Why are ponies so commonly renamed in other countries?

[Taffeta]

(ie Tiffany means white, albeit not a fan of humanoid names on ponies) but others are a bit...

Wait, Tiffany is Pearl though in the UK, right?
I've been calling her Pearl since I discovered the online pony community as a kid, I always -hated- Tiffany, with a firm belief that ponies do not need human names, as well! >.> Glad someone feels the same! I was so happy to discover she had an alt name, and Pearl was so beautiful to me. I always tried making up names for her before that, but once I discovered Pearl, she's been Pearl ever since.

Yes, she's Pearl in the UK I guess that can also be a human name, if we're picky - but I am still just in love with the UK characterisations of the Princesses, and gemstones and jewellery do kind of make sense...whereas Tiffany is a bit obscure unless you're into name meanings...

[Shaz]

...whereas Tiffany is a bit obscure unless you're into name meanings...

I am into name meanings, and I just have to be picky and say that I've never heard of Tiffany meaning white. It comes from Theophania (Greek, 'manifestation of God'). So even more of a random name for a pony! I much prefer the jewel names for the G1 princesses.

Names for ponies in other languages are always fun. Some are really pretty, for example Greek Elsi and Rozalyn. And some are just random: David is my new favourite example of this, I think. You have to wonder what was going through Hasbro/associated companies' minds....

[Taffeta]

Hm interesting. I had a name book as a kid which said it meant white...but if not it is even worse choice as a pony name.

[nessa16]

But Sticky and Sniffles are also bad names - Sticky? Do you guys call hobby horses stick horses or something?

Why yes, actually, we do. 

[Taffeta]

But Sticky and Sniffles are also bad names - Sticky? Do you guys call hobby horses stick horses or something?

Why yes, actually, we do. 

Ah, then that explains it. Because you see, to my British brain, the combination of 'Sticky' with 'Sniffles' is...erm...a little bit gross and definitely reminscent of flu season...

I guess that's why the names were changed here...though Tuggles and Toddles really still don't make much sense.

[Jorgito93]

I mean, is it dumber than Tim and Tom (their names in France) ?

[Taffeta]

I mean, is it dumber than Tim and Tom (their names in France) ?

Honestly? Yes. I mean, imagine the university application form
I also think Flic and Flac (is that right?) sounds cute.
But while we're on the subject of twin names, my favourite names from the French release are the G2 twins Drifter & Dreamer...or 'Vive la Vie & Vive le Vent". It doesn't translate so nicely into English (Jorgito, feel free to correct me but I think "Long live life" and "Long Live the Wind"?), but it sounds so cute in French. Most of my G2 ponies and almost all of my twins came from France when on holiday there so I always remember that from the insert.

Sadly they're the one set of twins I didn't find there, so mine are in English packaging. But I'd actually rather have them in French because those are the names I always identify them with. It took me a long time to learn the English names xD.

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Image from the pony Business site.

[nessa16]

But Sticky and Sniffles are also bad names - Sticky? Do you guys call hobby horses stick horses or something?

Why yes, actually, we do. 

Ah, then that explains it. Because you see, to my British brain, the combination of 'Sticky' with 'Sniffles' is...erm...a little bit gross and definitely reminscent of flu season...

I agree with you there.  I often don't even remember their symbols most of the time so stick horse usually does not come in to the line of thought.  In fact, I don't know that I actually made that connection until you said that.

[Jorgito93]

I mean, is it dumber than Tim and Tom (their names in France) ?

Honestly? Yes. I mean, imagine the university application form
I also think Flic and Flac (is that right?) sounds cute.
But while we're on the subject of twin names, my favourite names from the French release are the G2 twins Drifter & Dreamer...or 'Vive la Vie & Vive le Vent". It doesn't translate so nicely into English (Jorgito, feel free to correct me but I think "Long live life" and "Long Live the Wind"?), but it sounds so cute in French. Most of my G2 ponies and almost all of my twins came from France when on holiday there so I always remember that from the insert.

Sadly they're the one set of twins I didn't find there, so mine are in English packaging. But I'd actually rather have them in French because those are the names I always identify them with. It took me a long time to learn the English names xD.

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That's quite cute (also Drifter is one of the only g2 babies i have, nice coincidence).Your translation is right, Vive le Vent was probably chosen because that's the name of our version of Jingle Bells here (though they don't have anything to do with Christmas.... well it's cute so i don't mind)
Flic and Flac is cute, but i really can't see Flic as a baby pony name since it's slang for cop.

[Taffeta]

Flic and Flac is cute, but i really can't see Flic as a baby pony name since it's slang for cop.

Haha, so it is I had forgotten that Oh well, we know what that pony will be when they grow up

[BlushingBlue]

Yes, she's Pearl in the UK I guess that can also be a human name, if we're picky - but I am still just in love with the UK characterisations of the Princesses, and gemstones and jewellery do kind of make sense...whereas Tiffany is a bit obscure unless you're into name meanings...

