Doesn't it cause confusion if the names are the same?
Regarding the topic at hand, there is a passage I would like to quote first. It comes from "The Enemy" (2004), one of the novels in the series featuring the truly compelling protagonist Jack Reacher, written by Lee Child—an author whose work I love and read avidly. It is a conversation Jack Reacher has with a certain woman.
"I have to go to Paris," I said.
"Paris, Texas?" she said. "Or Paris, Kentucky, or Paris, Tennessee?"
"Paris, France," I said.
A Japanese translation of this novel has been published. However, many Japanese readers who encounter this dialogue are likely left completely baffled, unable to grasp the meaning at all. The reason is that they are unaware—and cannot even imagine—the fact that cities named "Paris" exist in the United States, and in multiple states at that. Underlying this is a cultural difference between Japan and the U.S.
In the United States, there are countless cities that share the same name—and not just "Paris." In Japan, however, there is an unwritten rule designed to prevent the creation of cities with identical names. Consequently, there are only two pairs of cities in Japan that share a name: Fuchu City (in both Tokyo and Hiroshima Prefecture) and Date City (in both Fukushima Prefecture and Hokkaido).
I would like to add a point of interest here.
There are more than twenty places in the United States—ranging from cities and towns to small communities—named Paris. These can be divided into two groups: those that feature a replica of the Eiffel Tower and those that do not. The locations mentioned in the dialogue between Jack Reacher and the woman—Paris, Texas; Paris, Kentucky; and Paris, Tennessee—all belong to the group that features an Eiffel Tower replica.
I have visited Paris, Texas, and Paris, Tennessee, with my wife specifically to see their Eiffel Tower replicas. Furthermore, I have traveled alone to the U.S. for MLB... During the many road trips I’ve taken across the U.S. to visit sites associated with Major League Baseball and its players, I’ve also made a point of visiting—one by one—various towns and cities named "Paris." I even went to see the Eiffel Tower replica in Paris, Kentucky... While the primary purpose of my U.S. road trips is to visit locations linked to the Major Leagues and their players, I also enjoy stopping by other places that pique my interest.
There is a reason I started this discussion with the topic of city names. It is because I want to focus this piece on the names of Major League teams.
In Japan, where care is taken to avoid the creation of cities with identical names, you never see a professional baseball team name being used by a team in another professional sport; I don't believe a single such instance exists. In the United States, however, where cities sharing the same name are commonplace, it is not unusual for professional teams in other sports to use the same names as Major League teams. Examples include the New York Giants in the National Football League (there is a San Francisco Giants team in the Major Leagues) and the Arizona Cardinals in the National Football League (there is a St. Louis Cardinals team in the Major Leagues). In the National Hockey League, there are the New York Rangers (while the Major Leagues have the Texas Rangers).
When it comes to this sort of thing, one certainly cannot say that the Japanese way is "good" and the American way is "bad," or vice versa; it is simply a matter of cultural differences and national character.
That said, as a Japanese person, I sometimes wonder if having professional sports teams with the same names causes any confusion. Let me cite one example.
In the 1997 American film "Donnie Brasco", a mafia member says the following to a man who secretly sold his wife's ring to get $8,000: "You took away your wife's ring to go bet on the Giants?" Does this "Giants" here refer to the Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants or the National Football League's New York Giants? Japanese subtitles on the DVD sold in Japan interpret it as the San Francisco Giants.
The film is set in New York, and the story begins in November 1978. Since the Major League Baseball season has already ended by then, the "Giants" mentioned in the dialogue might not refer to the San Francisco Giants. However, the incident where the man sold his wife's ring to get $8,000 could have occurred prior to November, so I cannot definitively rule out the possibility that it refers to the San Francisco Giants.
November 1978 was when the famous incident known as the "Miracle at the Meadowlands" took place during a game between the National Football League's New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. So, I suspect that the "Giants" mentioned in the movie dialogue refers to the National Football League's New York Giants—though I can't say so with absolute certainty.
I also wondered if "bet on the Giants" might be a slang expression carrying a specific hidden meaning, but I could find no evidence to support that.
When Americans watch this film, is it immediately clear to them which "Giants" team is being referred to—the Major League Baseball team or the National Football League team?
I might be fundamentally mistaken or under a misconception regarding this line of dialogue from the movie. If that is the case, I will correct it.
(If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)