The Sims with different names in other languages: Pleasant family

For the last 20 years, The Sims has entertained many players in all corners of the world. The most recent edition of the franchise, The Sims 4, has been translated into over 18 different languages.

You can change the language you play in from the Origin launcher, with full instructions shared over on the official Sims 4 website.

Somewhat disappointingly,  the list of translated languages does not include Simlish – the made-up language spoken by Sims themselves. Disclaimer: That is a joke, in case it does not translate.

While it is obvious that the translations will include the game’s interface, interactions and game objects,  some pre-made families also have their names translated.

A while back, we looked at what Bella Goth is called in other languages. This tickled us so much, that we’ve been looking at the translated names of some other Sim families, too.

We’ve been whizzing up a whole series of these and today we’ll look at the translated names of the Pleasant family. OG Simmers will tell you that Daniel has been part of the Sims game since its first iteration over two decades ago.

His two daughters Angela and Lilith featured in The Sims 2 and returned in The Sims 4 along with their mom Mary-Sue Pleasant.

If you have even a passing interest in languages, the translations will be fascinating to you. For most Sims, their first names remain mostly unchanged across the various translations of The Sims. The changes to surnames, however, are fascinating.

Let’s start with the names of the Pleasants, though. Angela has a few changes, she becomes Anna in Danish, Anneli in Finnish, Amalie in Norwegian, Angelica in Swedish, Ângela in Brazilian Portuguese and Adéla in Czech. Lilith’s name varies from Lenka to Lotte, Leena, Lilli, Lillian Liliana and some others.

Daniel remains the same across most languages except for Dutch, where he becomes Patrick. He is also known as Tapio in Finnish. Mary-Sue has a few variants on her name, Maj-britt, Marie-Claire, Elina, Maria Sofia, Marie-Louise, Marysia…and others.

Ok, we know we said the names stay mostly the same. We did say mostly, right?

The surname Pleasant, meanwhile, becomes  Dos Encantos in Brazillian Portoguese –  a rough, direct translation would mean “two charms”.

In Danish, it is Godmodighsen. While I’m not sure if there is a direct translation,  it has similarities to the word “goed moedig” (Dutch/Afrikaans), which would translate to “well natured/mannered”.

Spanish translates the Pleasants’ surname to ‘ Gentil’… which is not a lowkey reference to anatomy, but rather “gentle” as in, gentile. 

For Swedish, we get Trevlig, which according to the magic Google Translate button simply means “nice”.

We’ve put together some of the translations of all the members of the Pleasant family in The Sims down below – each in its own comparison table, sourced from the game itself and the fandom wiki.

If you spot a mistake in any of the names or translations, please contact us to let us know. If you have some insights of your own to add about any of the translations (like why Daniel becomes Patrick, for example), please also contact us and share them.

The Sims in other languages: Daniel Pleasant

The Sims in other languages: Mary-Sue Pleasant

The Sims in other languages: Angela Pleasant

The Sims in other languages: Lilith Pleasant

Antoinette Muller

Antoinette is a recovering journalist, having written for Sports Illustrated, The Guardian, Daily Maverick and others. She has won multiple SAB Journalist of the Year awards, across a variety of categories. She thinks it’s strange writing about herself in the third person, unless she’s playing as herself in The Sims…which she’s been doing for over 20 years.