Personal Names in Esperanto: Johano, John or Ĝon?

A name in Esperanto can be written three ways, and the Akademio de Esperanto accepts all three. Fully Esperantised with an -o, respelt in Esperanto letters with no ending, or left exactly as its owner writes it.

These are the Akademio's own examples, from its 2013 recommendation.

• Mi loĝis en Nov-Jorko. - I lived in New York.
• Mi legas libron de Kalocsay. - I am reading a book by Kalocsay.

What Zamenhof did

The people in the Fundamento's Ekzercaro all have Esperanto names ending in -o:

• Johano kaj Petro estas amikoj. - Johano and Petro are friends.

Women's names take -o too. In the Fundamento, Mary is Mario. Today you also meet Maria, Sofia and Berta. PMEG says the Fundamento's -o is the model, but -a women's names are very widespread and must be tolerated; an -a is entirely fine when the national form already ends in -a, because the name then counts as not Esperantised. For Mary it lists three options:

Zamenhof stopped halfway with surnames. In §12 George Washington is Georgo Vaŝington: the given name Esperantised, the surname respelt with no ending. He wrote his own name the same way, Zamenhof, with no -o.

Three systems, and no single rule

The Akademio's Rekomendo de la Akademio pri la uzo de propraj nomoj (Oficiala Informo 22, 10 October 2013) replaced its 1989 recommendations. It names the three systems, and then declines to choose:

...nun ne eblas rekomendi unu solan ĉiam uzindan manieron trakti diversajn proprajn nomojn en Esperanto.

...it is not possible now to recommend one single method, always to be used, for treating different proper names in Esperanto.

• Akademio de Esperanto, 2013

It does lean one way, with modern examples: Vindozo (Windows), Linukso (Linux), Guglo (Google).

Indas plu flegi kaj subteni la kutimon plene esperantigi ofte uzatajn proprajn nomojn.

It is worth continuing to cultivate and support the habit of fully Esperantising frequently used proper names.

• Akademio de Esperanto, 2013

And it settles the question learners ask first:

Ĉiu esperantisto povas mem decidi kiuforme uzi sian nomon en la Esperanta medio.

Every Esperantist may decide for themselves in what form to use their name in an Esperanto setting.

• Akademio de Esperanto, 2013

A footnote on Zamenhof and Vaŝington. The 1974 Eighth Official Addition had read these two Fundamento spellings as full names with the ending silently dropped. In 2013 the Akademio annulled that reading: they are simply partly Esperantised.

Who gets which

Usage leans by who the person is:

• Mia nomo estas Mikaelo. - My name is Mikaelo.

Often only the given name is Esperantised and the surname kept: PMEG's example is Christeno Pedersen.

Esperanto has no compulsory rules for capitals (PMEG: Pri majuskloj kaj minuskloj ne ekzistas devigaj reguloj en Esperanto), so a surname printed in capitals, as in Kálmán KALOCSAY on a congress list or badge, is a convention for showing which name is the family name, not a rule. Capital letters has the rest.

The accusative on a foreign name

An Esperantised name ends in -o, so it takes -n like any noun:

• Mi konas Johanon. - I know Johano.

A name in its original spelling has no -o to hang the -n on. PMEG gives four ways out:

• Ĉu vi konas Annan? - Do you know Anna?
• Mi vidis Bertan. - I saw Berta.
• Elizabeto vidis Peter. - Elizabeto saw Peter.

Leaving it off works when the other name shows the roles. Elizabeto is fully Esperantised and has no -n, so it can only be the subject, and Peter must be the object:

Names in two parts

Every Esperanto -o word in a name takes the -n; a part left in its original spelling does not:

• Mi renkontis Christenon Pedersen. - I met Christeno Pedersen.

PMEG adds that Christenon Pedersen rather than Christenon Pedersenon is a habit, not a rule.

Joĉjo and Manjo: pet names

Two suffixes make pet names: -ĉj- for a man and -nj- for a woman. The Universala Vortaro says they go after the first one to five letters of the given name. The Fundamento's §38 works through a family:

• Ŝiaj gepatroj nomas ŝin Manjo. - Her parents call her Manjo.

How far you cut is taste: the Fundamento gives several forms and does not rank them.

The same suffixes work on family words. PMEG lists these:

1234

1. 1avoĉjo
2. 2panjo
3. 3paĉjo
4. 4oĉjo

Avoĉjo (grandad), panjo (mum), paĉjo (dad) and oĉjo (uncle): -ĉj- for each man, -nj- for the woman.

Avo is short, so PMEG adds -ĉj- to the whole word: avoĉjo.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Decide what you will call yourself in Esperanto, and use it.
2. Build a pet name for three people you know, with the right suffix.
3. Read the accusative again with names in mind.

See also

• The accusative - what the -n is for in the first place.
• Apposition - la urbon Parizon, and when the -n repeats.
• Countries and peoples - the same question for places.
• Letter writing and register - Kara Maria, and where a name sits in a letter.
• Affixes for size and people - the other suffixes that build a person.
• Who decides what is correct Esperanto? - the Akademio and what its recommendations are worth.
• Capital letters - capitalisation habits, all of them optional.
• Gender in Esperanto - -in-, and why -ĉj- and -nj- are the other sexed pair.