I'm pretty sure Tiffany's name comes from Tiffany & Co., an American luxury goods store known for their diamond and sterling silver jewelry, so she's probably the one princess who is least off the mark of the gemstone theme. In the 80s, a lot of, shall we say, ambitious Americans named their daughters "Tiffany" in honor of the brand, which gave the name an extra spoilt-princess-y flavor befitting her cartoon persona. (Ironically, Tiffany Trump seems to be the least rotten of our foul usurper's adult children.)

In my own head, I double-barrel the princess names (e.g. "Tiffany Pearl", "Ruby Primrose") because that's the only way I can be sure to keep them straight. My brain always wants to associate the UK names with the color of the pony's gem symbol instead of the body color. That works okay for some ponies like Amber Starburst, but I instinctively want to call Princess Sparkle "Aquamarine" instead of "Amethyst." The UK names are just too pretty not to use though!

Ah, then that explains it. Because you see, to my British brain, the combination of 'Sticky' with 'Sniffles' is...erm...a little bit gross and definitely reminscent of flu season...

Oh, I'm glad someone else's brain went there too! Maybe it's because I've always found babies a bit gross, but Sticky & Sniffles just brought to mind snot-covered little fingers. In order not to be grossed out, I had to train myself to see Sticky as a tiny Vlad-the-Impaler and Sniffles as his suffering sibling who can't bring any friends to the house lest they get "the stick." (This was an improvement somehow? ) And because of Speckles & Bunkie's symbol, I assumed that their names must be excrement-related: Speckles like sprinkles of... well, you know. And that meant "Bunkie" was some sort of slang for #2. I was a strange child.

[Taffeta]

I admit I mentally censored myself for even thinking about what Speckles and Bunkie might mean, especially given the British (?) slang meaning of Spunky which rhymes with it and...yeah, so let's not go there.

I guess the nappy pin/safety pin symbol doesn't help with worrying implications.

Fleecy and Fluffy are weird and sound like descriptors for woollen sweaters, but are otherwise fairly unoffensive. Plus they do sound like kitten names, but they are cute that way.

I still have serious problems with Primrose = Ruby. Primroses are yellow by default. I mean, you can get other varieties, but generally, its 'primrose yellow'. So erm. What happened there exactly, Hasbro?

I don't get the UK names mixed up but I think it's maybe more because of the stories than anything else. As a five year old kid I had no idea what an Aquamarine gem even was, to be honest xD. But the characters were all so distinct I kept them straight.

[BlushingBlue]

I still have serious problems with Primrose = Ruby. Primroses are yellow by default. I mean, you can get other varieties, but generally, its 'primrose yellow'. So erm. What happened there exactly, Hasbro?

That's very interesting... In the US, what we call primroses are usually pink, sometimes with yellow centers. One of their common nicknames here is "pinkladies"! I wonder if it's a completely different plant from the English primrose or just a varietal difference... Two nations separated by a common language!

ETA: Just to explicitly loop this back around to the original topic, there might be reasons for renaming ponies that we don't understand simply due to our own incomplete viewpoints. Maybe in a certain cultural context "David" makes perfect sense... Or maybe it's still just bunkie.

[Taffeta]

I still have serious problems with Primrose = Ruby. Primroses are yellow by default. I mean, you can get other varieties, but generally, its 'primrose yellow'. So erm. What happened there exactly, Hasbro?

That's very interesting... In the US, what we call primroses are usually pink, sometimes with yellow centers. One of their common nicknames here is "pinkladies"! I wonder if it's a completely different plant from the English primrose or just a varietal difference... Two nations separated by a common language!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primula_vulgaris

^^ Primroses in the UK.

It mentions a pink variant at the bottom of the page too...but...it doesn't make a lot of sense to name the pony after the variant so I'm sure that's not the explanation.

I tried to get it to show me pink primroses on google but it kept directing me to Amaryllis instead, which are obviously different (sigh).

My Dad is a bit obsessed with primroses so the moment I saw the US Ruby name I was like...huh? But they're yellow!

And of course we also have this:
https://www.dulux.com.sg/en/colour-palettes/primrose-yellow

Which just adds to my confusion. I mean, we're basically taught that primrose = yellow like blue = sky xD.

It must be a cultural local name or something I guess? But even so would it not have been better to use just...well...rose? o.O

But it does explain why no pink Princess Primrose in the UK

[LadyMoondancer]

Nothing quite like the common names of plants to cause confusion!  Here's the typical selection of primroses that are sold as annual plants in US garden stores:

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There are yellow ones, but yellows are definitely not considered "the" color for them or anything.

To me the weird thing about Primrose is that she is called that instead of Princess Sparkle, the pony with the flower symbol.  But I guess butterflies do like flowers so it's not too out there.

Tiffany = Tiffany's makes so much sense!   It was also a really popular 80s name for some reason.  Like in 4th grade a bunch of girls at my school started a "Tiffany Club" where they added 'Tiffany' to the front of their actual names.    To get initiated you had to ask for a bathroom pass, then stay in the bathroom so long the teacher had to come get you.  Kids are so weird!