# What was Christopher Columbus' real name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216 "2003-02-24T19:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/1 "2003-02-24T19:09:33Z")
It seems unlikely that “Christopher Columbus” is what Isabella called him. Was he “Christobal Colon,” as we referred to him in my Spanish class, or “Christoforo” something, as I’ve seen elsewhere on-line? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/2 "2003-02-24T19:34:35Z")
The birth name of Columbus, a Genoan Italian, was “Cristoforo Columbo.” As was typical of the time, his name was latinized to “Columbus,” and that is the name he is know by in English. In Spanish, he is Cristobal Colón. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/3 "2003-02-24T19:42:15Z")
Why Columbo–\>Colon? Christoforo–\>Christobal, I get–it’s the local equivalent of a common name (just as, if I went to Spain today, I might be called “Mateo” instead of “Matthew”). But why Colon? (I assume this has nothing to do with the town of Cologne/Koln/etc. on the Rhine.) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/4 "2003-02-24T19:52:44Z")
Well, according to [this site](http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/FlatMisStat.htm), his real name was **Grigori Efimovich**. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/5 "2003-02-24T19:59:06Z")
They all mean “dove” (as in the boid). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/6 "2003-02-24T20:03:03Z")
And considering that doves were once known as “turtles” (because of the sound they make), his name could have possibly been translated as “Christopher Turtle.” Dozens of place names across the globe would have been otherwise named, and today we might be mourning the loss of the Space Shuttle Turtle.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/7 "2003-02-24T20:14:16Z")
I perhaps should have given the spelling of his birth name as “Colombo” instead of “Columbo.” As Mjollnir says, “colomba” in Italian means “dove.” After leaving Genoa, Columbus first settled in Portugal. While there, his name became shortened from “Colombo” to “Colom.” When he later moved to Spain, the final consonant became nasalized to “n,” in keeping with the pronunciation preferences of Castillian relative to Portuguese. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/8 "2003-02-24T21:06:13Z")
“By the way, there’s just one more thing I wanted to ask you Queen.” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/9 "2003-02-24T21:34:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \* > \*\*They all mean “dove” (as in the boid). \*\* Now I’ve got the voice of Slim Whitman stuck in my head: “Una Columbus blanca, I’m just a bird in the sky!” ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/10 "2003-02-24T22:58:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\*Why Columbo–\>Colon? > > Christoforo–\>Christobal, I get–it’s the local equivalent of a common name (just as, if I went to Spain today, I might be called “Mateo” instead of “Matthew”). But why Colon? (I assume this has nothing to do with the town of Cologne/Koln/etc. on the Rhine.) \*\* If I went to Spain, I would expect to be called “Andy”, because that’s my name. Why did proper names change based on location back then? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/11 "2003-02-24T23:09:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rucksinator \* > \*\*If I went to Spain, I would expect to be called “Andy”, because that’s my name. Why did proper names change based on location back then? \*\* Well, even today immigrants frequently adapt their names in accordance with local custom to make them easier to pronounce to their new neighbors. Here in Panama, depending on circumstances, I may go by either “George” or “Jorge.” Columbus’ contemporary Giovanni Caboto, an Italian who explored under the English flag, is generally known as John Cabot. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-christopher-columbus-real-name/157216/12 "2003-02-25T00:16:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Northern Piper \* > \*\*Well, according to [this site](http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/FlatMisStat.htm), his real name was **Grigori Efimovich**. \*\* The hell? Grigori Efimovich (Novyk) is the patronymic of Rasputin. I never realized he and “Mr. Colon” were one and the same.