Can we talk about Régis (Zell)? He was in my campsite and I didn't invite him because of his name, I mean, why Régis? As I'm watching videos in English and reading threads here I always think about my villagers with their English names (I have Didi but in my mind it's Diana, etc). The only name I like is O'Hare's French name because it's Civet, the name of a French dish and I find it very funny!
If you don't play in english, what do you think of villager names?
- Thread starter LeenaM
- Start date
Same here, I always think of them with their English name unless it's a French name I really like, Narcisse is the only one I can think about (I just saw Kevin's name, he's a pig and his name is Jean-Bon
). It's partly because the Fench names tend to be less interesting, but there's also a lot less information available on the non-english AC wikis.
Here's a link with the names in different languages if anyone reading the thread wants to check it out! List_of_villager_names_in_other_languages
I play in English but I took a look at this thread and there are some cute and unique versions! But the Japanese names for Drake (foie gras) and Curly (ham cuts) are slightly disturbing
litilravnur
Friendly Shy Kid
I'm curious about the names in Spanish (my native language), I like some of them because are funny like June > Hanalulú thanks to Honolulu and her Hawaiian outfit 
but because of trades and online play, I kept my game in English
but because of trades and online play, I kept my game in English
Omg Raddle is Fabien??
Raddle was one of my ultimate babes in ACNL, and thinking of him as Fabien is just way too weird haha!
That name is like too serious / grown up for him. Just doesn't work in my mind!
I don't play in another language but here's a slightly interesting story:
My boyfriend has always really liked Chops (weirdo, right?) so one day I got him Chops' Amiibo card - this was actually before ACNH came out, so he could scan him into his island.
Anyways he's all happy and checking out Chops' card an lo and behold we see Chops' French name on the card: Aaron.
Aaron is his IRL best friend for like his entire lifetime. THE SERENDIPITY.
Oh, and he never had to scan that card. Chops was one of his random first 3 move ins. Completely random, didn't even hit an island!
Raddle was one of my ultimate babes in ACNL, and thinking of him as Fabien is just way too weird haha!
That name is like too serious / grown up for him. Just doesn't work in my mind!
I don't play in another language but here's a slightly interesting story:
My boyfriend has always really liked Chops (weirdo, right?) so one day I got him Chops' Amiibo card - this was actually before ACNH came out, so he could scan him into his island.
Anyways he's all happy and checking out Chops' card an lo and behold we see Chops' French name on the card: Aaron.
Aaron is his IRL best friend for like his entire lifetime. THE SERENDIPITY.
Oh, and he never had to scan that card. Chops was one of his random first 3 move ins. Completely random, didn't even hit an island!
i used to play in german but i switched to english cause i couldnt take the names and so that i learn the english names of all the furniture for trades.
the german names are really bad imo most of them are just really really german names haha
some are fine i guess but i just like the english names more
for some reason they didnt change pietros name ? idk why
the german names are really bad imo most of them are just really really german names haha
some are fine i guess but i just like the english names more
for some reason they didnt change pietros name ? idk why
WaileaNoRei
Once and forever
I play in Japanese and English, so often times find the Japanese names make the designs/ houses make more sense than when they have been translated. For example:
Olaf - his name in Japanese is Antonio, which fits much much better with his design (why why why Olaf?) of course, this change had to happen because they used that name already for the villager we already know as Antonio, since his Japanese name was something normal in Japanese, Makoto, but too foreign for English.
this has happened a few times - Rex is called Sunday/ Sundae (no spelling different in Japanese so not sure which it is supposed to be), which meant that Flick could not be called Rex like he is in Japanese. Same with Jack being renamed to Raymond, I assume.
Marcel and Cousteau both have the seemingly confusing Asian houses, but this is because their designs are not originally inspired by French culture/ people at all.
Marcel is Monja, like monjayaki, and his face is inspired by a Japanese festival mask.
