Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Barely-Changed Dub Name

Go To

A subtrope of Dub Name Change. 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 closer 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 but are shortened (like "Samson" to "Sam"), usually to make them easier to pronounce or get around Lip Lock.

This trope encompasses names that sound similar, names that are written similarly but sound different, and names that are shortenings of the original.

See also Clean Dub Name, for when minor changes are made to name in the dub because the original name sounds offensive in the respective language. Compare to Naturalized Name for examples of this in-series. Might invoke Viewer Name Confusion.

Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • The Filipino dub of After War Gundam X renames protagonist Garrod as Garudo, which is similar to the Romanji pronunciation of his first name (Garodo). Likewise for Sala to Sara(h).
  • The Disney dub of Arrietty renames Shou as Shawn.
  • In the original dub Tobio from Astro Boy was called Aster. Afterwards it was changed to "Toby" in certain dubs. The All-CGI Cartoon movie Astro Boy uses that as well.
  • Beyblade:
    • The English dub of Bakuten Shoot Beyblade usually opted for names that have the same first letter as the Japanese names (such as changing "Takao" to "Tyson"). Rei Kon however just became Raymond "Ray" Kon.
    • The Italian dub of Bakuten Shoot Beyblade changed Kai's name to Kei and Max's surname from "Mizuhara" to "Mizihara".
    • The English dub to Beyblade Burst changed a few characters names to similar sounding (and still Japanese) names. Kensuke Midorikawa was shortened to "Ken Midori", Daina became "Daigo", Xhaka became "Xander", and Souta became "Ryota".
  • In Black Butler, the Phantomhive maid is named May-Rin, Mei-Lin, Mei-Rin or May-Lynn depending on the language.
  • The Nelvana dub of Cardcaptor Sakura did this for Sakura's minor classmates (Naoto to Nikki, Chiharu to Chelsea, Rika to Rita, Takashi to Zachary), as well as her older brother. Touya to Tori particularly stands out because the Japanese meaning of his name changes from "peach blossom" to "bird", which creates a Dub-Induced Plot Hole when Sakura has to track him down using tarot reading of the Clow Cards. That particularly spelling of Tori is also traditionally a female name for English speakers, (the male counterpart is usually spelled "Tory" or "Torrie"), and the name change was likely made because "Toya" in the English language is a short form of Victoria, as is "Tori."
  • In the French dub of Candy♡Candy Neil becomes Daniel.
  • Case Closed: In the Italian dub, Kogoro is renamed Goro.
  • The FUNimation English dub to Crayon Shin-chan simplified many characters names, usually using their nicknames as their whole given name:
    • Shinnosuke Nohara to Shin Nohara
    • Misae Nohara to Mitzi Nohara
    • Hiroshi Nohara to Hiro Nohara
    • Himawari Nohara to Hima Nohara
    • Shiro (which means "white") to Whitey
    • Masao Sato to Maso Sato
    • Bo Suzuki to Boo
  • Digimon:
    • Digimon Adventure's English dub actually keeps the characters names intact, aside from the Yagami surname becoming "Kamiya"; however, they're Only Known by Their Nickname. So Hikari is called "Kari", Taichi is "Tai", Yamato is "Matt", Takeru is "T.K.", and Koushiro is "Izzy" (his surname being "Izumi"). Mimi, Joe, and Sora's names went unaltered.
      • There’s also instances of minor changes to the names of the Digimon themselves, for example Sora’s partner Digimon is called Piyomon in Japanese, but Biyomon in English. Diablomon from Our War Game is an unusual example where the name is changed by being more literal than usual; Digimon: The Movie makes his name "Diaboromon", the direct transliteration from Japanese, likely to obfuscate that is has the Spanish word for "devil" in it.
    • The protagonist of Digimon Tamers had his name changed from Takato Matsuda to Takato Matsuki in the English dub. Similarly, the main female character's name was changed from Ruki Makino to Rika Nonaka.
    • The English dub of Digimon Fusion changed the protagonist's name from Taiki to "Mikey".
  • Doraemon
    • The English dub of the 2005 anime has Nobita nicknamed as "Noby".
    • The old Italian dub (released in the 80s) has Gian changed to "Giangi". The second Italian dub uses all the characters's original names, including Gian.
  • Dragon Ball:
    • Happens a lot with the Funimation dub, which often liked to shift the names ever so slightly, particularly to disguise a name pun. For example, Freeza/Frieza, Coola/Cooler, Snow/Suno, and Kuririn/Krillin, among many, many others.
