Name Romanizations

[nice-babana.livejournal.com]

Boring discussion is boring, but I kind of feel the need to ask anyway.

So we all know that 'Lavi' and 'Lenalee' are the canon spellings of the characters' names, but there's also a surprising number of people who still use 'Rabi' and 'Rinari' (and everything else in between), despite the fact that their "correct" names have been spelled out for us many, many times over the years.

Just out of curiosity, I'm wondering which names everyone prefers, and why they prefer them.

Personally, I like 'Lavi' and 'Lenalee,' since there's no awkward-to-the-English-language R-sounds that are difficult for me to successfully slip into conversations without sounding like a total moron.

EDIT: I'm very surprised by how many people just decided that the canon romanizations were "wrong" and took things into their own hands! XD I've never seen anything like this before in any fandom, and quite frankly, I'm amazed.

Comments

[sky]

I prefer:
Rabi
-because otherwise all of Kanda's rabbit jokes make no sense. (And yes, he does call him 'stupid rabbit' in canon)

Linali
-Just personal preference. The 'Li' romanization of the sibs' surname is most correct with regard to Mandarin Chinese pinyin (possibly not with other versions of Chinese, I don't know), but 'Lenalee Li' just looks weird.

Aleister Crowley
-Because this name is a reference to an actual person, unlike Arystar Krory which is gibberish. Also in an aesthetic sense, the name 'Krory' really bothers me.

Froi Theodore
-As a Japanese-speaker, I honestly believe the fact that this became 'Tiedoll' is because the romanization was done by someone who doesn't speak English. 'Tiedoll' is a one-to-one transposing of Japanese syllables into English letters, without regard to how those letters are actually read/pronounced by native speakers when put together. 'Theodore' sounds much closer to the original pronunciation of his name in katakana.

Cloud Nine
-Klaud is a boy's name D:

Sherrill Camelot
-'Cyril' isn't official yet but seems popular -- however, 'Sherrill' is closer to the original pronunciation of the katakana シェリル.

aaaaand I'll stop at those few because this is a topic I could ramble about all day, ahaha. I'm looking to get a translation job in the industry IRL, so I think about this sort of thing a lot :X

[rayquaza.livejournal.com]

I think I have a thing for using boy names for girls. |D

[main-titles.livejournal.com]

Arystar Krory, Tiedoll, and Klaud Nine annoy me so much. It's so obvious whoever translated those really, really, don't speak English very well and are missing the obvious references the names are hinting at.

[nice-babana.livejournal.com]

Didn't Kanda just say something along the lines "baka usagi"? As fluent English-speakers, we caught the whole Rabi --> rabbit thing, but do you really think Hoshino, who couldn't even manage to re-transliterate the very common English name 'Claire', really caught onto that? Especially since the vowel sounds between the two words are so different. She could have seen it in a dictionary or whatnot, but honestly, I have my doubts.

Don't quote me on that or anything; I only have a vague memory of Sakupyon's voice saying that, and since my skills at written Japanese are essentially nonexistent, there's no way I could check the manga.

[365daysafter.livejournal.com]

I like Lavi, but I've always had a softness for "Rinali" ♥ I love that name *3*

[silvrguillotine.livejournal.com]

I go with "Lavi" and "Lenalee" because I usually prefer to go with official spellings (whether they make sense or not), but I'm not usually fussy about what other people use for them. Though, honestly, I think "Linali" looks prettier than "Lenalee". And some spellings of character names drive me up a wall. YMMV.

[rayquaza.livejournal.com]

I like both Lavi and Rabi. I prefer "Rinali", but Lenalee's pretty too and I'm more used to using it now. I also like Tyki instead of Ticky. |D

Also Rhode (instead of Road), Klaud Nine (instead of Cloud Nyne - though Nyne is kind of cool), Fou (instead of Fo), Devit (instead of David).

[silvrguillotine.livejournal.com]

Omg, "Ticky" is pretty much the one alternate spelling out of all the character-name-spellings I can think of right now that really makes me twitch, and for no good reason. But anyway... I use "Fou" and "Devit", too.

[rayquaza.livejournal.com]

ALSO for the record, I use the official spellings. These are just the ones I prefer.

[ventuno.livejournal.com]

I use the official names. I mean, regardless of whether ir's 'cuter' or 'makes more sense', I think we should respect the author's creation. I think that Hoshino has more authority over what names we should use for her characters (unless they're nicknames or whatever) than we do.

[rayquaza.livejournal.com]

iawtc!

[lishypo.livejournal.com]

Everything saoru said, except I use Lavi because I never saw his name tansliterated as Rabi until much later. Yeah, the rabbit jokes don't make sense with "Lavi," but ah, I understand the technicalities so it's all good. I also prefer to spell Road as "Rhode" simply because I think "Road" looks really silly. I tend to use "David" instead of "Devit," which is just habit because it was the first name I saw used for him and it's Biblical, so I went with it. I often shorten it to Devi anyway.

