Harry Potter Wizard names for Japanese and Vietnamese

kenneth parnell · November 5, 2015

Harry Potter is an amazing story, and the cool names for all the wizards, itches, spells and more make it all the more spellbinding.

Enjoy the Japanese and Vietnamese words for wizards and more in the handy chart.

VARIOUS WIZARDING FOLK
English	Japanese	Vietnamese	Notes
Voldemort	ヴォルデモート Vorudemōto	Voldermort (Vòi-đờ-mọt)	The 'v' sound is a foreign sound which Japanese find difficult to pronounce. Although it can be rendered in katakana (as here) it is usually converted to 'b'. The reason that the translator uses 'v' in this instance is probably the exoticism of the sound. As a wizard of grand evil, Voldemort might seem reduced in stature if he was plain old 'Boldemort'.
You Know Who	例の「あの人」 rei no "ano hito"	Kẻ-mà-ai-cũng-biết-là-ai-đấy	'You know who' is translated as 'that person' in Japan. Rei no has the meaning 'that one that we both know we are talking about but don't want to mention'. In Vietnamese, the sentence means (in ungrammatical English): 'The one that everyone knows who he is.'
Tom Riddle	トム・リドル Tomu Ridoru	Tom Riddle	No Vietnamese transliteration given for Tom Riddle.
Marvolo	マールヴォロ Māruvoro	Marvolo	Voldemort's grandfather. The Japanese places the stress on 'Mar' by lengthening the syllable. Which raises the question, should it be Marvolo or Marvolo? The Japanese also has us pronounce the 'r' in Marvolo, which might make it sound almost Italian, were it not for the fact that it is uncommonly close to 'Marlboro' (マールボロ Māruboro)!
Merope	メローピー Merōpii	Merope	Voldemort's mother. The Japanese translator uses the correct pronunciation. Merope was one of the Pleiades, the only one with a human father. In Japanese, this would normally beメロペー Meropē, following the Classical Greek. Matsuoka here follows an Anglicised pronunciation, final 'e' pronounced.
Morfin	モーフィン Mōfin	Morfin	Voldemort's uncle. The Japanese translator uses standard transliteration from the English, i.e., the 'r' is not pronounced. The name thus differs from that of 'Marvolo'.
James Potter	ジェームズ・ポッター Jēmuzu Pottā	James Potter	The Japanese translator uses Jēmuzu (voiced 's') in preference to the more traditional Jēmusu (unvoiced 's'). No Vietnamese transliteration given for James and Lily Potter. 'Potter' would of course be Pốt-tơ.
Lily Potter	リリー・ポッター Ririi Pottā	Lily Potter
Sirius Black	シリウス・ブラック Shiriusu Burakku	Sirius Đen (Si-rớt Đen / Xi-rớt Đen) Sirius Black (Si-rớt Bờ-lếch / Xi-rớt Bờ-lếch)	At first the Vietnamese translator uses the Vietnamese word for 'black', before switching to a phonetic transliteration of 'black' later on. The consonants 'x' and 's' are both pronounced 's' in Vietnamese (although in some dialects the letter 's' is pronounced 'sh').
Peter Pettigrew	ピーター・ペティグリュー Piitā Petiguryū	Peter Pettigrew (Pi-tơ Pét-ti-gru)	The word 'screw' is usually romanised to sukuryuu in Japanese, even though no English speaker pronounces a 'y' after the 'r'. Similarly, 'Pettigrew' becomes a tongue-twistingPetiguryuu.
Nymphadora Tonks	ニンファドーラ・トンクス Ninfadōra Tonkusu	Nymphadora Tonks (Nim-pha-đô-ra Tângs)	The Vietnamese does not make it clear why Nymphadora objects to her name. In the Japanese, Nymphadora's objection appears to be to the meaning 'Little Nymphette'.
Kingsley Shacklebolt	キングズリー・シャックルボルト Kinguzurii Shakkuruboruto	Kingsley Shacklebolt (Kinh-slây Sêc-cơn-bôn)	Looking at the Vietnamese phonetic rendering, you would be hard put to come up with 'Shacklebolt' as the original English. The ls are both converted to ns and the initial sh is converted to an s (although in fact, that initial s is pronounced /sh/ in Saigon but not Hanoi dialect).
Ludo Bagman	ルードマン・バグマン Rūdo Baguman	Ludo Bagman (Lu-đô Bách-man)
Cornelius Oswald Fudge	コーネリウス・オズワルド・ファッジ Kōneriusu Ozuwarudo Fajji	Cornelius Oswald Fudge (Cornelius Fudge = Coọc-neo-lớt Phớt)	'Cornelius' proves to be somewhat of a tongue-twister in Vietnamese. The final sound in 'Fudge' is simplified and the vowel ớ appears to be modelled on American English.
Rufus Scrimgeour	ルーファス・スクリムジョール Rūfasu Sukurimujōru	Rufus Scrimgeour	For some reason, the Japanese translator keeps the 'r' sound at the end of 'Scrimgeour'.
Barty Crouch	バーティ・クラウチ Bāti Kurauchi	Barty Crouch (Bác-ti Cờ-rúc)	The Vietnamese translator uses a curious transliteration for 'Crouch'.
Amelia Susan Bones	アメリア・スーザン・ボーンズ Ameria Sūzan Bōnzu	Amelia Susan Bones
Arthur Weasley	アーサー・ウィーズリー Āsā Wiizurii	Arthur Weasley (A-ctơ Guýt-li / Ác-tơ Guýt-li)	In the Vietnamese, the 'r' is rendered as 'c', under French influence.
Molly Weasley	モリー・ウィーズリー Morii Wiizurii	Molly Weasley (Mơ-li Guýt-li / Môn-li Guýt-li)	In the Vietnamese, neither rendition of 'Molly' is particularly good.
Bertha Jorkins	バーサ・ジョーキンズ Bāsa Jōkinzu	Bertha Jorkins (Béc-ta Gioóc-kin)	'Bertha' in the Vietnamese resembles the French pronunciation. In Japanese it resembles the English.
Mundungous Fletcher	マンダンガス・フレッチャー Mandangasu Furetchā	Mundungous Fletcher
Lucius Malfoy	ルシウス・マルフォイ Rushiusu Marufoi	Lucius Malfoy	The Vietnamese translator doesn't give a footnote for the pronunciation of Lucius Malfoy. From elsewhere in the book, however, it's clear that 'Malfoy' should be pronounced Man-phoi.
Amycus Carrow		Amycus Carrow
Alecto Carrow		Alecto Carrow
Rita Skeeter	リータ・スキーター Riita Sukiitā	Rita Skeeter (Ri-ta Xki-tơ)	'Rita Skeeter' does not rhyme in either Japanese or Vietnamese transliteration. The Vietnamese translator notes that 'Skeeter' means 'mosquito' in English and that she is one of the paparazzi.
Mr Ollivander	オリバンダー老人 Oribandā rōjin	cụ Olivander (cụ Ô-li-van-đơ)	Mr Ollivander is known as 'old man/grandfather Ollivander' in both the Japanese and Vietnamese translations.
Igor Karkaroff	イゴール・カルカロフ Igōru Karukarofu	Igor Karkaroff	The Japanese transliteration reproduces all the r's in Igor and Karkarov, in line with normal practice for Slavic names. No Vietnamese transliteration is given for Prof. Karkaroff.
Victor Krum	ビクトール・クラム Bikutōru Kuramu	Viktor Krum (Víc-to Cờ-rum)	'Victor' in Japanese is Slavic in inspiration; on the other hand, Kuramu is the English pronunciation of 'Krum', rhyming with 'crumb'. The pronunciation given in the Vietnamese footnote is the opposite. 'Víc-to' is close to the English while 'Cờ-rum' is close to the Slavic pronunciation.
Olympe Maxime	オリンペ・マキシーム Orinpe Makishiimu	Olympe Maxime	マキシーム Makishiimu is standard transliteration (note that it is not マクシーム Makushiimu). オリンペ Orinpe is nothing like the correct French pronunciation, which would be オランプ. No Vietnamese transliteration is given for Madame Maxime.
Fleur Delacour	フラー・デラクール Furā Derakūru	Fleur Delacour (Phơ-lơu Đô-la-cua)	The Japanese transliteration is an unaesthetic mixture of English (フラー Furā) and French (デラクール Derakūru) pronunciations. The Vietnamese does not appear to be a particularly accurate representation of the French, either. Have the Vietnamese forgotten their French? Or is it just this particular Americanised translator?
Stan Shunpike	スタン・シャンパイク Sutan Shanpaiku	Stan Shunpike (Xten Sân-pai)	In Vietnamese, the letter 'x' is pronounced 's'; the letter 's' is pronounced 's' or 'sh', depending on the dialect.
Ernie Prang (Ern)	アーニー・プラング（アーン） Ānii Purangu (Ān)	Ernie Prang (Éc-ni Prang)	Vietnamese: The 'c' represents the 'r' sound in 'Ernie'. Japanese follows the English in abbreviating Ernie's name.