Cousteau is Harumaki, which means spring roll, which makes his house and clothing style make more sense.
also interesting to me are the many villagers with ‘English’ names changed in the English version. This seems to be because the cultural perception of the names is different in Japan vs the west. For example: Megan is Candy in Japanese and I think while in Japan this has a cute feel (plus goes with her coloring etc.) in America the name Candy has a less positive connotation? I think this is also why Diana is Natalie in Japanese, and Maggie is Margaret. And maybe this is why Paula’s name was changed from Rachel (her Japanese name). And Jimmy -> Rodney too?
the other group of ‘English’ names are ones that work as puns or word play in Japan but not in English:
Fuschia is Jeshika in Japanese. In Japanese this is how you would write the name Jessica, but also punny because shika means deer.
Pancetti is Buritoni, or Brittany in Japanese and pigs say ‘buu buu’
overall, some names I like better in Japanese than in English - like Chachamaru, and Yukimi, and Doremi
and some I like better in English - Bangle I like more than Ruuzu, Kiki I like better than Caviar, and I think Sundae/ Sunday is a much cuter name for Rex than Rex.
Anyway, this is way too long, but i studied translation in undergrad and grad school so i always find this kind of thing interesting.
Olaf - his name in Japanese is Antonio, which fits much much better with his design (why why why Olaf?) of course, this change had to happen because they used that name already for the villager we already know as Antonio, since his Japanese name was something normal in Japanese, Makoto, but too foreign for English.
this has happened a few times - Rex is called Sunday/ Sundae (no spelling different in Japanese so not sure which it is supposed to be), which meant that Flick could not be called Rex like he is in Japanese. Same with Jack being renamed to Raymond, I assume.
Marcel and Cousteau both have the seemingly confusing Asian houses, but this is because their designs are not originally inspired by French culture/ people at all.
Marcel is Monja, like monjayaki, and his face is inspired by a Japanese festival mask.
Cousteau is Harumaki, which means spring roll, which makes his house and clothing style make more sense.
also interesting to me are the many villagers with ‘English’ names changed in the English version. This seems to be because the cultural perception of the names is different in Japan vs the west. For example: Megan is Candy in Japanese and I think while in Japan this has a cute feel (plus goes with her coloring etc.) in America the name Candy has a less positive connotation? I think this is also why Diana is Natalie in Japanese, and Maggie is Margaret. And maybe this is why Paula’s name was changed from Rachel (her Japanese name). And Jimmy -> Rodney too?
the other group of ‘English’ names are ones that work as puns or word play in Japan but not in English:
Fuschia is Jeshika in Japanese. In Japanese this is how you would write the name Jessica, but also punny because shika means deer.
Pancetti is Buritoni, or Brittany in Japanese and pigs say ‘buu buu’
overall, some names I like better in Japanese than in English - like Chachamaru, and Yukimi, and Doremi
and some I like better in English - Bangle I like more than Ruuzu, Kiki I like better than Caviar, and I think Sundae/ Sunday is a much cuter name for Rex than Rex.
Anyway, this is way too long, but i studied translation in undergrad and grad school so i always find this kind of thing interesting.
Marshmallows
chocoholic ☕🍫
I play Pocket Camp in Spanish and if I ever get a second island, planning on using the Spanish language because they get different dialogue, too.
Diana is Bambina, which I like a lot more.
Pango the anteater is Aspiradora, which means vacuum. Bob is Arandano, which is blueberry. A lot of the names are very literal takes.
Diana is Bambina, which I like a lot more.
Pango the anteater is Aspiradora, which means vacuum.
Bob is Arandano, which is blueberry. A lot of the names are very literal takes.
I'm curious about the names in Spanish (my native language), I like some of them because are funny like June > Hanalulú thanks to Honolulu and her Hawaiian outfit
You are able to change the game's language at any point without losing your save if you're interested.
EDIT
Just thought I'd tag you in, just in case my response above is of any use.
You're welcome. The steps for doing it just involves changing the language in the Switch's settings and then launching the game. You'll get a little warning letting you know that the language has changed, but you can just accept and go.
What's really cool is the game's icon on the Home Screen and logo in game will also change to match the language (provided that region has it's own version). If you set your Switch to Japanese for instance, you'll see this on the home menu
and the logo on the title screen (Press A to start) looks like this
Felix Felicis
Senior Member
I play in French, and in my city, I have:
- Nora for Flo, I truly prefer
- Nacer for Bam, according to the wiki, it's because the sound 'cer' is the same as the word 'cerf' meaning deer.