[sky]

I'm the same about Rhode and David (デビット = one way to spell David anyway, as far as I've always been told). Rhode vs Road bugs the hell out of me because one is a perfectly serviceable and pretty girl's name, while one is....... emphatically not. :/

[harmony283.livejournal.com]

I like "Lavi" because it sounds stronger than "Rabi" does. Though "Rabi" on the other hand can either sound lighter than "Lavi" or more serious...it depends on how the person is trying to portray him(if that makes any sense?)

Lenalee...simply because that's how I've always spelled it XD But I don't really care (as long as the person has a good reason)

I interchange Klaud and Cloud all the time in fanfics (Klaud for if it's in-the canon time frame and Cloud if it's AU) though I actually like Klaud better.

Tyki is...well...Tyki, every other spelling is odd.

And I've seen Cyril, Sherill, and Sheryl...but I prefer the 3rd choice (I've spelt his name Cyril before *for a request*...but it makes me think of krill which then tempts me to make a really bad Marine Science joke XD)

Err...basically the way their name is spelled, at least for me, is based on what kind of context they're used in (especially fanfic wise). *hopes that makes sense*

[leafyaki.livejournal.com]

Usually I stick to the officially given names. I much prefer 'Lavi' over 'Rabi'. And was it in fanon, or canon, that 'Lavi' is 'lion' in Hebrew? Unless it's all concocted in my dream? Anyways, I always thought that was pretty cool, and 'Lavi' is aesthetically pleasing.

Just a note though, for "Lenalee", technically the "Li" surname in Chinese can be translated to either "Li" or "Lee" ("Lee" is my surname, though in mandarin the hanyu pinyin is "Li"). So really, I can see why people prefer Linali, just wanted to say Lenalee Lee is technically correct too (:

[lishypo.livejournal.com]

I think the lion --> Lavi thing is fanon. I've never seen it come up in canon anywhere, but I'm not a bible of DGM knowledge. It is quite a coincidence that's what it means and he's a Leo, but it doesn't seem to have any bearing on his character.

That's really nice to know about Linali! I personally like Lenalee better, but my friend and RP partner, who plays Lenalee, uses "Linali," so I go with her preference. When I'm not talking to her I go back and forth.

[carameltrap.livejournal.com]

I go with Lavi. Rabi unfortunately reminds me of 'rabbi'.

Lenalee. I don't think Lee is incorrect as it's a common Chinese surname/name here as well as Li. Either one is correct. It just depends on your preferences. Personally, I've always liked Lenalee and it looks a lot nicer in writing.

I also use Rhode for Road because seriously, 'Road'? They do know what 'Road' means right? Rhode is at least as close to being a real name than 'Road'.

[sakanagi.livejournal.com]

I go with the official spellings every time, except for the characters we don't yet have official spellings for, where I go for whatever makes the most sense or is the most widely used. When we get official spellings for the rest, I suppose I'll change to them.

[domlandbubbles.livejournal.com]

I just like "Rabi" "Rhode Camelot" "Aleister Crowley" "Cloud Nine" "Froi Theodore" and "Ticky Mick" better.

The "official" names read like so much Engrish.

Throwing my two cents in...

[kaizoku-shinobi.livejournal.com]

I prefer all the canon spellings, whether I like them or not because naming characters (and spelling their names) is more serious business than it seems and I find the idea that Hoshino hired (or requested for) a translator to translate names she created for a Japanese audience quite ridiculous. Most mangaka who start out have no idea whether their manga will actually be popular enough to be able to sell overseas or not.

What I'm saying is that Hoshino didn't think of these spellings to appeal to foreign audiences, she did it because she has her own reasons (even if it's something like, "I like it better like this").

In fact, I think the only reason she actually made up all these spellings is because they're in an English setting. So wouldn't it make sense if they had the spellings, just in case they're needed? (like for the buttons).

[symbolism-egg.livejournal.com]

I don't really pay attention to the "official" spellings, because it's clear Hoshino isn't aware of English spelling conventions. She isn't that aware of English (or Chinese...) naming conventions either, unfortunately, unless you happen to know any Americans who named their children "Jasdero" and "Devit." We're lucky the main character has an actual name that's spelled properly.

So I think it's legitimate for the fan community to use the spellings that make the best of certain names we're given, although I respect those who follow the official spellings as well.

I vastly prefer "Rhode" and "Alastair/Aleister Crowley." I also use "Tiki," "Sherril," and "Linali."

The question of "Rabi" or "Lavi" could go either way. I've used the first one for longer, but I'm becoming more accustomed to the second, which might sound better to me now. And I recall that there was an ancient post about the official Romanization in which the overwhelming fan response was "OMG! Why isn't it Rabi!??? Lavi is a stupid name." ...If that helps put into context why some people still use the alternative.

