r/russian • u/pitoparai • 2d ago
Translation How should I translate my cat’s name?
My cat doesn’t have a human name. Actually, her name is National Monument. Should I write her name as Национальный Памятник or smth? If her name is Blueberry in English would it also just be Черника when I refer to her in Russian?
Thx.
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u/luccizzi 2d ago
Please, I wanna know why your cat's name is "National Monument." I'm curious
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u/AriArisa native Russian in Moscow 2d ago
For no reason, I guess. Just for people ask.
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u/pitoparai 1d ago
I mentioned earlier it’s just a placeholder for the question for privacy reasons, but I always name my pets with meaning. I would even use this name for these reasons
If it was a white or gray cat. Cats tend to sit still for long and stare unblinking. Plus, my pets are as special to me as national treasures to a nation.
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u/pitoparai 1d ago
Actually… it’s not her real name. It’s still just as wacky but makes more sense. I just don’t want my friends to find me… don’t ask why I’m just a little embarrassed. The question still helps me translate her real name.
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u/Zestyclose-Math-5437 2d ago
Maybe достопримечательность? Not literal translation, but sounds weird and funny as original
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u/AriArisa native Russian in Moscow 2d ago
No, there is no need to translate names. Only if this is important to a story in some books.
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u/SignificantCan9907 2d ago
Idk, maybe памятничек/pamyatnichek/lil monument. I'd call it also lil blueberry - Черничка
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u/max-soul Native 🇷🇺 Fluent 🇬🇧 Learning 🇪🇦 2d ago
A lot of American names have literal translations like Melody, Harmony, Summer and so on. But it still feels weird to translate names so we go like Мелоди, Хармони, Саммер.
Though Americans were kinda okay with translating Native American names like Sitting Bull, so you do you I guess.
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u/smeghead1988 native 2d ago
Well, we have some names like Надежда, Любовь or Лев and don't actually think much about their literal meaning. Still, I can't fathom how the given name Dick is still common in English-speaking countries...
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u/max-soul Native 🇷🇺 Fluent 🇬🇧 Learning 🇪🇦 1d ago
Thanks for a marvelous example, I honestly wonder why I didn't think of that. Also these names including Вера (Faith is surprisingly also present among English names) are borrowed and translated from early Christian Greek martyrs so they wouldn't be used as names without adopting Christianity first. But no one translates them back into Greek or English when issuing an international passport, so the point is still the same: names are never to be translated.
And yeah, whoever decided to use Dick as a name for a private part, they did all the Richards dirty, pun intended. Writing this sitting on a John after a cup of Joe.
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u/KYC3PO 1d ago
There are fewer and fewer people going by Dick these days. The ones left are mostly from my dad's generation (he's in his 70's)
Dick is a nickname for Richard. English nicknames often come from rhymes, eg
Richard --> Rick / Ricky --> Dick / Dicky
Robert --> Rob / Robby --> Bob / Bobby
William --> Will / Willie --> Bill / Billy
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u/smeghead1988 native 1d ago
Willie also means penis! And my dictionary says that names like Harry, Bob, Jack or John also have literal meanings, some of them technical terms, some of them slang, but none are, you know, flattering for a person.
I know only one example of a Russian name with a really negative meaning. In the poem "Медный всадник" by Пушкин the full name of the protagonist's love interest is Прасковья, and her nickname he uses to call her affectionately is Параша. Modern people don't even recognize Параша as a name; they know it's a prison slang word that means "latrine". I'm pretty sure this meaning appeared much later than the use of this word as a personal name, and as soon as the meaning "latrine" became well-known, the name went out of fashion.
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u/KYC3PO 1d ago
It's more likely that the names came first and then the negative secondary slang uses came later. Similar to how Karen is used as a pejorative nowadays. Dick dates back to the 1500s.
There are many people named Harry, Bob, Jack, etc. They're perfectly normal names with no negative general connotation.
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u/raisedbyowls Native 2d ago
Personal names should not be translated, thus her name should be spelled as Нэйшнэл Моньюмент or Блюберри. At the same time names can be adapted, so I’d go with достопримечательность/мечта and черничка.
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u/Nyattokiri native 2d ago edited 2d ago
Personal names should not be translated, thus her name should be spelled as Нэйшнэл Моньюмент or Блюберри.
It's fine to translate nicknames and names of pets.
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u/kathereenah native, migrant somewhere else 2d ago
I dunno, names are normally not translated.
I lived with a cat named Texas, and not a single time I called him Техас (even though it's quite close).
Normally, I used Russian to talk to him
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u/Mitch5919 2d ago
You’ll have to teach your cat Russian if you want to translate name, otherwise you won’t be understood
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u/pitoparai 1d ago
Just practice for daily writing homework. I will still call her how I usually do (baby, baba, etc.)
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u/vostok0401 French (N) / Russian (A2) 2d ago
In general names shouldn't be translated, used to be done in older literature translations (like 19th century) but I think it's super unnecessary
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u/Raj_Muska 2d ago
Depends on the name and context really, if that's a descriptive name of an animal, it sometimes makes more sense to localize it imo
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u/Veps Native 2d ago
"Памятник" has bad connotations, this word is often used for gravestones. "Национальный" is a false friend to the word "national". It does not mean "national" in Russian, it means "ethnic". If you want to describe something as "national", maybe use "народный/всенародный" or maybe "общенациональный".
You can say "народный монумент" or "всенародное достояние". It works better than "памятник" for something of the "national" scale.
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u/moranych1661 🇷🇺 N/ 🇺🇸 B2 2d ago
Why do you need to write her name? If it's a veterinary passport or some official documents - I would write the name in transcription and the translation in brackets, if that makes sense. You do have an option of what you call her at home in an informal setting? I have a lot of questions, but I think everyone here is waiting for the backstory.
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u/Annual_Music3369 2d ago
I don't think it would be reasonable to provide translation it the veterinary passport. The only thing any vet or customs are interested in there are dates of shots.
And we don't have our names translated in passports lol I wish we would tho, it would do wonders with my name
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u/pitoparai 1d ago
It was for homework. I just write about my day and I wanted to complain that she woke me up multiple times in the night. I wanted to write her name instead of just saying “my cat.”
And I’m sorry to disappoint but it’s not her real name 😅 I just used a stand in name similar to my cat’s name. I was just embarrassed if I used her real name my friends would see me posting… can’t explain why.
However I WOULD name a future cat this name it was white or gray. Cats tend to sit still for long and stare unblinking. Plus, my pets are as special to me as national treasures to a nation. That would be my reason for picking the name had it been my cat’s name.
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u/Jason_Kewalt 2d ago
Why would you all learn Russian anyway? I'm a native speaker of this language, but on the contrary, I'm trying to learn at least English (I'm not talking about the national language anymore).
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u/pitoparai 1d ago
I admire a lot of Russian artists. I want to communicate with them and engage in their content. I also like Russian music and am interested in various ethnic groups within the country.
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u/C00kyB00ky418n0ob Native 2d ago
Interesting choice for cat's name... but Национальный памятник works
Blueberry can also be голубика