Named by the Dub

When a character that has No Name Given, or is Only Known by Their Nickname, in a work's original language is given a name when the same work is translated or dubbed into another language.

Alternatively, if a character is only known by their first name in the original language, the translation will give them a last name as well (or vice versa).

Reasons for this may vary. Perhaps the work is part of a Merchandise-Driven series (or may otherwise have a line of merchandise licensed for it), and the target region's toy company wants a full name they can put on the box for that character's specific merch. Or perhaps the translators just found it weird that the character doesn't have a name for others to call them apart from their occupation or familial relation to someone.

May overlap with Named by the Adaptation, as dubs are usually considered adaptations of an original work, no matter how faithful said dub may be to the original language. Can also overlap with Meaningful Name if the dub name relates to their job, abilities, personality, etc.

If the dub name makes it into later installments in the original language, it's a Translation Nod.

Not to be confused with Dub Name Change, where a named character in the work's original language gets a different name in the new language.

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Examples

Anime & Manga

• Astro Ganger: Inverted, Maya has a name in the original Japanese version but the Italian dub refers to her as "La madre di Charlie" (the mother of Charlie).
• A downplayed inversion in The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You. Rentarou’s friend in Chapter 1 is referred to as "Anonymous Friend A" in the original Japanese manga, while the official English translation has Rentarou call him "my generic nameless friend".
• Digimon:
  • In the Digimon Adventure episode where the kids hitchhike to get across Tokyo, the guy who picks them up originally went unnamed. In the dub, due to him now being Sora’s cousin rather than a random stranger, she can be heard saying “Hi Duane” after he stops.
  • Tommy's older brother in Digimon Frontier is unnamed in the original Japanese, but the English version gave him the name Yutaka. This is an actual Japanese name and also an anagram of the main character's name Takuya, symbolizing how Takuya is Tommy's honorary brother.
• Dragon Ball:
  • There's no official name for the cold-themed alien race that Frieza, Cooler, King Cold, Kuriza, Frost and Chilled originate from, so the Malaysian dub of Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge names them “Glaeris” (a pun on Glacier).
  • Vegeta Jr.'s unnamed mother received the name of "Bulma Leigh" in the English dub of Dragon Ball GT, although it was only ever given in the credits.
• In the 4Kids dub of One Piece, the Hiking Bear is named Teddy, and also received a Dub Species Change by claiming he's a regular bear who began standing on two legs and climbing mountains after he ate a climber.
• Inverted in the European Spanish dub of Lady!!. Madeleine Waverly's name was changed to Sra. Beverly, and her first name is never mentioned.
• In Pokémon: The Series, Ash/Satoshi and his mom didn't have a surname in the original Japanese dub, but were given the surname "Ketchum" in most international dubs.
• Two minor characters who were friends of Usagi, a Fat and Skinny duo of girls, went unnamed in the original Japanese version of Sailor Moon. The DiC English dub names them Lorraine (fat friend) and Brandy (skinny, freckled friend).
  • Naru's (A.K.A Molly's) Mother originally didn't have a name in the Japanese version. The DiC English dub gave the name of "Susan". She wouldn't receive her Japanese name "Mayumi" until the Live Action Adapatation.
• Cosmo's older sister in Sonic X is unnamed in the original Japanese dub (her eyecatch card calls her such as well), but was given the name Galaxina in the English dub.
• Zigzagged by Transformers: Robots in Disguise: the unlucky woman who often ends up in the middle of the various battles between Autobots, Predacons and Decepticons, who was named Junko in the original Japanese version, is never referred to by name in the English dub and in most dubs based on it. However, the casting calls for the dub refer to her as "Kelly", and the Italian dub actually has her name spoken out in an early episode.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • The first of Marik's rare hunters to be fought was unnamed in the Japanese version, but the English dub names him Seeker.
  • Lumis and Umbra were originally called "Rare Hunters" the first time they appeared and "Masks of Light(Lumis) and Dark(Umbra)" the second time.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds: The mysterious figure later named Antimony in the original Japanese version introduces himself as Vizor in his first appearance in the dub.