    • Son Goku's Saiyan birth name was shortened from "Kakarotto" to "Kakarot". This ends up causing a minor Dub Induced Plothole in the anime when they kept the naming convention for the fusion Vegito. The English manga addresses this by renaming him "Vegerot".
    • Tenshinhan's given name became "Tien", with "Shinhan" becoming a surname.
    • The Italian dub changed Krillin to Crili, Yamcha to Yamco, Tenshinhan to Tensing and Kakarotto to Kaarot. Also, Chichi is pronounced like "Kiki", because "ch" in Italian is pronounced with a "k" sound.
    • The original Filipino dub changed Dabura to Doubler.
    • The Hungarian dub (based on the French dub, which already had many name changes of its own) changed Vegeta to Vegita (pronounced with a hard "g"), Chiaotzu/Chaoz to Chaos, Tien Shinhan to Tenshin Han, Trunks to Trunk (this was corrected in Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super), Oolong to Dolong and Dabura to Devla (a Romani word for Devil). Slight name changes carried over from the French dub include Ginyu becoming Zsinő ("Zhinoe"), Jeice becoming Zsüsz ("Zhys"), Buu becoming Bubu and Pikkon/Paikuhan becoming Paul Kuhan.
  • Hello! Sandybell:
    • Latin American Spanish dub: Mark became Marcos and Charles became Carlos, while the Shearer family became the Schiller family.
    • Hungarian dub: Charles became Charlie.
    • European Portuguese dub: Mark became Marco, Edward became Eduardo, Leslie became Luís, Linda became Luísa and Oliver became Olavo.
  • Honoo no Alpen Rose:
    • In the French dub, Jeudi becomes Julie and Jack becomes Jacques.
    • In the Italian dub, Jeudi's name is also Julie and Leonard's name is Leonardo.
    • In the Arabic dub, Jeudi's name is Juman.
  • The Filipino dub of the 1999 version of Hunter × Hunter simply uses the Romanji pronunciations of the names of several characters. Most are corrected when the dub of the 2011 remake was released. To wit:
    • Illumi -> Irumi
    • Satotz -> Satotsu
    • The Kurta clan -> Kuruta. This is retained in the 2011 version as Kurapika is a very popular character there and his backstory is already so ingrained to most viewers.
    • Chrollo's name was never corrected in both versions. He's addressed as Croro in the 1999 version, then Chloro in the 2011 version.
    • The spelling of Uvogin's name is never changed, but its pronunciation was. The "gi" becomes silent, making it sound "European-like".
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has a tendency to do this, especially in Parts 1 and 2. Some of the character's names who are references of music bands have their names slightly changed so as to avoid things like trademark issues. To name a few:
    • Bruford -> Blueford
    • Tarkus -> Tarukus
    • Marilyn Manson -> Mary Lynn Manson
    • Limp Bizkit -> Limp Vizkit
    • For a non-copyright-related example, Gyro Zeppeli is called Jayro in the French translation of the Steel Ball Run manga to preserve the pronunciation of his name, since most francophones would pronounce "Gyro" as "Jeero".
  • Initial D 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 entirely (such as Bunta). Furthermore, in a subversion of Dub Name Change, the localization does leave the original names in, albeit only in character profiles, referring to these new names as nicknames, and later characters don't get dub nicknames at all.
    • Takumi becomes "Tak".
    • Keisuke becomes "K.T.", likely referring to his initials (Keisuke Takahashi).
    • Ryosuke becomes "Ry".
  • Lady!!:
    • A sort-of example happens in the French dub. In the original Japanese version the main character is named Lynn, but the French dub changes her name to "Gwendoline". However, "Lynn" is a diminutive of "Gwendoline", so it works out.
    • In the Finnish dub, Arthur's name was Ari.
    • Edward became Eduardo in the European Spanish dub. Unusually, his brother Arthur became Guillermo.
  • In the German dub of Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow, Mr. Mackenzie becomes "Lehrer Mc Kenzie".
  • Mikage from Miracle Girls was shortened to just "Mika" in Tokyopop's English translation. In contrast, her twin sister Tomomi got the "similar sounding name" treatment and was changed to "Toni".
  • Mobile Fighter G Gundam
    • Neo-Sweden's Nobel Gundam is renamed the Noble Gundam in the English dub, losing the reference to famous Swede Alfred Nobel.
    • The Filipino dub has a few;
      • Gundam Maxter is renamed Mark Star in the first few episodes before being restored to its original name.
      • Master Asia's "Undefeated of the East" Red Baron is changed to "Oriental Invincible".
