Question
Asked 22 December 2024

Are there any books whose translated titles have become more popular than the original?

I want some examples of famous books where the titles were significantly altered in translation.
Why are book titles often changed when translated into another language?

Popular answers (1)

Sundus F Hantoosh
Higher Institute of Forensic Sciences Al-Nahrain University Baghdad
Dear Doctor
[the Bible
Unsurprisingly, the Bible is not only the world's most widely sold but also most translated book in the world. Individual parts have been translated into 3,394 languages, and the complete Bible into 694 languages.]
9 Recommendations

All Answers (3)

Sundus F Hantoosh
Higher Institute of Forensic Sciences Al-Nahrain University Baghdad
Dear Doctor
[the Bible
Unsurprisingly, the Bible is not only the world's most widely sold but also most translated book in the world. Individual parts have been translated into 3,394 languages, and the complete Bible into 694 languages.]
9 Recommendations
Haifa Hussein
University of Al-Qadisiyah
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Original Swedish Title: Män som hatar kvinnor ("Men Who Hate Women")
The English title sounds more thrilling and mysterious, which likely contributed to its popularity.
2. "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
Original Title: Ten Little Niggers (UK, 1939), later changed due to offensive language.
The translated title became far more acceptable and is now the standard worldwide.
3. "The Sound of Music" (based on the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers)
The translated title (for the musical/movie adaptation) became iconic, while the original memoir's title is less known globally.
4. "The Elegance of the Hedgehog"
Original French Title: L'Élégance du hérisson
The English version closely translated the title, but the evocative phrasing in English likely helped the book gain international fame.
5. "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Original German Title: Im Westen nichts Neues ("Nothing New in the West")
The English title conveys the same idea but with a more poetic tone, making it more memorable.
8 Recommendations
Hans Kronning
Uppsala University
Among the English translations of the French novel À la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust, the first translation's title Remembrance of Things Past is probably more popular, as it is taken from a Shakespeare sonnet. This is why it is "significantly altered" from the original title. This is not the case in later English translations where the title is In Search of Lost Time.
3 Recommendations

Similar questions and discussions

What was the Human Being like before "Original Sin"? [ Research Juana María Arcelus-Ulibarrena] ?
Question
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  • Juana Maria Arcelus-UlibarrenaJuana Maria Arcelus-Ulibarrena
This is a Technical Question, necessary for my Research on the pre-Indo-Europeanness of the "Basque Ancestral Race"
[Please don't give answers from Wikipedia]
BEFORE ORIGINAL SIN [Cf. Mark 1:12-13; Isaiah 51:3]
Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground 7 Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Ariver watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold 12 [The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d] and onyx are also there] 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” 18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man 23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman”, for she was taken out of man”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame [NIV]
REFERENCES
[a] Genesis 2:5 Or land; also in verse 6
[b] Genesis 2:6 Or mist
[c] Genesis 2:7 The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground [adamah]; it is also the name Adam [Cf. verse 20]
[d] Genesis 2:12 Or good; pearls
[e] Genesis 2:13 Possibly southeast Mesopotamia
[f] Genesis 2:20 Or the man
[g] Genesis 2:21 Or took part of the man’s side
[h] Genesis 2:22 Or part

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