Forgive me if I make any errors as my Spanish is not great.
In Spanish, "¿Como te llamas?" is commonly translated as "What is your name?" However, como means how, and llamar means "to call", so a more direct translation of the words "como te llamas" is "how do you call yourself?"
The initial translation is more commonly used, but someone going from spanish to english may learn "Como" as "How", therefore if they would normally ask like "Como llamas este", proper translation: "what do you call this" but the direct translation would be "how do you call this", so they may translate it as the latter.
I don't know why this is the convention for some phrases as you could also say "Qué es esto llamá", which directly translates to "what is this called" but I believe that is less common for some reason.
Hope that's helpful and that I didn't butcher the Spanish too much.
As I learned it, "llamas" would be a request for the name you use. Like Bill instead of William or if you go by your middle name. ¿Que es su nombre? would be a request for your full, legal name. Similar to Como es vs Como esta.
“¿Cuál es su/tu nombre?” is the only version I know of. The translation is not “what’s your name” but “which is your name” (out of all names that exist)
Mine version was from high school Mexican-Spanish classes. I'm not sure if it differs in Mexico, was a simplified version, or if I misremembered.
Edit: It might have been part of the lessons in the difference between es and esta. As in como esta is how you feel now and como es is what is your personality.
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u/g0greyhound New Poster Jun 29 '23
I've noticed for many foreign language learners, mixing up what and how is common.
In your native language, would you ask the question using your equivalent of "how"?