Colombia
Columbia
Colón
Colombo
Columbus
Colomb
Colom
Places were usually named by settlers according to the rules of their own language. Columbus is the Latin variant, Colón is Spanish, Colombo Italian.
Back in 15th-16th century translating personal names was common.
The practice is still continues with monarchs today, see popes - John Paul ll was also Iohannes Paulus, Juan Pablo, Ivan Pavao …
Seems like we’re not entirely sure, but the most widely-accepted theory is that Portuguese sailors heard a Sinhala name and got it a little muddled when telling others Europeans about it
One British guy who got captured there while working for the East India Company wrote that it was this, except for that Europeans intentionally named it after Christopher Columbus because it already sounded really similar
There’s a bit in an Agatha Christie Poirot story about how if composer Guiseppe Verdi had been English he’d have been “Joe Green”. I’m not sure if Verdi ever used a translation, but it’s known that Beethoven referred to himself (or allowed himself to be referred to) as “Louis” in French. “Ludwig” is the German equivalent of that name.
I can recommend behindthename.com if this sort of thing piques your interest.
There are even more versions:
Colombia
Columbia
Colón
Colombo
Columbus
Colomb
Colom
Places were usually named by settlers according to the rules of their own language. Columbus is the Latin variant, Colón is Spanish, Colombo Italian.
Back in 15th-16th century translating personal names was common. The practice is still continues with monarchs today, see popes - John Paul ll was also Iohannes Paulus, Juan Pablo, Ivan Pavao …
Uhhhh… Just one more spelling, Sir, if you don’t mind…
See now I’m curious how Sri Lanka’s capital city got its name.
Seems like we’re not entirely sure, but the most widely-accepted theory is that Portuguese sailors heard a Sinhala name and got it a little muddled when telling others Europeans about it
One British guy who got captured there while working for the East India Company wrote that it was this, except for that Europeans intentionally named it after Christopher Columbus because it already sounded really similar
Never realized Pablo = Paul. Neat!
There’s a bit in an Agatha Christie Poirot story about how if composer Guiseppe Verdi had been English he’d have been “Joe Green”. I’m not sure if Verdi ever used a translation, but it’s known that Beethoven referred to himself (or allowed himself to be referred to) as “Louis” in French. “Ludwig” is the German equivalent of that name.
I can recommend behindthename.com if this sort of thing piques your interest.