benoît in French, Benedikt in German, Benedetto in Italian and Benedicto in Spanish. A former King of the Belgians was called Baudouin in French and Boudewijn in Flemish.

** UsefulNotes/JosefStalin. His Russian name is Iosif (the Russian equivalent of Joseph). His original Georgian name is Ioseb before he adopted the now well-known name. His real name is actually Ioseb Besarionis je J̌uḡašvili, which was rendered in Russian as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. He took the nom de guerre Koba (after a Georgian folk hero) around the turn of the century and became Stalin in 1912, which sounds Russian and is generally taken to mean "man of steel"[[note]] The noun ''stal''' means "steel", from it the adjective ''stal'noy'' is derived[[/note]].

* The Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik went on English-speaking forum by the name Andrew Berwick.

* During the First World War, the English members of the noble family of Battenberg - a side-branch of the ruling house of the Grand Duchy of Hessen in Germany - anglicized their family name to Mountbatten.

* In 1492, who sailed the ocean blue? He definitely didn't do so under the name UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus; that's the version later given him by the English (also the Germans and others), but was it Cristoforo Colombo (Italian, for he was born in Genova) or Cristóbal Colón (Spanish, for he was employed by the king and queen of Spain)? Or maybe he preferred the neutral Latin version, Christophorus Columbus?

* The Russian author Mikhail Lermontov was the descendant of a Scot named Learmont.

* The Corsican family Buonaparte changed its Italian name to French after Corsica became French and the local independence movement was defeated. Father Carlo Buonaparte became Charles Bonaparte, and his sons Giuseppe, Napoleone, Luciano, Luigi, and Girolamo became Joseph, Napoléon, Lucien, Louis, and Jérôme. Joseph, Louis, and Jérôme were later made kings of Spain, Holland, and Westphalia by their brother [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoléon]], and were also known to their new subjects as José, Lodewijk, and Hieronymus, respectively.

* Hollywood film director Lewis Milestone Americanized his name from Lieb Milstein.

* Main character [[ManipulativeBastard Jang Gun]] of the {{Manhwa}} ''Manhwa/{{Yureka}}'' selects "General," the English translation of [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Jang Gun]], as the name for an AI based on himself--he ends up using the moniker instead when the AI isn't as cooperative as he expected.

* VideoGame/GabrielKnight learns that he is descended from the German family the Ritters, "ritter" translating in English as "knight".

* In the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series, the real name of Gray Fox is Frank Jaeger ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS or Yeager]]), but he also uses the alias of Frank Hunter, which is what the name Jaeger means in German. His adoptive sister goes by the convenient alias of Naomi Hunter in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''.

* Charles Lutwidge Dodgson took a (vague) Latin version of his name (''Carolus Ludovicus'') as a pen name, reversed it, and there we have it - Creator/LewisCarroll.

* Before the 20th century, it was the norm to translate the given names of rulers into different languages, although these days it only seems to be the case with the popes and in multilingual countries. The retired pope (Josef Ratzinger) for instance is called Benedictus in Latin, Benedict in English, Benoît in French, Benedikt in German, Benedetto in Italian and Benedicto in Spanish. A former King of the Belgians was called Baudoin in French and Boudewijn in Flemish.