How do they come up with the names of Spies?

[de_baser]

I speak polish, swedish and danish and find all their names to be kinda weird.

The danish names are just regular first names, i feel they kinda lack flair.
In swedish, Ingegard, Vilma, and Herr Grå seem kinda weird.
I cringe at the polish ones, why are they all so weird? Marian is mentioned, but it's only first name, and in the middle - Krystyna Skarbek, a full name for no reason.

Also, i found a funny one in Mongolia: Asashoryu.
That's the name of a famous former mongolian sumo wrestler.

 

[EulerMcE]

I think it's a very minor issue. They're only there to add some flavour. The gender of the name Marian is a bit of a silly oversight but they probably don't have a native Polish speaker on staff and they sure aren't going to pay somebody for something as minor as looking over a few names for a single Civ.

I don't think the inconsistent manner in which they draw names or how they sometimes use full names are actual problems. I don't see how using shortened forms is an issue either.

Anyway people can just go to the XML if they want to modify them.

 

[A Rabid Dopsis]

This cousin thing is driving me mad!

 

[DemonMaster]

The Swedish "Herr Grå" is probably a reference to king Charles XI who (by myth?) travelled incognito wearing a grey coat. He was called greycoat.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

The Swedish "Herr Grå" is probably a reference to king Charles XI who (by myth?) travelled incognito wearing a grey coat. He was called greycoat.

Several other civs have Dr. Gray and Mr. Gray variations. I don't think it refers to anything specific for Sweden.

 

[DemonMaster]

Several other civs have Dr. Gray and Mr. Gray variations. I don't think it refers to anything specific for Sweden.

... and so does the myth about the king secretly in disguise to "check on his subjects".

 

[pilot00]

... and so does the myth about the king secretly in disguise to "check on his subjects".

Were I came from, we had a dictator that did that. And later build the national health care system

 

[PhilBowles]

I have a feeling that all these spies' names are based on common last names. All the Asian spies' names are the common last names for asian civilizations, or if not, very common.

Some are obvious allusions to specific figures, real (e.g. Ibn Battuta - not a spy in reality, but then not really a merchant either and he is/was a Great Merchant) or fictional (e.g. Mycroft, an uncommon if not wholly fictional English name but one associated with Sherlock Holmes' brother, a civil servant who acted as the detective's informant on government affairs).

It's just annoying. People like Walsingham fit into the game so much, especially now with the introduction of Catholo and Prots etc. Then theres Thomas Phellipes and Arthur Gregory but instead we get left with crap like James.

Historical figures popularly imagined as being spies, like Christopher Marlowe, too.

But Mycroft fits at least. And you can see where James is coming from - some of the other English names seem random.

Why is Shaanxi an Indian man? Shouldn't that be a Chinese name?

Only if the Chinese use provinces as spies... I don't think most Chinese province names are personal names.

Huh, there's an American spy called "cousin" and a celtic spy called "col ceathar" which means "cousin".

Am I missing some well-known spy thing?

Probably just a random choice like "Grey" or "Mr X" that they decided to copy across the lists for no particular reason.

 

[JtW]

they probably don't have a native Polish speaker on staff and they sure aren't going to pay somebody for something as minor as looking over a few names for a single Civ.

To be honest, if they asked on this forum, they would find people willing to do it for free. For one, I am Polish, have worked for many years as a professional translator, and would be willing to do something like that for free.

I even sent some corrections to the Polish version of the game - for free, as well.