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Translating names to Esperanto

by ljbookworm, October 12, 2009

Messages: 102

Language: English

ljbookworm (User's profile) October 12, 2009, 7:24:14 PM

I've noticed that some people translate their names to look more like esperanto. Is this common? And are there any standard translations of anglo names?
I'm thinking it would be quite cool to have an esperanto name....

gyrus (User's profile) October 12, 2009, 7:33:31 PM

I think it would be cool if original Esperanto names were made, maybe even with meanings or something.

ljbookworm (User's profile) October 12, 2009, 7:46:21 PM

Maybe there are native esperanto speakers who have this? Though I think it's unlikely that an american "John" for instance, would grow up thinking of himself as Johano. rideto.gif But maybe I'm wrong...

mnlg (User's profile) October 12, 2009, 9:02:12 PM

ljbookworm:I've noticed that some people translate their names to look more like esperanto. Is this common?
Decently common.
And are there any standard translations of anglo names?
A few names have become sufficiently mainstream, but variations still occur. Other, rarer names, tend to be translated either very simply or very strangely.

My name is not anglo (anglic? anglian?), so I have no direct experience of that.
I'm thinking it would be quite cool to have an esperanto name....
I guess that those who find Esperanto cool would agree okulumo.gif

ljbookworm (User's profile) October 13, 2009, 9:42:48 AM

Is there a list anywhere, or do you have to just figure out what the Esperanto spelling of your names might be? Like mine for instance- Laura. Is there a standard way of doing this?

Cosi (User's profile) October 13, 2009, 9:43:23 AM

Just type "esperanto names" in Google and you'll get this for example:
http://www.geocities.com/valamer/

Iĉo (User's profile) October 13, 2009, 12:36:07 PM

ljbookworm:Is there a list anywhere, or do you have to just figure out what the Esperanto spelling of your names might be? Like mine for instance- Laura. Is there a standard way of doing this?
Yours would be Laŭro (which means laurel tree), although it's a bit tricky to know what to do with feminine names. Because vowels end in -o, a lot of names look masculine to anyone who's used to the feminine -a and masculine -o of Spanish and Italian names (eg. Maria, Mario, Roberta, Robert(o)).

Nowadays, names no longer need to end in -o (although if they don't end in a vowel, they'll be given -o in the accusative so that the accusative suffix -n can be attached). It's common for female names to end in -a in Esperanto. So, you could be Laŭra (which is actually an adjective with a meaning connected to laurel trees ... "laurely", "laurel-ish", "laurelian"). Or you could go with how your name is pronounced, rather than spelled, and get "Lora".

My name's Ben. Beno means "blessing".

gyrus (User's profile) October 13, 2009, 3:07:44 PM

So my name means rôle-Ande in Esperanto apparantly...

EDIT: or "R land"

EDIT: My father's name means armpit in Esperanto XD

ljbookworm (User's profile) October 13, 2009, 3:32:30 PM

Lora looks nicest. ridulo.gif Does it mean anything in esperanto?

ceigered (User's profile) October 13, 2009, 3:34:38 PM

R-land... I like it. Makes you sound like you know your way around the street. okulumo.gif

In regards to Lauras name, you might even get away with 'Lavro/Lavra' as occasionally Esperanto has changed the 'ua'/'au' combinations in Latin based words to a more slavic 'va'/'av' (Pavlo, lingvo). But it's your name so be creative and go nuts with it if you want lango.gif.

I personally go with the way I pronounce my name rather than the way it would be Esperanticised, so I go with 'Kriscxin' and not 'Kristiano' or 'Kristano'.

EDIT: Lora doesn't seem to mean anything according to my dictionary, unless you stick a 'd' after the 'r' lango.gif

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