Films — Animated

• Lady and the Tramp: The Tramp is an example of Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" in the original version because he's indeed a tramp. The Italian dub gives him the name Biagio, and he's only referred to as "Vagabondo" (Italian for "Tramp") in the title and in Peg's song about him.
• Leafie, a Hen into the Wild:
  • Wanderer, who is Only Known By His Nickname in the Korean dub, is referred to as Wilson in the English dub.
  • Inverted somewhat in the English dub; One-Eye's name is not mentioned once, but it's still in the credits.
• Inverted in the Italian dub of Pinocchio: In the Disney movie, many characters that didn't have names in the book were named by the Disney Adaptation, like Jiminy Cricket, Honest John and Gideon, as well as Monstro. However, the Italian dub of the Disney movie removes all these names and the characters are still referred to as "Talking Cricket" (or just "Cricket"), "The Cat and the Fox", and "The Whale", to make it more faithful to the book.
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: Baby Bear is just called Baby in the original version. The Polish dub gives him name Boguś (diminutive of the name Bogusław).
• Somewhat inverted twice in Spirited Away:
  • Boh's name is never mentioned in the English dub, but the credits still refer to him by his name.
  • Yu-Bird, AKA Haeldori, is never referred to by name in the English dub and is just called "that bird".

Films — Live-Action

• In the Korean film My Little Bride, the two protagonists' parents, as well as the female protagonist's grandfather, were unnamed in the original, but given names in the Filipino dub:
  • The female protagonist's grandfather became Ben.
  • The female protagonist's mother became Betty.
  • The female protagonist's father became Bert.
  • The male protagonist's mother became Irma.

Live-Action TV

• The protagonist's name is never revealed in the original Mexican Spanish version of El Chavo del ocho, as everyone simply refers to him as "chavo" (meaning "boy"). In Brazil, he is given the name Chaves. This leads to a Dub-Induced Plot Hole in later episodes, as the Running Gag where other characters try to find out the boy's name is rendered nonsensical.
  • The dub for the Animated Adaptation, El Chavo Animado, invented a justificative for this in one episode where Popis asks him "What's your first name?", meaning that "Chaves" is specifically his surname on the dub. The European Portuguese dub for this show, on the other hand, plays this trope straight again by renaming the character to "O Xavier".
• The TPC Headquarters were unnamed in the original version of Ultraman Tiga, but called the "Citagon" in the English dub.

