A bilingual name is a name of a person that is spelled, if not pronounced, exactly the same in two languages. The speakers of a certain language usually have names that do not exist in another language. Even when the name has a common root or refers to the same historic or religious figure, different languages will spell and pronounce the name in a unique way. Thus a name with identical spelling in two languages may be of interest to parents of Third Culture Kids, or immigrants.
Children named after Alexander the Great, Saint Alexander, or any other Alexander are known as:
Alexander in English.
Alexandre in Portuguese.
Alejandro in Spanish, although commonly nicknamed Alex, just like the female name Alejandra. Sandro/a is a common variation.
Alexandre in French.
Alexandre in Catalan, commonly nicknamed Àlex.
Alessandro in Italian. Female: Alessandra.
Alexandru in Romanian, shortened to Alex or Sandu.
Alexand'r (Russian Cyrillic: Александр) in Russian, with Александра as a female name.
Aleksandar (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар) in Serbian, often shortened to Aca (Аца).
İskender in Turkish.
Eskandar or Sekandar in Persian.
(al-)Iskandar in Arabic.
Sándor in Hungarian.
Santeri in Finnish, which is shortened from Aleksanteri.
Or variations thereof.
Some languages don't have this or other names. This is the case with many Chinese names that are not translatable into English.
Today, personal names are seen as untranslatable, but this has not always been the case. George Walker Bush is referred to as George Walker Bush except in places where that name is impossible to render in the local alphabet. For example, in Azerbaijani the name is rendered Corc Uolker Buş because the Azerbaijani alphabet lacks the letters J and W, but has a letter ş which corresponds to the English "sh" sounds.
Historically, learned Europeans were often identified with Latinized versions of their names. Christopher Columbus was published as Christophorus Columbus. In Modern Italian, the same name is Cristoforo Colombo, in Portuguese as Cristóvão Colombo (formerly Christovam Colom), and in Spanish as Cristóbal Colón. Christophorus is the Latin version of the Greek Χριστόφορος (Khristóphoros).
Along with the comparatively slow changes in child-naming customs, many parents throughout the world give their child a name that does not have a common translation in their own language like Adabel Anahí, sometimes as an aspirational gesture.
Rarely used male bilingual names in English and Spanish
Aaron (rare in Spanish)
Abel (rare in both languages)
Abraham (rare in both languages)
Brendan (rare in both languages)
Bruno (identified with the Italian language both in English and Spanish)
Caleb (rare in both languages)
Crispin (rare in both languages)
Hugo (identified with the French language both in English and Spanish)
Jon (rare in both languages)
Leon (rare in both languages)
Levi (rare in both languages)
Mario (identified with the Italian language both in English and Spanish)
Noel (rare in both languages)
Oliver (identified with the German language more so in Spanish, but somewhat also in English)
Roman (identified with the French language both in English and Spanish)
Saul (rare in both languages)
Tobias (rare in both languages)
Tristan (rare in both languages)
Xavier (rare in both languages: associated with the French and Catalan)
Commonly used male bilingual names in English and Spanish
Adrian
Benjamin
Christian
David
Daniel
Damian
Felix
Gabriel
Isaac
Ivan
Julian
Lucas (disambiguation)
Martin
Oscar
Sebastian
Ruben
Samuel
Simon (disambiguation)
Victor (disambiguation)
Jesse
Rarely used female bilingual names in English and Spanish
Adabel (rare in both languages)
Aida (identified with the Italian language both in English and Spanish)
Alda (rare in both languages)
Alma
Anahí (most rare in English)
Belinda (rare in both languages)
Brenda (rare in both languages)
Calista (identified with the Italian language both in English and Spanish)
Dora (rare in both languages)
Edwina (rare in both languages)
Edilma (rare in English)
Juliana (identified with the Italian language both in English and Spanish)
Leonora (identified with the Italian language both in English and Spanish)
Marla (rare in both languages)
Martina (rare in both languages)
Norma (rare in both languages)
Tamara (rare in both languages)
Ursula (identified with the Italian language both in English and Spanish)
Virginia (rare in both languages)
Zoe (identified with the Greek language both in English and Spanish)
Commonly used female bilingual names in English and Spanish
Abigail - Rare in Spanish
Adelaide/Adele/Adeliza/Alix/Adela - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Amanda
Amelia/Amalia - The English spelling is tolerated in Spanish
Andrea
Anna/Ana - The English spelling is tolerated in Spanish
Annabel/Anabel - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Barbara - Rare in Spanish
Cecilia
Claudia
Diana
Dolores - Rare in English
Elaine/Eliana - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Emily/Emilia - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Emma
Gabriela/Gabriella
Gemma - Rare in Spanish
Helen/Helena/Elena - The bold spelling is tolerated in English and Spanish
Irene
Julia
Lisa - Rare in Spanish
Linda - Rare in Spanish
Mary/Maria - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Marcia - Rare in Spanish
Maura - Rare in English
Melinda - Rare in Spanish
Micaela - Rare in English
Miriam - Rare in English
Monica/Mónica
Naomi - Rare in Spanish, this name is actually a trilingual name as it exists in Japanese too.
Olga - Rare in English
Olivia
Patricia
Paula
Pauline/Paulina - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Pamela - Rare in Spanish
Priscilla/Priscila - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Rose/Rosa - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Sarah/Sara - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Serena - Rare in Spanish
Sophie/Sofie/Sophia/Sofia - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Susan/Suzan/Susann/Susanne/Suzanne/Susanna/Susannah/Susana - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Sylvia/Silvia - The English spelling is tolerated in Spanish
Tanya/Tania - The Spanish spelling is tolerated in English
Theresa/Therese/Teresa - the bold spelling is tolerated in English and Spanish
Veronica/Verónica
Victoria