      • The Shuffle Alliance is renamed the Shuffle Union.
  • The Tagalog dub of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing changes Lady Une's name to Ann(e).
  • Naruto: In French, the Uchiha family name is changed to Uchiwa. As for Jiraiya, his name is changed to Jiraya.
  • The Korean dub of Ojamajo Doremi had the character Doremi Harukaze's name changed to Do Remi. The English version keeps a similar sounding first name (Doremi to Dorie), but the last name was changed from Harukaze to Goodwin.
  • The 4Kids Entertainment dub to One Piece used this with a few characters:
    • Zoro to Zolo (to avoid an intellectual property dispute with the alleged owners of Zorro)
    • Gin to Ghin
    • Portgas D. Ace to Portgaz D. Trace
    • Nefertari Cobra to Neferati Nebra
  • In Cosas de Locos (a Spanish Frankenslation of the 1988 Osomatsu-kun and Tensai Bakabon anime adaptations), Totoko gets the Rhyming Name Tetoko Metoko.
  • Pokémon Journeys: The Series features an example with Gou having his name romanized as Goh in the English dub.
  • Pretty Cure:
  • The English dubbers for Revolutionary Girl Utena 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".
  • Robotech changed Lin Minmei's name to "Lynn Minmay" in the English translation, which was a Stage Name originally.
  • Saber Marionette J
    • The Latin American dubs simply translate the Marionette characters' names to their respective language's (e.g. Lime to Lima).
    • Lime is spelled the same in the Tagalog dub but the pronunciation is changed to "Ly-me".
    • Marine is renamed Marina in various dubs.
  • Idol Densetsu Eriko: Minako's name is Monica in the European Spanish (Telecinco) dub.
  • The Italian dub of The Secret Garden changes Dickon's name to Dick.
  • Sailor Moon:
    • The original Sailor Moon English dub mostly used completely new names; however, a few characters have barely edited names. "Ami Mizuno" became "Amy Anderson" (occasionally "Amy Mizuno"),note  Rei's name was changed to "Raye", and Minako became "Mina" (which was already a nickname of hers). The title character is a played with example: "Serena" isn't anything like "Usagi", but it is derivative of "Serenity", the name of Usagi's past life that she adopts in the future upon become queen.
    • The Italian dub changed Ami to Amy (like the English dub) and Rei to Rea (as a reference to Rea Silvia, who in Roman mythology was impregnated by Mars and gave birth to Romulus and Remus).
    • The first translations of the manga by Tokyopop uses the English dub names, except "Usagi" is called "Bunny", which is pretty much exactly what her Japanese name means.
    • The original Filipino dub mostly follows the English dub names above, particularly Usagi (Bunny) and Ami (Amy).
    • In the Romanian dub, Usagi's name is "Usahgi". This reason is because that's how your average Romanian accent pronounces it.
  • The English version of Shaman King changed Ryu to "Rio".
  • In the Polish dub of Spirited Away, Chihiro's new name "Sen" is changed to "San", presumably to avoid confusion since "sen" means "dream" in Polishnote .
  • Tokyo Mew Mew: The Italian dub changed Minto to Mina.
  • The Greek and Italian dubs of Voltes V rename Katherine "Kazarine".
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!:
    • Original series:
      • The 4Kids dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! changes the main character's name from Yūgi Mutō to Yugi Moto.
      • The Italian dub, based on the English one, changes Yugi Moto to Yugi Muto, Maximillion Pegasus to Maximillian Pegasus, Bandit Keith to Bandit Ken and Espa Roba to Extra.
      • The French dub changes Marik Ishtar to Marek Ishtar.
    • Yu-Gi-Oh! GX:
      • The French dub changes Alexis and Chazz's names to Alexia and Chad.
    • The English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL changes Kotori and Akari with Tori and Kari. Nasch was later simply changed to Nash, and Mizael to Mizar.
    • The English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V changed the spelling of Serena's name to Celina.
    • The English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS has this with Ryoken Kogami, aka Revolver. While his LINK VRAINS alias received a regular Dub Name Change to Varis, his real name simply dropped the y and became Roken.
  • The English dub of Zatch Bell! used this with a few characters but kept Japanese names for others (albeit still different from their actual Japanese names):
    • "Suzume" became "Suzy" and "Shiori" became "Lori".
    • Tio to Tia
    • Zeon to Zeno
    • Kafka to Kafk
    • Papipurio to Purio
    • The Mamono race to the Mamodo race
    • Wonlei to Wonrei.

