Translating Spanish Names

Translating English or Spanish names (or deciding when to do it) can be a tricky situation for translators.

Names can pop up in a number of different places within a document and translators have to decide what to do with them as they are translating. Proper nouns can be business names, names of sports teams, personal names, or names of products. The decision a translator has to make is whether or not he/she should translate the names.

One thing translators must keep in mind is that all languages are different and languages vary in how they treat proper nouns. Here, however, we are interested mainly in English and Spanish names.There are a couple of things translators can remember to do when confronted with a name in their work.

1. Ask the client what he/she wants done.
This seems like a pretty straightforward solution but you'd be surprised at how many translators practically cut off relations with the client once they get the job and then don't contact them at all until they're finished and ready to hand the project in.

2. Use common sense.
Your own intelligence and intuitions are worth a lot more than you might sometimes think. You'll have to especially rely on this when you ask clients what they want and they don't know. They might tell you to do whatever is best in the target language, and you, as a professional translator, should know what the norm is for the specific genre or field of the translation.

3. Check out what others have done in similar situations.
The Internet can be a valuable resource when deciding how to translate English or Spanish names. You can go to one of the many translation chat resources on the net, as well as visit some of the websites of related companies to look for similar terms to the one you have questions about and see what they have done.

Translating English or Spanish names often is a straightforward translation task. Sometimes it can be tricky, though, to know what to do and there might not be any rhyme or reason for different reasons to translate or not translate terms.

About six months ago I was working on an English-Spanish dictionary of sports terms and for part of my research, I looked at ESPN.com in Spanish and English. One of the most interesting things I uncovered was that the names of sports teams for Major League Baseball were translated into Spanish while the names for NBA teams weren't translated into Spanish (they were rendered in English) on ESPN's Spanish site (ESPNdeportes.com).

I don't really have a clue as to why this is the case but it is an important difference to note, especially if you are a sports translator. Even if you work in another translation field, there could quite possibly be similar situations to the one above.

The important thing to keep in mind is to not take anything for granted, especially when working with a client for the first time. It's better to ask and spend some time researching and get the translation done right, than do it in a rush and get it wrong. As the saying goes, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

If you're interested in some general links about Spanish names, click on one of the links below:

Babies Names in Spanish: A list of some Spanish names perfect for naming your new baby!

Spanish Surnames: A list of common Spanish surnames from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Spanish Dog Names: Need a name for that special companion? Look no further!

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

David Bekham in Spanish 
How do you write David Bekham in spanish?

Name translation tool 
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Roger in Spanish 
Roger translated from English to Spanish is what?

Kelly in Spanish 
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Gene in Spanish 
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Douglas in Spanish 
Is there a Spanish equivalent to Douglas?

Isaiah in Spanish 
How do you say or pronounce Isaiah in Spanish?

Javier in English 
How do you say Javier English?

hope in spanish 
what does the name hope mean in spanish?

Frank in Spanish 
How do you say Frank in Spanish?

Chris and Tom in Spanish 
How do you translate Chris and Tom into Spanish names?

chris in spanish 
is there a spanish translation of the name of chris?

Miguel in English 
How do you translate Miguel into English?

Meaning of Hilario 
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Thomas in Spanish 
What is the spanish name equivalent of Thomas? is it Thomasino or Thomasihno?

Ruth and Jennie in Spanish 
How do you translate Ruth and Jennie in Spanish?

Andrew in Spanish 
How do you spell Andrew in Spanish?

Mark in Spanish 
How do you say and spell the name "Mark Gardner" in Spanish?

Jessica in Spanish 
How do you say Jessica in Spanish?

Brianna in Spanish 
How do you translate the name Brianna in Spanish?

Charles in Spanish 
What is the name Charles in Spanish?

Dominique in Spanish  
How would you say Dominique in Spanish?

Brandy in Spanish 
How do you say Brandy in Spanish?

Travis in Spanish 
What is the Spanish name for "Travis?"

Kailey in Spanish 
What is the Spanish name for Kailey?

Names in Spanish 
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Teacher needs help with names 
Could you tell me the equivalent name for the following. I have spent most of the year telling my students names really aren't translated, but when I ...

Kyndall in Spanish 
How do you say Kyndall in Spanish, or spell it?

Elizabeth in spanish 
How do you say Elizabeth in Spanish?

Jennifer in Spanish 
How would you spell Jennifer Inell Brimmer in Spanish?

Harvey in Spanish 
How would you translate Harvie or Harvey in Spanish?

Deshja en Spanish 
How do you say Deshja (pronounced Day-Shua) in Spanish?

Tim in Spanish 
How do I translate Tim into Spanish?

