There are a few places in Windows where you are asked to enter your name in order to set up an account. Just for fun, I went through all the localized versions I could find and extracted the sample names. Some locales did not get around to translating all the strings. If the string was left untranslated (which can happen for LIPs), then I left the box blank. (Locales which did not translate either string have been omitted from the table.)
My reactions after the table.
| Lang | English name | for example, John | For example: John Smith |
|---|---|---|---|
| af-za | Afrikaans | byvoorbeeld, John | Voorbeeld: Jan Smit |
| am-et | Amharic | ለምሳሌ: አበበ ከበደ | |
| ar-sa | Arabic | على سبيل المثال، أمجد | على سبيل المثال: أشرف ماهر |
| as-in | Assamese | উদাহৰণৰ কাৰণে, প্ৰবিন | উদাহৰণ স্বৰূপে: জন স্মিথ |
| az-latn-az | Azerbaijani | məsələn, Fərhad | Məsələn: Vüsal Tahirov |
| bg-bg | Bulgarian | например Kiril | Например: Пламен Христов |
| bn-bd | Bengali (Bangladesh) | উদাহরণস্বরূপ, জন | উদাহরণস্বরূপ: জন স্মিথ |
| bn-in | Bengali (India) | উদাহরণস্বরূপ, রাম | উদাহরণস্বরূপ: জন স্মিথ |
| bs-cyrl-ba | Bosnian (Cyrillic) | напримјер John | Напримјер: Алмир Алмировић |
| bs-latn-ba | Bosnian (Latin) | naprimjer John | Naprimjer: Almir Almirović |
| ca-es | Catalan | per exemple, Jordi | Per exemple: Pau Solà |
| cs-cz | Czech | například Tereza | Příklad: Jan Novák |
| cy-gb | Welsh | Siôn, er enghraifft | Er enghraifft: Siân Jones |
| da-dk | Danish | f.eks. Claus | Eksempel: Jens Jensen |
| de-de | German | N/A | Beispiel: Jens Mander |
| el-gr | Greek | για παράδειγμα, Γιάννης | Για παράδειγμα: Γεώργιος Βασιλείου |
| en-us | English | for example, John | For example: John Smith |
| es-es | Spanish | por ejemplo, Juan | Por ejemplo: Jorge López |
| et-ee | Estonian | näiteks Jaan | Näiteks: Mati Kask |
| eu-es | Basque | esaterako, Rafa | Adibidez: Ane Lizarralde |
| fa-ir | Persian | برای مثال، John | |
| fi-fi | Finnish | esimerkiksi Juha | Esimerkki: Henri Rautiainen |
| fil-ph | Filipino | halimbawa, Juan | Halimbawa: Juan dela Cruz |
| fr-fr | French | par exemple Rosalie | Par exemple : Marie Dubois |
| ga-ie | Irish | mar shampla, Seán | Mar shampla: Seán Ó Murchú |
| gl-es | Galician | por exemplo: Xiana | Por exemplo: Duarte Vidal |
| gu-in | Gujarati | ઉદાહરણ તરીકે, કમલેશ | ઉદાહરણ તરીકે: કમલેશ દવે |
| ha-latn-ng | Hausa | A misali:John Smith | |
| he-il | Hebrew | לדוגמה, John | לדוגמה: משה כהן |
| hi-in | Hindi | उदाहरण के लिए, अमित | उदाहरण के लिए: जनमेजय सिंह सिकरवार |
| hr-hr | Croatian | na primjer, Zdenko | Primjerice: Ivan Kovač |
| hu-hu | Hungarian | például Lilian | Például: Tót Béla |
| hy-am | Armenian | օրինակ՝ Արամ | Օրինակ. Արմեն Արմենյան |
| id-id | Indonesian | misalnya, John | Misalnya: John Smith |
| ig-ng | Igbo | iji maatụ, Chukwubike-ụgbaja | Ọmụmatụ̀: Ụgbaja Chukwubuike Greg |
| is-is | Icelandic | til dæmis Jón | Dæmi: Jón Jónsson |
| it-it | Italian | ad esempio, Luca | Ad esempio: Valeria Dal Monte |
| iu-latn-ca | Inuktitut | Suurlu: John Smith | |
| ja-jp | Japanese | 例: John | 例: Taro Chofu |
| ka-ge | Georgian | მაგ. Nino | მაგალითად: დიმიტრი გოგელია |
| kk-kz | Kazakh | мысалы, Джон | Мысалы: Аманбайқызы Айнұр |
| km-kh | Khmer | ឧទាហរណ៍ John | ឧទាហរណ៍: John Smith |
| kn-in | Kannada | ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ, ಜಾನ್ | ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ: ಜಾನ್ ಸ್ಮಿತ್ |
| ko-kr | Korean | 예: John | 예: 홍길동 |
| kok-in | Konkani | देखीक, जॉन | देखीक: जॉन स्मिथ |
| ky-kg | Kirghiz | Мисалы: Тилек Чубаков | |
| lb-lu | Luxembourgish | z. Bsp., John | Zum Beispill: Marc Majerus |
| lt-lt | Lithuanian | pvz., Jonas | Pvz., Jonas Jonaitis |
| lv-lv | Latvian | piemēram, Jānis | Piemēram: Jānis Zariņš |
| mi-nz | Māori | Hei tauira: Hone Mete | |
| mk-mk | Macedonian | на пример, Зоран | На пример: Бранко Стојановски |
| ml-in | Malayalam | ഉദാ: ജോണ് | ഉദാഹരണമായി: John Smith |
| mr-in | Marathi | उदाहरणासाठी, जॉन | उदाहरणार्थ: जॉन स्मिथ |
| ms-bn | Malay (Brunei) | sebagai contoh, John | Sebagai contoh: John Smith |
| ms-my | Malay (Malaysia) | sebagai contoh, John | Sebagai contoh: John Smith |