    Asian Animation 
  • Balala the Fairies: The characters' English names are Maggie (Meiqi in Chinese), Michelle (Meixue), and Shirley (Xiao Lan).
  • Nana Moon: Amy is known as Aimeng (艾梦) in the Chinese original.
  • The title of Our Friend Xiong Xiao Mi is changed to Our Friend Remy Bear for certain international releases. "Xiong" means "bear" in Chinese, and the name Remy was most likely chosen because the last syllable is pronounced the same as the last syllable of Xiao Mi.
  • Stitch & Ai: Human protagonist Wang Ai Ling has her given name changed to An Ling (王安玲; Wáng Ān líng) in the Mandarin dub that came out first. This partly applies to the title as well, as the show's Chinese title is literally "An Ling and Stitch", basically reversing the name placements of the titular leads and using her full given name instead of a diminutive.

    Comic Books 
  • In the English version of Gaston Lagaffe, Bertrand Labévue has his name changed to Bertie Blunder (la bévue means "blunder" in French).
  • The English version of Les Sisters changes Marine's name to Maureen, which is pronounced nearly the same aside from the first vowel being slightly different.
  • The English, Russian, and Japanese versions of Mortadelo y Filemón shorten the title duo's names to a single syllable: Mort (Mortadelo) and Phil (Filemón).

    Comic Strips 
  • The Polish translation of Phoebe and Her Unicorn renames the titular girl to Fibi, pronounced more or less the same.

    Fan Works 

    Films — Animation 
  • Bartok the bat from Anastasia is renamed Bartek in Hungarian most likely so that his name doesn't get confused with the famous Hungarian composer Béla Bartók.
  • In the Norwegian dub of Aladdin, Iago is changed to Jago while Jasmine is changed to Sjasmin. Iago is also known as "Jago" in the German and Hungarian dubs.
  • In the Korean dub of Big Hero 6, Hiro Hamada is changed to Hiro Armada.
  • In the Russian dub of BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows, the spider Kollorak is called Keelerak, which is the name of the spider breed he belongs to.
  • In the Italian dub of The Black Cauldron, Taran is changed to Taron.
  • In the Norwegian dubs of both Chicken Run and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Ginger is renamed to Inger.
  • In the Polish dub of Lilo & Stitch, the titular creature got renamed to Stich, pronounced the exact same as the English name — Polish not having silent letters might had something to do with that.
  • In the Norwegian dub of The Lion King (1994), Ed is changed to Ted.
  • In the German dub of Over the Hedge, RJ's name got changed to "Ritchie".
  • Both English dubs of the 1981 Swedish film, Peter No-Tail, have many characters' names changed, although some of the names are at least similar, such as Maya (spelled Maja, but pretty much the same name in English) being changed to Molly. The title character himself is also technically an example. The book series and film's actual title is Pelle Svanslös, though "Pelle" is simply a Swedish form of "Peter".
  • In the Italian dub of The Rescuers, Bernard is changed to Bernie. In the Brazilian dub, Bernard became "Bernardo".
  • In the Italian dub of Robin Hood (1973), Sir Hiss is changed to Sir Biss, while Maid Marian is referred to as "Lady Marian".
  • In both Mandarin Chinese dubs of Turning Red, the protagonist Meilin is changed to Meiling (transcribed as 美玲, a very common, almost placeholder-status feminine name).
  • In the Cantonese dub of Zootopia, the protagonist's name, Judy Hopps, is shortened to just "Judy" (朱迪, Jyū Dihk), where 朱 (Chu in Cantonese) is her surname, which is also a Chinese surname.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • The Hungarian dub of Eternals changed Phastos to Phaistos, as his original name sounded like "fasztosz" (dick-fuck). Regardless, the character still ended up as the butt of jokes.
  • The Brazilian dub of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) changed Rocket's name to Rocky - ironically, making him outright "Rocky Raccoon" instead of just having a name alluding to it.
  • Star Wars
    • The French translations changed Darth Vader to Dark Vador. Every other siths have "Darth" replaced by "Dark" but otherwise keep their English sith name, so for exemple: Darth Sidious become Dark Sidious.
    • The Spanish translations changed R2D2's and C-3PO's names to Arturito (a diminuitive form of the Spanish name "Arturo") and Citripio respectively, which are close approximation of their English names. This was done since the Spanish pronunciations of their names, "Ere-Dos-De-Dos" and "Ce-Tres-Pe-O", are harder to pull off, but also because the latter is close enough to the Spanish word for fart (pedo).

