: Re: Should I translate foreign names of companies, organisations, political parties etc? Is it okay to keep foreign names of companies, organisations, etc even if they have official English translations?

@Bryan361

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I'd go by the following guidelines:

One, if the company has an "English version" of its name that could at all be called "well known", I would use it. If you call a car company the "Modern Era Company", that might be a perfectly good and valid translation of the name. But everybody else in the English-speaking world calls it Hyundai, and it will just be confusing.

Two, if a translation of the name is coincidental to what the company is about, for example, if it includes a personal name or place name, I'd follow rule #1 as used for the original name. For example, the name of the French city of Dunkirk comes from words meaning "dune church". But if I was translating the name of a company called Meubles de Dunkerque, I'd say Dunkirk Furniture, not Dune Church Furniture. That translation would imply to English speakers that the company makes furniture for use in churches, rather than that they make furniture and they are based in a city named Dunkirk.

Three, otherwise, I would generally translate the name. I would definitely prefer "Swedish Steel AB" over "Svenskt Stål AB". It's more meaningful and easier to read.

The fact that you capitalize the words and put the "AB" on the end should make clear that this is the name of a specific company and not a generic description. If that's not clear, you can add a few words to clarify, like "the company named Swedish Steel" or "Swedish Steel, a Scandinavian company ..." Yes, it sounds redundant to stay, "Swedish Steel, a Swedish steel-making company ...", so I'd find an alternative wording. In any case, lots of companies in the US and UK have such generic-sounding names. British Rail, Bank of America, and U.S. Steel immediately come to mind. (Tangent: U.S. Steel changed its name to USX Corporation years ago, explaining that they now made many products other than steel. And thus they threw away what was at the time one of the most widely-recognized company names in America, generally ranking up there with McDonalds and Coca-Cola. Seemed pretty stupid to me, that would be like AT&T changing its name because they no longer operate telegraph systems. But whatever, different subject.)

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