I'm also grateful to whichever translator chose to render a certain Crow's name as "Tevak" instead of "Tewaku." Much more appealing, even if the rest of the Crows have Japanse-sounding names. (And why, I wonder...?)

[main-titles.livejournal.com]

I really wonder if it's Hoshino who translates them. Aleister Crowley is obviously a reference to the occultist so she had to have at least researched that... but then again she may have only seen his name in katakana and then proceed to romanticizing it however she felt like without ever looking at the correct spelling. I mean, does she even know what innocence means? Because the amount of double entendres the word "innocence" ("I am going to take your innocence!") causes is ridiculous.

[amelia-seyroon.livejournal.com]

I also prefer 'Lavi' and 'Lenalee', just because they look better to me.

[xkoharux.livejournal.com]

I like "Lavi" and "Lenalee" names, but yeah "Rinari" is cute too. Rhode is pretty cool but I use for her "Road" I dont know why lol. Annd... Krory's name is Arystar Krory ( you can see this in the anime btw) because Aleister Crowley was a real person -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley

I also prefer "Tyki","Sherill" and "Kloud Nine" for example, they look better than others name IMO.

Sorry for my english orz.

[mellmell.livejournal.com]

I usually go with the official names (Of the English manga).

Though I do prefer Crowley over Krory and Theodore over Tiedoll and Cloud over Klaud. But I usually spell it in the official spelling, since that's what I've become accustomed to. Also, I'm afraid I might end up confusing people. ;;

Though.... I am trying to get in the habit of spelling Tiedoll's name 'Theodore'. I get so confused with the name 'Tiedoll' that I've actually started pronouncing it the way that it is spelled. And I hate it. It's such a stupid spelling. While you could say the others are just creative ways of spelling the intended name, Tiedoll makes no sense whatsoever in the English language (Unless you understand how Japanese pronounce things. But even then, it's ridiculous). I wished they had kept 'Theodore'. They keep 'Chaoji' and 'Fo' even though it's not the official spelling (Though 'Fo' really should be changed to 'For'... I don't understand how they got 'Fo')!

.02

[knittedninja.livejournal.com]

I typically use the established canon spellings, since that's how the mangaka has presented it. :shrug: Personal preference, mostly.

I prefer Lavi to Rabi because I think "Rabi" looks weird.
I hate Rinari, especially when it's translated as "Rinari Lee". Kills the alliteration of her name, though "Rinari Ri" is probably worse. Linali/Lenali/Lenalee, I'd use any of those.

With Krory, I kind of thought she was trying to pay homage to Aleister Crowley without using his name. I've read that Miranda Lotto was named for the actress Miranda Otto, though I'm not sure how true it is. "Arystar" bothers me a lot more than "Krory", for some reason.

[picaropicara.livejournal.com]

I always use the spellings dictated by Wikipedia and or ANN. It's easier.

The only exception is that I prefer Theodore (I love it as a name), but use Tiedoll in fanfic because it seems to be the norm.

[aorin107.livejournal.com]

A little late in jumping onto the bandwagon. Personally, I tend to use the canon romanizations that are given, and especially those that were stated in the DGM Official fanbook. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that I joined in the fandom at a later period of time, whereby all the canon spellings were established...

However, there is one exception for me which is For (the official romanization). For this case, I prefer to spell it as Fou instead... just to avoid confusion when I write (because writing sentences like 'he did for For' just looks plain silly to me :P)

To be honest, the romanization of the names doesn't bug me half as much as the actual names for the characters. As symbolism_egg mentioned earlier, Hoshino isn't really aware of naming conventions in reality (for instance, it's really uncommon for a Chinese to have three-syllable/characters for a given name, and Howard Link? Hardly German D:)

[hashire.livejournal.com]

I'm late to the game because I don't watch the comm and came over to look for something else, but anyway. I don't really think the argument of "Hoshino not knowing English therefore we should dismiss these names" has any bearing. I found the spellings in the fanbook quite odd at points, and sometimes I do reject them, but even if the romanized names look crazy and off, they're official, and I don't understand why people are disrespecting that fact. She may not have translated them, but maybe she did. Why does it matter?

I just think it's insulting to say, "oh this is wrong and I'm right because she must not speak English" because of the odd spellings and names. There's something else I think about this that I'm not going to get into because I'm sure it would get blown out of proportion and all sorts of other things. Anyway, I don't see why people are being so critical. It's her manga and she can do what she wants with it (though Jordan technically exist back then; it was still part of the Ottoman Empire, but slight historical inaccuracies aside). I'm in a bit of a bad mood now, so my reaction is perhaps a bit much. But still, it's how I feel.