    Literature 
  • A Song of Ice and Fire:
    • In the German translation, Lannister changed to Lennister.
    • In the French translation, Brienne of Tarth became Brienne de Torth, as Tarth is pronounced like "tarte" ("pie"), which can be used to describe a stupid woman. Invertedly, Maron Greyjoy became Moron Greyjoy.
  • Harry Potter:
    • Hermione Granger's name was changed to Hermine in the German translations.
    • In the Polish translation, a few characters get the Polish spelling of their first names, such as "Hermiona" (Hermione), or "Bartemiusz" (Bartemius Crouch).
    • The Swedish translation changes Gilderoy Lockhart to Gyllenroy Lockman, so that the reference to "gilded locks" in his name will be retain in Swedish ("Gyllene lockar").
    • The nature of the person who stole Voldemort's Horcrux at the end of 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: Regulus Arcturus Black. Not only that, but it spoiled where the Horcrux was taken.
    • In the Hungarian translations, some characters, instead of getting a full Dub Name Change 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.
      • Igor Karkaroff to Igor Karkarov.
      • The Death Eater named Rowle 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 Significant Anagram.
      • The Houses Gryffindor and Hufflepuff become Griffendél and Hugrabug, respectively.
    • In the French translation:
      • The Gryffindor house becomes the Gryffondor house.
      • Draco Malfoy’s name is changed to Drago Malefoy.
    • In the Italian translation:
      • Garrick Ollivander to Garrick Olivander.
      • Lavender Brown to Lavanda Brown.
      • Nymphadora Tonks to Ninfadora Tonks.
      • Hedwig to Edvige.
      • Grawp to Grop.
      • Morfin Gaunt to Orfin Gaunt.
      • Knockturn Alley to Notturn Alley.
  • In the Hungarian translation of The Jungle Book, 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.
  • The Lord of the Rings:
    • In the Hungarian translation, 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).
    • The French translation renames Frodo and Bilbo to Frodon and Bilbon.
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid:
    • French translation:
      • Manny's name is changed to "Manu".
      • Rowley's name is changed to "Robert", which ironically is his father's original English name.
  • Captain Underpants:
    • In all the French translations, George's first name is changed to "Georges", but only in the first translation does he keep his English surname (Beard).
    • In the Brazilian Portuguese translation, George becomes "Jorge" and Harold becomes "Haroldo", but they still keep their English surnames (Beard and Hutchins).
    • In the Icelandic, first Norwegian, and first German translation, George and Harold became Georg and Harald.
  • Winnie the Pooh: In the first French book translation, which is still in print, Christopher Robin is known as Christophe Robin. In the second book translation, which Disney later adapted, he's called "Jean-Christophe".

    Live-Action TV 
  • In the Italian dub of Anne with an E, Anne is changed to Anna, with the title being also changed to "Chiamatemi Anna" ("Call Me Anna"). This is because Anna was already her name in the Italian translation of the novel.
  • In the Italian dub of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will is called Willy.
  • In the German dub of Game of Thrones, "Lannister" was changed to "Lennister", just as in the books.
  • LazyTown:
    • In the Finnish dub, Stingy became Stigu and Pixel became Pixeli.
    • In the Romanian dub, Stephanie's name is changed to Ștefania.
    • In the European Portuguese dub, Stephanie becomes Estefânia and Stingy becomes Sovina (Sovina meaning the same as Stingy)
  • In the Hungarian dub of Police Squad!, Sergeant Frank Drebin's last name was changed to Drebil for seemingly no reason (one theory suggests it was to make it sound like the word "debil", meaning moron). In the dubs of the The Naked Gun films, they changed it back to Drebin.