McCay in Spanish 
What would the Scottish surname 'McCay' be in Spanish?

Mirza in English 
What does the Spanish name "Mirza" mean in English?

Charles in Spanish 
How would you say Charles in Spanish?

Chelsea in Spanish 
How do you say Chelsea in Spanish?

Brittany in Spanish 
How do you say Brittany in Spanish?

Riki in Spanish 
I am female, but named for my father Rick. What would an equivalent for my name be in Spanish?

Kristianne in Spanish 
What is my name in Spanish ? My name is Kristianne, or Kris for short . Please please translate for me !

Junito in English 
What does Junito in Spanish mean?

Nate and Brandy in Spanish 
How do you say Nate and Brandy in Spanish?

Connor in Spanish 
What is the name Connor in Spanish?

How do you translate these names in Spanish? 
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List of names that I need to translate into Spanish 
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Paco in English 
What does Paco (Spanish) mean in English?

Andy in Spanish 
How do you say Andy in Spanish

Pablo in English 
How do you translate Pablo into English?

What is Pedro in English 
Does anyone know how to say Pedro in English?

My name in Spanish 
What's the Spanish name for Ashley?

Spanish name for Amber 
How do you say Amber in Spanish?

the name drew in spanish 
How do you say the name Drew in Spanish?

What is my Spanish name - Allison 
What is my Spanish name? My name is Allison (Ally for short)... please translate!!!

Roger in Spanish 
How do I say Roger in Spanish?

Does Stuart have a Spanish equivalent?  
Is there a Spanish equivalent for the name Stuart or Stewart?

Name of Kristen in Spanish 
Any ideas for what the name "Kristen" could translate to in Spanish?

Caroline in Spanish 
How do I translate my name (Caroline) in Spanish?

Johnny in Spanish 
How do I say Johnny in Spanish?

Elementary Spanish Teacher 
Please help translate the following names that are not obvious (to me, at least) in Spanish:

Katie

Macy

Hannah

Clayton

Ryan

Brock

Trevor
...

English names to Spanish names 
What are the following names translated into Spanish?

Katie, Gradon, Antonette, Ben, Ledaa, Kaarrn, Susie, Susanna, Michael

Writing Spanish surnames 
How do we write Castlian Spanish Surnames in the tradtional manner? If the name is Maria San Miguel Gonzalez do you put "y" or "de" between San Miguel ...

My name in Spanish 
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Spanish name equivalent 
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Translation of English names into Spanish 
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Colin, Connor, Kyle, Kevin, Taylor, Damien, Brendan

James in Spanish 
What would the name James be in Spanish?

Spanish name for Ashley 
Does anyone know how you say "Ashley" in Spanish?

The Meaning of Veronica 
What does the spanish name "Veronica" mean in English?

Taylor in Spanish 
How do you say Taylor in Spanish?

Spanish last names 
Can someone please tell me what the last name is for the following name:

Jose Renato de Oliveria Lima

Translation of Spanish names 
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Spanish spelling question 
Is this last name spelled correctly: Gatain

Jesus or Jose?  Not rated yet
I have a questions and after searching the internet this seems like the best place to ask: My son is named Jesse. I would like to know how that would ...

Renato in English  Not rated yet
Does the Spanish name "renato" have an English equivalent?

taylor in spanish  Not rated yet
What is the Spanish name for Taylor?

Keith in Spanish?  Not rated yet
How do you say Keith Chambles in Spanish?

Victoria in Spanish  Not rated yet
Please settle an argument for me.
My friend says that the spanish translation for the name Victoria is Togi or Toji.

When I was in bilingual school ...

Riley in Spanish?  Not rated yet
How do you translate Riley into Spanish?

Kelsey in spanish  Not rated yet
What would the name Kelsey be in Spanish?

Brinceton in Spanish  Not rated yet
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Kelli in Spanish  Not rated yet
How would you translate Kelli (or Kelly) from English to Spanish?

Dalvin in Spanish  Not rated yet
How do you spell Dalvin in Spanish?

sasha in spanish  Not rated yet
what is sasha in spanish?

Dylan in Spanish  Not rated yet
What is the Spanish translation of the name Dylan?

Lenice in Spanish  Not rated yet
How do you translate Lenice in Spanish?

Jennifer in Spanish  Not rated yet
How do you translate Jennifer or Jenny into Spanish?

Dylan in Spanish  Not rated yet
How would you say Dylan in Spanish?

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What is the Spanish version of William and Jake?

Kayla in Spanish  Not rated yet
How would you say Kayla in Spanish and how would you spell it?

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How do you say Lee Ann in Spanish?

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What is Julio (male name) in English?

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Fernando in English  Not rated yet
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What does the Spanish name Paco mean in English?

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