Is this even possible? I have never heard of a direct translation of James into Italian. And my friend Jim (who just bought an apartment in Florence, so I should say "my very good friend Jim"!) says he was told that there simply is no translation.

Is that really the case?

Thanks!
Sandra

Italian Baby Names

Giacomo
English translation/equivalent: James, Jacques

Origin: Derived from the Hebrew and is composed of the oral root qb which means "protect," with the significance of "God has protected, follower of God."

Name Day/Onomastico: July 25—in memory of St. James the Apostle, martyred in 44.

Everyone calls my cousin with this name "GIACO" (no relation to the gloved one) as a nickname.

James or Jim?

...mmmh let's see...

James or Jim!!

Names are names, you should never "translate" them.

Anyway, if you really must, it is Giacomo.

Jacopo is the Spanish version of the name, and pretty frequently used in Italian too (often spelled Iacopo).

Alessandra, you make me laugh!

But we seem to have a consensus with Giacomo. Can I assume it's pronounced, Gee-AH-como? Roughly similar to Giovanni?

Thanks for the background, Patricia, I'll share this with Jim -- or perhaps, as Stefanaccio suggests, "Giaco"

Alice, Jacopo is an interesting variation -- it sounds kind of dashing. I'll try that when I'm really trying to curry favour with Jim (so I can borrow his apartment in Firenze!)

Thanks again,
Sandra

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:
Jacopo is the Spanish version of the name, and pretty frequently used in Italian too (often spelled Iacopo).

It's Jacobo, with a "b". Jaime is another translation of James as well as Santiago (St. James).

hate to be picky...and am far from the expert on Italian pronunciation, but... think you are a bit better saying "JAH-komo" (as opposed to "Gee-AH-como").

quote:

Originally posted by María I.:

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:
Jacopo is the Spanish version of the name, and pretty frequently used in Italian too (often spelled Iacopo).

It's Jacobo, with a "b". Jaime is another translation of James as well as Santiago (St. James).

Yeah, I was about to say the same thing - in my years in Latin America (and in the US for that matter) I have known tons of guys named Jaime (I love the name!), a few named Santiago, and for Jacobo, the only one I can think about is Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala.

quote:

hate to be picky...and am far from the expert on Italian pronunciation, but... think you are a bit better saying "JAH-komo" (as opposed to "Gee-AH-como").

Exactly. This is actually one of my pet peeves with English speakers pronouncing Italian . Definitely think of it as one sound, as Stefan nicely articulates: JAH, not GEE-AH! The "i" just softens the "g".

And, Alice, I would have thought that Jacopo (or Jacobo, for that matter) would be the equivalent of Jacob, no?

quote:

Originally posted by María I.:
It's Jacobo, with a "b".

As it is used in Italy, it's always spelled Jacopo or Iacopo, with "p". And we were discussing Italian.

quote:

Jacopo is the Spanish version of the name, and pretty frequently used in Italian too (often spelled Iacopo).

Hm.... in Spanish class, for many years, I was told that the Spanish equivalent for James is, in fact, Diego...

Giulia, what say you?

Before you mentioned it, David, I never heard about Diego being the Spanish equivalent for James (I would have said Jacobo, Santiago and Yago), but reading a bit about it you're right... Diego is yet another version of the same name since it comes from Hebrew Ya'cob.
So in Italian I would say that James can be Giacomo (giAcomo, while in Spanish is JacObo), Iacopo/Jacopo (same pronunciation)... and Diego....

Thanks for fixing my shoddy pronounciation of JAH-komo, Stefanaccio and David. Clearly, my ear is very lazy!

Chiocciolo and Maria, both Jacobo and Santiago seem so much more poetic than plain old Jim! Diego also intrigues...

Thanks, Guilia, for the lovely summary -- Jim will have a lot of choices.

Now, if only I had such elegant choices instead of plain old Sandra.....

Thanks again everyone.

quote:

Now, if only I had such elegant choices instead of plain old Sandra.....

Well, you could always be creative and give yourself the diminutive of Sandrina! Or Sandretta. Or Sandrinetta.

Cheers,

Well, David, I must confess that last year, after I growled in the office once too often, I was presented with a mug engraved: Sandranista.

I think I like Sandrinetta better!

Cheers,
Sandra

I'm with Alessandra, names are names and they should not be translated. My daughter came home from school last week with homework on this topic. She (since she has an American mother) and the other children with foreign parents had to "translate" the names of all of the kids in her class. I refused in a sense by writing to the teacher the comparative names (Elena - Helen) but that if Elena goes to an English speaking country to live or vacation, her name does not change to Helen.

I always have a problema with my name, in Italy, too.

The "A" sound in Jan just doesn't exist in Italian, neither does a "J". I thought about trying to spell it Gian but that just isn't it.
Mostly I just enjoy whatever pronuciation they come up with but it's often not quite right.

Maybe for this trip I'll change my name...

jan

Another vote for not translating names. In Italy people pronounce the "i" in my name (Linda) the Italian way not the English way but other than that....
Of course, it is a word in Spanish.

I agree. In Italy, sometimes I get David with an English pronunciation, sometimes DAH-veed, and sometimes "Davide," - DAH-vee-deh. All three work for me.

I also agree that names should not be translated but it is fun to know the Italian version of our names. My Italian cousins don't call me María because there are three relatives named Maria. They use my middle name, Isabella, or the name I've been called since birth, Marisabel. My husband's name is Iván and they call him Ìvan and not Ivano.

quote:

Originally posted by David:
And, Alice, I would have thought that Jacopo (or Jacobo, for that matter) would be the equivalent of Jacob, no?

Jacob would be Giacobbe. It's an unusual name, but still one that does exist.

When I am in Italy or Spain or Central or South America, I produce my name the way the locals would read it. So "Bill" then rhymes with "feel". I do my surname the same way. I don't use William although that's what on my passport.

Bill