Just for fun: Sample user names in Windows 7

Raymond Chen

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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