Facebook is introducing a new feature that will allow the users to display their names in their native languages. The feature will be available in a few countries.
Telling more about the feature, Facebook said, "Users' friends will see their names in the way that's most natural for them".
Facebook has also specified the difference between language-specific and alternate names. In "Changing your Name & Birthday" section of the Help Center, under "What is a language-specific name?", Facebook wrote:
“A language-specific name is your name, as it appears in another language. This way, your friends can see your name in a language they understand.
When you add a language-specific name to your Timeline, your friends will see your name in the way that’s most natural for them. So if they use Facebook in the same language as your language-specific name, that’s what they’ll see. Everyone else will see the name you signed up with. The language-specific name you use should be your real name as it would be listed on your credit card, student ID, etc.
Right now language-specific names are only available in a few countries. We hope to expand to more places in the future”.
Offering more clarification on the difference between language-specific and alternate names, Facebook said that a language-specific name is:
- The real, full name, as it appears in different language
- Shown at the places you have signed up with throughout the site (includes the Timelines, posts, comments, search results, and photo tags)
- Only visible to people who are using Facebook in that language
An alternate name on the other hand is:
- Different version of your name, which could be a nickname or maiden name
- Displayed in parenthesis, next to your name. But, is only visible on your Timeline and search results
- Visible to those who view your search results or Timeline
Here's a screenshot of the page of Evyatar Shpilman of Visual Communication, where he has the option of adding language-specific name in Hebrew.