| mt-mt | Maltese | pereżempju, John | Eżempju: John Pace |
| nb-no | Norwegian (Bokmål) | for eksempel Kim | Eksempel: Jens Jensen |
| ne-np | Nepali | उदाहरणार्थ, जोन | उदाहरणको निमित्त: राम बहादुर |
| nl-nl | Dutch | bijvoorbeeld: Emma | Bijvoorbeeld: Jan Smit |
| nn-no | Norwegian (Nynorsk) | for eksempel Kim | Eksempel: Jens Jensen |
| nso-za | Northern Sotho | go fa mohlala, John | Mohlala: John Smith |
| or-in | Oriya | ଉଦାହରଣ ସ୍ଵରୂପ, ଜୋନ୍ | ଉଦାହରଣ ସ୍ଵରୂପ: ଦିପ୍ତି ରଞ୍ଜନ |
| pa-in | Panjabi | ਉਦਾਹਰਣ ਦੇ ਲਈ, ਜੌਨ | ਉਦਾਹਰਣ ਦੇ ਲਈ: John Smith |
| pl-pl | Polish | na przykład: Tomek | Na przykład: Jan Kowalski |
| pt-br | Portuguese (Brazil) | por exemplo, Marcio | Por exemplo: João Silva |
| pt-pt | Portuguese (Portugal) | por exemplo: Rui | Por exemplo: Jorge Santos |
| qps-ploc | Pseudo | ƒŏг єжåмþľę, Јσĥň | [sqymS][₣óя εхдmþĺĕ: Јǿћη Šмīťђ !!! !!] |
| qps-mirr | Pseudo (Mirrored) | [For example: John Smith] | |
| quz-pe | Quechua | qatina, Juan | Kay hina: Jorge Lopez |
| ro-ro | Romanian | Ion, de exemplu | De exemplu: Ion Popescu |
| ru-ru | Russian | например, Андрей | Например: Иван Петров |
| si-lk | Sinhala | නිදසුන් ලෙස, නිමල් | නිදසුනක් ලෙස: Don Lasith |
| sk-sk | Slovak | napríklad Ján | Príklad: Peter Kováč |
| sl-si | Slovene | na primer Janez | Na primer: Janez Kranjski |
| sq-al | Albanian | për shembull, Vehbi | Për shembull: Vehbi Neziri |
| sr-cyrl-cs | Serbian (Cyrillic) | на пример, Јован | На пример: Петар Петровић |
| sr-latn-cs | Serbian (Latin) | na primer, Jovan | Na primer: Petar Petrović |
| sv-se | Swedish | t.ex. Rebecca | Exempel: John Smith |
| sw-ke | Swahili | kwa mfano, Yohana | Kwa mfano: Mussa Joseph |
| ta-in | Tamil | எடுத்துக்காட்டாக, ஜான் | உதாரணத்திற்கு: குமார் |
| te-in | Telugu | ఉదాహరణకు, వేణు | ఉదాహరణకు: రామ్ లక్ష్మణ్ |
| th-th | Thai | ตัวอย่างเช่น John | ตัวอย่างเช่น: John Smith |
| tn-za | Tswana | sekai, Tidimalo | Sekao jaaka: Pule Molefe |
| tr-tr | Turkish | örneğin, Can | Örneğin: Kemal Etikan |
| tt-ru | Tatar | мәсәлән, Фәрит | Мәсәлән: Гали Вәлиев |
| uk-ua | Ukrainian | наприклад, Тарас | Наприклад: Тарас Руденко |
| ur-pk | Urdu | مثال کے طور پر, امجد | مثال کے طور پر: صفدر رشيد |
| uz-latn-uz | Uzbek | masalan, Akmal | Masalan: Adham Soliyev |
| vi-vn | Vietnamese | ví dụ, John | Ví dụ: John Smith |
| yo-ng | Yoruba | bí àpẹẹrẹ, Jòhánù | Bí àpẹẹrẹ: John Smith |
| zh-cn | Chinese (PRC) | 例如: John | 例如: 李建国 |
| zh-hk | Chinese (Hong Kong) | 例如，John | |
| zh-tw | Chinese (Taiwan) | 例如，John | 範例: 祝英台 |
| zu-za | Zulu | isibonelo, John | Isibonelo: John Smith |
Some observations:
- Many languages translated the words “for example” but left the name as John or John Smith. I’m looking at you, Sweden. “John Smith”? Really? You couldn’t have changed it to Sven Svensson?
- Some languages chose generic names (like Jan Novák), keeping to the spirit of the English sample name. Others chose to substitute a real name (like Marie Dubois). Commenter Hardt explains that Dubois is one of the most common surnames, and Marie is a very common given name. That there is a real person with the same name is unsurprising, but the intent was to create a generic-sounding name.
- German doesn’t provide a sample first name. My guess is that they ran out of room! The string Geben Sie einen Benutzernamen ein: probably took up all the space in the dialog, leaving no room for an example. Commenter Roland notes that the name Jens Mander aligns with the sample email address jemand@microsoft.com. The word jemand in German means someone.
- An anonymous commenter noted that the Italian generic name is usually Mario Rossi. It’s not clear where the name Valeria Dal Monte came from.
- Commenter Jonathan confirms that the Hebrew name Moshe Cohen is the canonical generic name, although “It’s slightly dated. Brings to mind the image of a guy in his 50’s, slightly balding, 30-year civil servant.”
- This information (and plenty of other translation goodness) is publically available for non-commercial use.
Related: The Locales of Windows 7, all divvied up.
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