    Toys 
  • Licca-chan is a Japanese toy line that keeps to Japan. Despite this, a few licensed games have been localized under the title Lovely Lisa. In the 1970s, there was an attempt to localize the toys as Pretty Lisa.

    Video Games 
  • Most characters from the Adiboo games, such as Adiboo: Magical Playland, have their English names barely changed from their original French names.
    • Adiboo is originally called Adibou.
    • Pup is originally called Plop.
    • Buzzy Galump is originally called Bouzzy Gouloum.
    • Robbytock is originally called Robitoc.
  • Most English Animal Crossing names are nothing like their Japanese versions. Exceptions exist, though, such as Peliko to Pelly and Grace to Gracie (combined with a gender difference).
  • In the North American version of Ape Escape 3, Mission Control Akie is renamed to Aki.
  • Castlevania
    • The Belmont clan had their surnames romanized in various matter, but from the GBA series and onward, Konami has settled with "Belmondo" as the official spelling in Japan.
    • Johnny Morris to John Morris
    • Soma Kurusu to Soma Cruz
  • Deltarune (English to Japanese):
    • The Addisons have their names changed to Adsons.
    • Capn's name is changed to Cap.
  • In the international version of Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless, Weiyasu was changed to Yeyasu.
  • EarthBound (1994):
    • Porky Minch was changed to Pokey. Super Smash Bros. Brawl reversed it.
    • Threek to Threed, presumably because Threek could be interpreted as "Three K" (KKK).
    • Scarabi to Scaraba
    • The Sky Walker to the Sky Runner, which was probably done to avoid legal issues.
  • Final Fantasy:
    • Final Fantasy II changed "Guy" to "Gus" in English, but future translations reverted him to "Guy".
    • Final Fantasy IV:
      • Cain to Kain.
      • Tella to Tellah.
      • Giotto to Giott
    • Final Fantasy VI:
      • Due to English space limits, Stragus was renamed "Strago" and Cayenne was renamed "Cyan".
      • Cefca to Kefka.
    • In Final Fantasy VIII, Ellione became "Ellone" in the English translation.
    • Final Fantasy X's Ryukku became Rikku in the English translation.
    • In Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning's real name was changed from Eclair to the similar sounding Claire in the English translation. Vanilla's name also became "Vanille".
    • Final Fantasy XV:
      • Cidney Aurum to Cindy Aurum
      • Lunafrena Nox Fleuret to Lunafreya Nox Fleuret
      • Idola Eldercapt to Iedolas Aldercapt
  • Fairly common in Fire Emblem: Tiki/Chiki, Loran/Laurent, Alvis/Arvis, Sharon/Sharena, Nyna/Niena, Nowi/Nono, Beruka/Belka, etc. This isn't to say there aren't subversions, as there are many of them and the names tend to be extremely different from the originals.
    • The English version of Fire Emblem Fates changed some of the Hoshidan characters' names to be a bit easier for English players: Tsubaki became Subaki, Kazahana became Hana, Sukukaze became Kaze, Midoriko became Midori, and most confusingly, Rinka became Rinkah, for no obvious reason. It also changed some other names in a minor way while keeping the overall meaning or sound, including Aqua to Azura, Joker to Jakob, and Luna to Selena.
  • Golden Sun: Some characters had vastly different names in Japanese (Felix was Garcia, Kraden was Sclater), while others are less extreme: Mia (Mary), Matt(hew) (Muto), Tyrell (Terry), and Eoleo (Leoleo) in Japanese.
  • Heroes of Might and Magic VI: Slava, a campaign character, was renamed into Vyacheslav in Russian translation. "Slava" is in fact a diminutive form of a number of Slavic names. Since it would be unfitting for a noble to go under diminutive name all the time, he was given a corresponding full name.
  • Inazuma Eleven:
    • At least two characters named Jin in the Japanese version had their first name name changed to Jim in the dub.
    • Kanon (Endou/Mark's great-grandson from the future) is changed to Canon.
    • Played with for Sangoku/Samgok. The former is his Japanese surname and the latter is his dub forename.
  • Kirby:
    • The katakana of Marx's name is more accurately transcribed as "Mark", although Japanese versions still romanize his name as "Marx". Marx was changed again to Max in the French translation and Mark in the Italian translation.
    • King's Doo became King Doo.
    • In French, King Dedede becomes Roi Dadidou (pronounced "dadeedoo").
    • Elfilin from Kirby and the Forgotten Land is "Efillin" in Japanese.
  • LBX: Little Battlers eXperience 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.
  • The Legend of Zelda:
    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:
      • In the Italian version, Rauru became Raul and Nabooru became Naburu.
      • In the German version, Saria became "Salia" and Nabooru became "Naboru".
    • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker:
      • In German, Aryll became "Aril", Medli became "Medolie" and Makar became "Makorus".
      • In French, Aryll became "Arielle" and Medli became "Médolie".
    • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess:
      • In the German translation, Ilia became "Ilya" and Zant became "Zanto".
      • The French version changed the name Zant to Xanto. It also changes Faron to Firone, and Lanayru to Lanelle; both the regions and their namesake spirits. These changes are kept in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild.
      • Depending on the country, Midna's name was translated as either Midna or Midona.
    • Byrne from The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks has a different name in every dialect the game was translated into. His American Spanish name is Diego, which is close to his Japanese name, Digo.
  • Mega Man (Classic): Dr. Light was originally named Dr. Right in Japanese, with his robots similarly given the designation of DRN instead of DLN. Both names are pronounced the same in Japanese due to Japanese Ranguage.
  • Mega Man X: 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 A Lizard Named "Liz" (e.g Web Spidus, Cyber Kujacker), while in the localized version they're changed into Species Surname (e.g Web Spider, Cyber Peacock).
  • In Mega Man Zero, Dr. Weil's name in the original Japanese is Dr. Vile. The former surname, being in German, is pronounced in a similar way of "Vile".
  • In Ōkami, most of the characters had their name shortened in the English localization. The changes include:
    • Kushinada to Kushi
    • Issunboshi to Issun
    • Ushiwaka to Waka
    • Izanagi to Nagi
    • Izanami to Nami
    • (Hiraga) Gennai to Gen
    • Tsuzurao to Rao
    • Okikurumi to Oki
    • Kaipoku to Kai
    • Pirika to Lika
    • Kemushiri to Kemu
    • Wariunekuru to Wali
  • Some species of Pokémon have very minor changes from their Japanese names, such as Beedle/Weedle, Upah/Wooper, Hariteyama/Hariyama, Flowsel/Floatzel, Emonga/Emolga, etc.
  • Anthony Herzen from Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box was changed into Anton Herzen in the North American translation.
  • Splatoon 2 has an unusual example, in that it appeared at first to be a straight Dub Name Change. One major character in the game is named Iida in Japanese, which was changed to Marina in English. However, her full name was eventually revealed at a certain point in the game's Octo Expansion. In the English version, this scene revealed her surname, making her full name Marina Ida. In Japanese, however, the same scene instead revealed that Iida was her surname — she was previously only known on a Last-Name Basis, and her given name was actually Marine. In other words, her Japanese name, Marine Iida, was changed in English to Marina Ida.
  • In the English version of Metroid: Other M, the 07th Platoon scout Keiji Misawa is called K.G. Misawa, which is pronounced the same way.
  • In Star Fox, the name of the planet Katarina is shortened to Katina in English.
  • Uncle Albert's Mysterious Island has a monkey named Gus. His name in the original French game is Gustave.
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 1:
    • Fiorung to Fiora
    • Rein to Reyn
    • Mumca to Mumkhar
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2:
    • Niyah to Nia
    • Shin to Jin
    • Ban to Bana
    • Laura to Lora
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X: Lynlee Ku to Lin Lee Koo