- Paulito for Hippeux and it's better because when I read Hippeux, I read 'hideux' which means hideous haha.
- Beubeu for Stu, similar to the plural of 'bœuf' meaning beef. On the wiki, they say 'Beubeu' means in some dialect somebody naive.
- Roscoe is Rosco.
- Merengue is Patty, don't ask me why.
- Sélène for Timbra, and I love it so much!
- Maiko for Naomi, I don't see there any reason too.
- Cyrano for Cirano, quite the same, surely because of the nose, if you know a bit of French litterature.
- Bibi for Fauna, maybe because 'bi' is the first syllable of 'biche' which is the female of the deer.
- Nora for Flo, I truly prefer
- Nacer for Bam, according to the wiki, it's because the sound 'cer' is the same as the word 'cerf' meaning deer.
- Paulito for Hippeux and it's better because when I read Hippeux, I read 'hideux' which means hideous haha.
- Beubeu for Stu, similar to the plural of 'bœuf' meaning beef. On the wiki, they say 'Beubeu' means in some dialect somebody naive.
- Roscoe is Rosco.
- Merengue is Patty, don't ask me why.
- Sélène for Timbra, and I love it so much!
- Maiko for Naomi, I don't see there any reason too.
- Cyrano for Cirano, quite the same, surely because of the nose, if you know a bit of French litterature.
- Bibi for Fauna, maybe because 'bi' is the first syllable of 'biche' which is the female of the deer.
I play in English but it was really interesting looking through the list posted and seeing all the variations of villagers names in other languages, there are quite a few really nice alternatives, some which stood out to me:
- Chow is Pando (Spanish) - I think this is really cute as it makes me think of a panda, which is the animal chow always reminds me off
- Bluebear is Celeste (Spanish) - obviously the name bluebear really suits her but is think Celeste is such a pretty name (though does Celeste the owl stay as Celeste or is her name different?)
- Mac is Brutus (French) - I've always thought of him as a cranky villager (though turns out he's actually a jock) so to me Brutus really suits him while Mac just makes me think of Mac & cheese
- Portia is Dalma (French) - I don't mind the name Portia but Dalma is very nice and makes me think of Dalmatian so it really suits her
- Walker is Fido (German) - I think either of the names are good but I used to have a dog that was black and white and his nickname was Fido so I prefer that name for Walker
- Boone is Kong (German) and Peewee is Kong (Italian) - Kong is such a suitable name for a gorilla, its a shame it isn't used as the English name for one of them
- Iggly is Pingi (German) - Iggly is fine but I just find Pingi a cuter name as it reminds me of Pingu the penguin (old TV series)
- Raymond is Narciso (Spanish) - when I first read this I thought of narcissist (partly defined as someone with an excessive need for admiration) which seemed pretty suitable for Raymond, though looking into it the word Narciso is apparently the Spanish word for Daffodil (did search online though so that could be wrong)
- Rudy is Heinz (German) - reminds me of the food company, his red nose and name always makes me think of Rudolph the reindeer but maybe his nose is actually a baked bean
- Tia is Fanny (French) and (Italian) - made me laugh that she shares her name with another word for female genitals
mirukushake
Senior Member
I think the names would lose a lot of their meaning and charm if they were just left as is from the Japanese, since a lot of them are puns and play on words. Most (game) translation is not just translation but localization: making the dialogue work in other cultural contexts. I work in translation myself (boring technical stuff, though) and I really love seeing how the different teams give different aspects of the game their own flavor.
lemoncrossing
fairything
I played New Leaf in Spanish for a while as I was taking classes for school at the time, and I thought Pudge’s name “Bollito” was really cute! It (roughly) means “little cookie” in Spanish which is adorable for a lazy villager like him
Ketchup, the villager, is named Ketchup in every language (including Japanese, Chinese, and Korean), but in German, nope, they thought Pullunda was a better name.
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