Thousands of books get published each year but only some of them become true hits and are then subsequently translated into other languages and published in different countries as well. Harry Potter is one of these highly successful series. To this day, it was published in over 200 countries. What's more, it was translated into more than 60 languages.
Since J.K. Rowling came up with a lot of her own words in the series that were brand new or inspired by different words and also created multiple puns, it was no easy task for foreign translators to create another version of her stories in different languages. Some of the translations followed the original closely while others came up with their own interpretation. For example, the name for Hogwarts is slightly different in many languages.
French
The French language isn't easy to learn, but it has a lot of charm thanks to its musical and melodic nature. Hogwarts was then translated as Poudlard. That comes from the phrase 'pou du lard' which means 'lice of fat/bacon'.
While the French name for Hogwarts may sound poetic, it's probably for the best not to think too hard about the meaning of its origin because it is nowhere as lovely.
Hungarian
Another European country, Hungary, chose a different approach for the translation. It was one which paid homage to the home of Harry Potter: the United Kingdom. In the Hungarian version of the book series, Hogwarts was translated as 'Roxfort'.
This translation combines the name of one of the most prestigious British universities - Oxford - and Roquefort which is a blue cheese which, surprisingly, doesn't come from Hungary but from France.
Dutch
The Duch translation of Harry Potter was complicated and in many ways innovative since it chose to use Dutch words different from what J.K. Rowling wrote. For Hogwarts specifically, it meant that the school got a much longer name: 'Zweinstein Hogeschool voor Hekserij en Hocus-Pocus'. That is quite a mouthful.
In English, it can be translated as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the end, the Dutch name is more apt since it clearly suggests that the school's students study magic.
Italian
Italian is a musical language a bit similar to French. However, it chose an approach similar to Dutch. In the Italian Harry Potter translation, Hogwarts became 'la Scuola di Magia e Stregoneria di Hogwarts'.
Again, it's quite a long name but it appropriately describes the curriculum of the school. The Italian name means 'the Hogwarts School of Magic and Witchcraft'. 'Stregoneria' could also alternatively be translated as sorcery or spell but using the word witchcraft probably sounded better to the translator.
Spanish
Speaking of musical and melodic languages, Spanish can't be amiss on this list. It's widely used not only in Europe but also in the United States. In Spanish, everyone's favorite magical school got the name: 'Colegio Hogwarts de Magia y Hechicería'. That means 'Hogwarts College of Magic and Wizardry'.
So it's in many ways similar to the previous translation but what's interesting is that the translator decided to use the word college instead of the word school, making it clear that the students attending Hogwarts were a bit older.
Russian
Russian translation of Harry Potter was made complicated by the fact that Russian doesn't use the same letters and sounds as English does. For example, Russian doesn't have the same H sound and there's also no letter W in Russian.
Hogwarts was written as 'Хогвартс', and when pronounced, the W inside changes into a V sound. Funnily enough, even though Russian doesn't like to use the H sound at the beginning of words (so Harry, for example, becomes Gary), it did so in the case of Hogwarts since it wasn't a previously existing word like Harry is.
Chinese
Chinese has multiple dialects and versions so it makes sense there also multiple ways Hogwarts was translated in this language. One of the versions is: '霍格沃茨魔法学校'. Written phonetically, it would be 'Huògéwòcí mófǎ xuéxiào' which means Hogwarts School of Magic.
The Mandarin Chinese dialect in Taiwan has a different name: '霍格華茲魔法與巫術學院' or 'Huògéhuázī mófǎ yǔ wūshù xuéyuàn'. Its meaning is Hogwarts College of Magic and Witchcraft. So from one version to the next, there's an obvious difference in adding the word Witchcraft and switching the word School for the word College.
Irish
From all the countries on this list, Ireland is the closest one to the United Kingdom but it still has a different name for Hogwarts in Irish. The Irish version is: 'Scoil chomhoideachais draíodóireachta Hogwarts' which even native English speakers would struggle with pronouncing.
What it means is Hogwarts Co-Educational School of Magic. In case somebody isn't sure what it means, co-educational school is the type of school where both male and female students can study together (not like in many British boarding schools).
Serbian
In terms of translations for Hogwarts, the Irish name isn't the only one that makes it clear that Hogwarts hosts both female and male students. The Serbian translation makes it even more obvious that Hogwarts is open to everyone regardless of their gender. The name is this language is: 'Hogvortska škola za veštice i čarobnjake' which means Hogwarts School for Witches and Wizards.
Czech
The Czech translation played a lot with the meaning of the words and tried to keep them as close as possible to the original version. Sometimes it worked more, sometimes less. In the case of Hogwarts, the school is called 'Bradavice' in Czech. Bradavice is a Czech word for 'warts' so the Czech name only keeps half of the original name.