THE FOUR FRIENDS (ANIMAGI)
English	Japanese	Vietnamese	Notes
Moony	ムーニー Mūnii	Mơ mộng ngớ ngẩn	The Vietnamese translates 'Moony' as 'Foolish day dream', possibly in connection with the term 'mooning about'. mơ mộng = 'day dream'. ngớ ngẩn = 'simple, foolish, empty-headed'.
Wormtail	ワームテール Wāmutēru	Đuôi trùn	The Vietnamese translates 'Wormtail' as 'earthworm tail'. đuôi = 'tail'. trùn = 'earthworm'.
Padfoot	パッドフット Paddofutto	Chân nhồi bông	The Vietnamese translator translates 'Padfoot' as 'Cotton-padded paw'. chân = 'foot, leg, paw'. nhồi = 'stuffed, padded'. bông = 'cotton'.
Prongs	プロングズ Puronguzu	Dây nhợ lòng thòng	The Vietnamese translator translates 'Prongs' somewhat inexplicably as 'dangling wires'. dây = 'string, wire'. nhợ = 'rope, cord'. lòng thòng = 'hanging down, dangling'.

MAGICAL FOLK
English	Japanese	Vietnamese	Notes
Ronan	ロナン Ronan	Ronan (Rô-nan)	Ronan in Japanese has a short o where a long ō might be expected.
Bane	ベイン Bein	Bane (Bên)	Strictly phonetic. Neither tries to translate the meaning of 'bane'.
Firenze	フィレンツェ Firentse	Firenze (Phi-ren-zờ)	フィレンツェ Firentse is the name of the Italian city of 'Florence' ('Firenze') in Japanese.
Griphook	グリップフック Gurippufukku	Griphook (Gờ-rip-huc)	Phonetic.
Dobby	ドビー Dobii	Dobby (Đôp-bi)	Phonetic.
Winky	ウィンキー Winkii	Winky (Guyn-ki)	Phonetic.
Kreacher	クリーチャー Kuriichā	Kreacher (Cric-chơ)	Phonetic.
Fenrir Greyback	フェンリール・グレイバック Fenriiru Gureibakku	Fenrir Greyback	Phonetic. Neither version tries to make anything of 'Greyback'.

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