This subject has come up on the Italian Language Forum.

I'm curious to know if there is a difference of opinion among the native French speakers and French learners out there regarding the French translations of many of the names in the Harry Potter books: what do you think of the French name substitutions - i.e. like "Poudlard" for Hogwarts, and "Serpentard" for Slitherin, etc.?

I don't know all the proper English names in Harry Potter as I haven't read the English books (nor the French translations as it is). But in the movies, the names seemed proper to my French ears. Now a true fan of Harry Potter would have a better opinion on the correctness of the translation!

When I first started reading the series to learn French, I didn't know that the names had been changed-- went around trying to discuss "Poudlard" and "Rogue" with people here (in NY) and was met with blank stares.

The changes were not very consistent-- why were "Mr" and "Mrs" (Dursley / Weasley) kept in English?

Book 7 was the only one I've read in English (first half of the Scholastic edition and second half of the Bloomsbury), and they seem to have cut back on the American "translating" that bothered people before.

My sense is that "translations" like Poudlard, Serpentard, Pouffsouffle, etc., are within the spirit of the English original. To my mind, "Hogwarts" has a certain quality (conjuring an old, academic stuffiness?) that Poudlard kind of approximates - same situation for the other two.

As far as changing people's names, I'm not so sure...

For the French speaker the names are easier to pronounce like poudlard = poulet than Hogwarts much harder to pronounce. I think thats the issue in name changes.

As for translations my kids read both the English and French books and also the movies, here in France you can see then VF =version Française and VO= version originale.And they do cut a lot of stuff and sayings from one to the other. I guess is to adjust to local tastes or just tells you how hard translating languages is. I know because I speak four and sometimes get tangled up .

Any chance that "Albus Severus" could have come from "Albert Savarus"? Snape/Rogue certainly had something in common with Savarus, and Rowling majored it French literature.

Nobody here is a fan of both Harry Potter and Balzac?

I haven't read Harry Potter in French but I can say this: because French is my first language, I was able to enjoy the books on a different level. The author uses words that are often borrowed or derived from old French and latin and if the reader doesn't have an understanding of either languages, some subtleties are lost on him or her.

We can think of "Lestrange" for instance, or even better "Malfoy" which is obviously derived from "Mal foi", meaning "bad faith". When we know the character named "Malfoy Draco", we better understand why Rowling chose that name!

And is there a prettier name than "Fleur Delacour", once you know what it means?!!!

Good points, Christian. Thanks.

I also like the onomatopoeic names like Pouffsouffle.