Harry Potter’s Brazilian Translation: The Good, the Bad, the Why
The Good
Hufflepuff was translated to Lufa-Lufa.
Original name wouldn’t work/sound good in Portuguese because of how we’d pronounce the letter combinations
A+ silly nonsense name that works well with the language
Uses some of the sounds of the original name
Name changed for a solid, valid reason
10/10
Ravenclaw, became Corvinal
New name hearkens back to the original (corvo is the Portuguese word for raven)
Name changed for a solid, valid reason
10/10
Gryffindor was translated to Grifinória
Gryffindor is pronounceable in Portuguese and doesn’t sound too weird, so change unnecessary imo, but at least the new name is fairly close to the original
7/10
Slytherin was translated as Sonserina
Original name doesn’t quite work in Portuguese, but I think Slideríne would have been better
Though perhaps they were trying to play with snakey S sounds, which I can’t fault them for
8.5/10
Ron became Rony
Yes, it sounds funny in English, but it works well in Poruguese
Could have gone wih a nickname for Ronaldo insead hough.
9/10
Rubeus Hagrid changed to Rúbeo Hagrid
Frankly, I would have thought “Hagrid” needed more of a revamp than “Rubeus” (which could be fixed by turning it into Rúbeus)
I would’ve thought they’d change Hagrid into Rágrid to make his name sound right, but nope
That being said, Rúbeo wasn't an awful choice
6/10
Hedwig became Edwiges
Original name doesn’t work in Portuguese at all. Definitely a change that made sense, and into a name that’s pretty close.
10/10
Dudley became Duda
Yeah, Dudley wouldn’t quite work in Portuguese.
10/10
Dementors turned into Dementadores
Sounds better in Portuguese.
10/10
The Bad
Muggles became Trouxas
Way too negative for no reason. (Trouxa is a really rude way of saying “gullible” or “stupid”)
1/10
The Why
James became Thiago
Whyyyy?! We’re familiar with the name James because of James and the Giant Peach! James is pronounceable in Portuguese! And if you want to use a Portuguese form of James, Jaime sounds a lot closer han Thiago!
Albus became Alvo
Why?! Albus is a Latin word! It works perfectly fine in Portuguese!
