Renaming Countries?

[sir-blinky.livejournal.com]

 So, I know there are quite a few people who are unsatisfied with some of the names Himaruya gave the nations, but that's pretty much besides the point. If the human names of the nations didn't exist, and you were allowed to choose whatever you wanted for their names, what would you call them?

Comments

[powderthefox.livejournal.com]

N.Italy = Mario
S.Italy = Luigi

...On a more serious note, I'd call France "François". Seriously, I know they're both French names, but I think it's just way more "French" than Francis.

Can't really offer an opinion on the other nations, since I'm either not overly familiar with their countries' traditional names, or already content with the ones they have.

[wakalakaosaka.livejournal.com]

N.Italy = Mario
S.Italy = Luigi


I second this so hard

[imacashew218.livejournal.com]

Technically, "François" and "Francis" are the same name. François is the French version of the latter.

[powderthefox.livejournal.com]

Which I'm well aware of, and is also why I prefer François to Francis in this case.

[miezen.livejournal.com]

None. Himaruya isn't perfect, but it's still his comic. And honestly, I'm not familiar enough with any foreign cultures to try to say I know better than he does re; what the human names should be. That would be conceited, IMO. Maybe I'd want to change Switzerland's first name to something that doesn't make me think of Trigun, though. But I'd definitely leave "Zwingli" alone. I like that surname.

Honestly? I just wish all of the characters had one. It's easier to talk about it in public without sounding like a total weirdo. It'd also make life easier on me with my ships that involve a character that does have one and a character that doesn't (Switzerland/Belgium, Korea/Ukraine, America/Ukraine, etc)

[miezen.livejournal.com]

Haven't French fans [that are actually from France] said that there was nothing wrong with "Francis" for France before?

[powderthefox.livejournal.com]

Oh I know there's nothing wrong with the name. This is just a matter of personal preference. :P

[runciblespork.livejournal.com]

Steve.

Every single nation, ostensibly male or female, would be named Steve.

Except England.

His name would be The Right Honorable Lord Pickles. Or Pickles to his friends, but since he has none that wouldn't come up.

[knedsaid.livejournal.com]

Canada would be named Bob or Doug.

[tarafishes.livejournal.com]

Why was the first thing I thought of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series.

orz

This.

[powderthefox.livejournal.com]

100% approved.

[rainbowpui.livejournal.com]

America would be Johnny
because that's probably the most American name i know
and it makes me think of old movies and rock and roll

[miezen.livejournal.com]

Ah, I didn't so much mean that you thought it was wrong. I meant the "more French" comment. French fans have said that it's a pretty good name to use for him, and I think they'd know best. That's all.

[glory-of-hera.livejournal.com]

I love this, so much. > w <



on my note, I will think of names later ... All I know is that Greece must have a Cretan name ~ = w=

[powderthefox.livejournal.com]

Nah I'm not suggesting I know better than them--I agree that it's a perfectly fitting name, but it's the fact that it's also an English name that gets me. If it were me naming the nations, I'd try to keep their names as exclusive to their languages as I could (without it also being too obscure).

Again, just my opinion, for whatever it's worth!

[darkhue.livejournal.com]

I just really, really want the Italy brothers' last name to be Ferrari. We could be making so many horrible driving/riding jokes and innuendos. :| And it's supposedly one of the most common surnames in Italy...

[musubi7.livejournal.com]

I raise your super American name from Johnny to Jack.



And Gilbert's name should be Gunther.

[miezen.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes sense, actually. I've heard a lot of people whining about Francis vs François because "Francis isn't French enough", which is kind of what your first post sounded like. Sorry I jumped to conclusions, though!

That would probably be pretty difficult, though, honestly. Names usually aren't exclusive to one language. The cyrillic languages all use pretty similar names, for instance. And it just seems like that would kind of be a wasted effort, since there are a lot of nations that have the same language on top of that. And what about nations like Switzerland where there are more than one official language? It makes sense, but it just seems too logistically difficult to pull off.

[iwanttobeedo.livejournal.com]

America should be named David. *4chan reference* *is shot*

[iwanttobeedo.livejournal.com]

S. Italy = Guido Ferrari

8D

[iwanttobeedo.livejournal.com]

OH GOD. YOUR ICON. ♥

[pcthirtyone.livejournal.com]

Prussia's last name would be Ostermann instead. First name Felix.
America's first name would be James. I haven't come up with a good last name yet.
Germany looks more like a Lukas to me.
France first name would be would be Jacques.

Mmmm... something like that.

[powderthefox.livejournal.com]

Yeah it really did sound that way, actually... My fault for not really explaining at first, heh.;;

And yeah, I know full well all the problems that come with a mindset like mine (trust me, I've tried with my own OCs OTL). That's why I said "as exclusive to their languages as I could", because obviously there's gonna be tons of overlap, and in some cases it's just gonna be impossible because some languages are so closely related--it's all simply unavoidable. In the cases where it becomes ridiculous, I agree, it's a much better idea to just go with what you know and not be too picky.

[miezen.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was just discussing this with a friend on AIM, and I think the idea would ultimately end in disaster. If it was obvious that a pattern like that existed, a lot of people would assume that it's true for all of the countries. That could be a huge mess because of countries like Belgium. French and Flemish are both official languages there, but there's also a HUGE nation-wide tension between the Walloons (French-speaking), and the Flemish. Even if Belgium ended up with a name that was an exception, Belgian fans still might assume that her name was supposed to be directly from her language. If the name was French or Flemish, that could cause a big splash with potentially awful results.

[peachfloss.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you on the names thing. A lot of people say that he came up with the ones that do have names just to give in to the fandom's demands for kicks, which is why some names are sort of off (i.e.: Vargas is a Spanish surname, not Italian). I jst wish he'd follow through and give the rest of them names, even if they're not "perfect".