    Visual Novels 

    Webcomics 

    Western Animation 
  • Some of the characters in the Norwegian dub of Amphibia gets this treatment. For example Polly is changed to "Trolly", Sasha is changed to "Sara", Wally is changed to "Willy" and Percy is changed to "Perry".
  • In the Latin American dub of Animaniacs, the eponymous show is called "Animanía" (pronounced as "Anima-NEE-ah"). Likewise, in the Romanian dub it's called "Animaniacii" and in the Hungarian dub it's "Animánia".
  • In the first Finnish dub of Blinky Bill from the 1990s, the character name changes mentioned below were made:
    • Flap to Väpä
    • Marcia to Marsa
    • Wombo to Vompo
  • The Hebrew Dub of Cosmic Quantum Ray changes Robbie Shipton to Robbie Shibtin – a North African Jewish-sounding name that feels right at home in Israel in a show that's still set in Nebraska.
  • Courage the Cowardly Dog:
    • In the Romanian dub, Courage is called Curaj and Eustace is called Eustache.
    • The Polish dub renamed Eustache to Eustachy.
  • In the British English dub of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Trolley is called Trammie.
  • In the Italian dub of Dennis the Menace, Dennis is called Denny.
  • In the Dutch dub of The Dragon Prince, Viren is changed to "Virel".
  • In the Norwegian dubs of both DuckTales (1987) and DuckTales (2017), Webby name is changed to "Nebby". This is a Punny Name since "nebb" means "beak" in Norwegian.
  • Hungarian dubs of The Flintstones change Fred to Frédi and Barney to Béni (Benny).
  • Hilda: The author of the book the librarian had to get back from M. Pilqvist was renamed from Petra Pakulski to Petra Pakulska* in the Polish dub.
  • In the English dub of the French series Les Sisters, Marine is named Marie.
  • In the German dub of The Little Rascals, Darla appears to have been renamed Karla.
  • In the Slovenian dub of Miraculous Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois is changed to "Clara Bourgeois".
  • The Danish dub of The Owl House changes Luz to Lucia and Raine to Rainer (a masculine German name that fit with the dub changing Raine into a man to compensate for the lack of gender-neutral pronouns in the Danish language
  • The Patrick Star Show: The Latin American dub changes Cecil's name to Cecilio.
  • Phineas and Ferb:
    • Candace is known as Candice in the French dub.
    • The Hungarian dub changes Perry to Kerry, to keep it alliterating with "Kacsacsőrű" (i.e. Platypus).
  • The Powerpuff Girls (1998): Mojo Jojo's name is translated as "Mohó Jojó" in the Hungarian dub, with "mohó" meaning "greedy".
    • The Dutch dub is titled De Powerpuff Girls. This change is so minor that some people over there still call the show by its English name!
  • In the Québécois version of R.O.B. the Robot, Rob and Orbit become Robin and Orbus.
  • In Hungarian dubs of Scooby-Doo media, Velma is called Vilma.
  • In the Latin American dub of The Simpsons, Homer is called Homero.
  • SpongeBob SquarePants:
    • In the Italian dub, Squidward is always called "Squiddi", while Mr. Krabs becomes Mr. Krab.
    • 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).
  • In the Chinese Mandarin dub of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, the character name changes mentioned below were made:
    • Teddy Ruxpin to Hua-si Bi
    • Grubby to Kelubi
    • Newton Gimmick to Jimicke
    • Tweeg to Te Weige
  • In the Brazilian dub of the original ''Thundercats'' cartoon and its 2011 remake, the names of Lion-O and Lynx-O had the "-O" part removed, becoming simply Lion and Lynx.
  • In the Hungarian dub of Thunder Cats 2011, Lion-O is called Leon-O.
  • In the Italian dub of Tiny Toon Adventures, Babs Bunny is renamed Baby Bunny.
    • In the Latin Spanish dub, Babs Bunny is called Babsy Bunny and Elmyra is called Elvira.
  • When the French series Touni and Litelle was dubbed into Hebrew, the titular characters became Roni and Lital.
  • The Transformers:
    • The Italian dub renamed the Combaticons into the Combacticons. The 2008 redub, which for the most part undid the name changes from the first dub, also kept this name change.
    • The Canadian French dub renamed Optimus Prime to Optimus Primus. Similarly, Rodimus Prime became Rodimus Primus.
  • The Finnish dub of VeggieTales only really adds an "i" to the characters' names. Bob is now Bobi, Larry becomes Lari, Junior is Juniori, Jimmy is Jimi, Jerry is Jeri, and Scooter is Skootteri.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top