It used to be that one would just translate a proper name that was in another language into English when referring to that entity. For example, William the Conqueror, Christopher Columbus, King Philip II of Spain, King John of Portugal, the city of Munich, Vatican City, or the Ivory Coast. Or just look at Pope Francis, who goes by a different name in every country.
But the current king of Spain is not John Charles, and his heir is not Philip. In the English press, he’s Juan Carlos and his heir is Felipe.
Similarly, the country of the Ivory Coast is now insisting that it be called “the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire” in English.
So when did we stop translating proper nouns into English? Is this some part of political correctness or is it a change in diplomatic protocol? How is one to know whether to translate a proper noun into something recognizable in English, or to leave it in the original?
Best Answer
Perhaps I'm deluding myself, but I like to believe that retention of (something closer to) the forms of proper names in their language of origin results from a reduction in linguocentrism and an increase in interest in (and respect for) the world's linguistic diversity.
We can see this warming to other languages even in the way Chancellor Merkel's name is pronounced by English speakers: Angela is a perfectly ordinary name in English, but we call Ms. Merkel AHNG-guh-luh, not ANN-juh-luh. Can you imagine anyone referring to President Francois Hollande as Francis Holland? That would sound as strange as calling Giuseppe Verdi Joseph Green.
Another sort of example of this sort of reduction in ethnocentrism and rise in cosmopolitanism has arisen recently in some international athletic events where contestants, e.g. Chinese, who customarily put their surname first rather than last are designated with their names in this order both in speech and writing. Sometimes this difference is cued in writing by the use of capital letters for surnames, so that the Chinese tennis champion is called LI Na. In an earlier era the placement of her surname would have been westernized to Na Li.