Video Games

• Animal Crossing:
  • Rover is only known as "Unfamiliar Cat" in the original Japanese version (as well as in Korean).
  • Katie's mother Kaitlin was just an Unnamed Parent in the original Japanese version.
  • Blanca is simply referred to as "Suspicious Cat" in the original Japanese version, as well as the Korean release.
  • Copper and Booker in Japanese are "Policemen" or "Gatekeepers" depending on the game.
  • In Japanese, the monkey at the train stations in the original and New Leaf is just called "train station worker". The English translation names him Porter, though that can be a job description for someone who hauls luggage at a railway as well as a proper name.
• The "special commando unit member" was given the name of Super Joe on the American arcade flyer for Bionic Commando (1987) in an attempt to market the game as a spinoff to the otherwise unrelated shoot-'em-up Commando (Capcom).
• Chrono Cross:
  • The Arni chef, Orcha's brother, was unnamed in the Japanese version. The English localization gave him one through his restaurant, Belcha's kitchen, renamed from "Wild Hungryman". However, such background graphic edits weren't recreated in the Updated Re-release, rendering him nameless again.
  • Zappa's wife was just "Zappa's wife". The English version named her "Zippa".
  • Van's father was simply "Vancliff's Father". The English localization called him "Gogh" to create some Family Theme Naming.
• Chrono Trigger: Inverted. Crono's mother Gina was turned into an Unnamed Parent in all non-Asian localizations, with the exception of the French version.
• Inverted in Diddy Kong Racing, where the bosses other than Wizpig are referred to by what creature they are in the Japanese translation.
• Final Fantasy:
  • The dancer girl found in Cornelia in Final Fantasy had no name in the original Famicom version, but in the NES localisation she is called Arylon. Later localisations for the remakes render her nameless again.
  • Final Fantasy XII had two "imperial soldiers" who gained the names Gibbs and Deweg in English, becoming that game's incarnation of Biggs and Wedge.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • An accidental version happened in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. The translator mistook the context of the carpenter Bremor saying "tetsuya" (meaning a long, sleepless night) and thought it was the name of the carpenter nagging him (Tetsuya is indeed a common Japanese name) resulting in Bremor complaining about his co-worker "Brac". The name Brac would eventually be removed from later releases of the game.
  • The Big Bad of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and the franchise's overall Greater-Scope Villain was originally not named Demise but was rather titled the Being of Demise.
• In the English version of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (which was the first one developed), the home planet of the Space Pirates is simply known as Pirate Homeworld. In the Japanese version, it receives the given name Urtraghus.
• Mother 3 had a character called "Elder" who was given the proper name of Scamp in the Fan Translation. Trailers for the cancelled N64 version called him Syd.
• The unnamed principal in Persona 5 becomes "Principal Kobayakawa" for the English dub.
• N's sisters from Pokémon Black and White were originally "Goddesses" in Japan; in English, the Goddess of Peace became Concordia, while the Goddess of Love became Anthea.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • The Koopalings were originally all nameless in the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 3 and were given their names in the English translation by Nintendo of America, which have stuck to this day.
  • In Paper Mario 64, Yakkey the key was simply "Mystical Key" (which he's still called as an item in your inventory), while Chet Rippo was "The Leveler" (which gives some insight as to why his counterpart in the sequel looks completely different).
  • Petey Piranha and Gooper Blooper's Japanese names followed the standard King "insert species here" scheme.
  • The Monster Clown Big Bad of Wario Land 3 was originally unnamed in all languages, but later gained the English name of "Rudy", likely because it didn't make sense to keep calling him "a hidden figure" after he was no longer hidden. He was first called this when he and other characters from the game appeared in Dr. Mario 64.
  • Paper Mario: Color Splash: The game tends to not give characters proper names, only referring to them with titles or descriptors. However, certain dubs name the characters.
    • The Mustard Cafe chef is named Don Torrefactoad in the Canadian French version, being a pun on torrefacto coffee preparation.
    • The Toad who hosts "Deep Cuts" is named Professor Tijerio LeCutter in the Spanish versions.
• Yo-kai Watch:
  • Nate's mom and dad were unnamed in the Japanese version, but the English version gave them the names Lily and Aaron, respectively.
  • Katie's mom and dad were named Rebecca and Jason in English but were originally unnamed in Japanese.
  • Nate's originally unnamed homeroom and science teachers were given the names Joe Johnson and Mr. Barton, respectively, for the English dub.

Websites

• Inverted by the English dub of Nobody Here; Jogchem's name is only ever stated in the original Dutch version, while the dub rewrites some sections to avoid naming him.
  Dutch original: My name is Jogchem Niemandsverdriet and I'm sorry for everything that's to come.^DutchMijn naam is Jogchem Niemandsverdriet en het spijt me van alles wat gaat komen.
  English dub: I'd like to apologize for all this.

Western Animation

• Looney Tunes: The Road Runner has No Name Given in the original version. His signature sound Bip Bip (or Beep Beep) officially becomes his name in the Italian and French dubs, turning him into an example of Pokémon Speak.
• 12 oz. Mouse: The unnamed Man-Woman was given the name of María José/José María in the Latin American Spanish dub.
• Inverted by the Italian dub of The Amazing World of Gumball, where Alan, Anton, Bobert, Idaho, Leslie, Masami, Penny and Tina are just named respectively "Balloon", "Toast", "Robot", "Potato", "Flower", "Cloud", "Peanut" and "T-Rex", except for the few times their original names are used instead.
• Winx Club: In Episode 24 of Season 3, Valtor gives the Trix a new amplified form to stop the Winx; while the form is unnamed in most versions, the 4Kids dub gives it the opposing name "Disenchantix".

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