Some of the original Japanese YGO cards have names that are English loan words approximated in katakana. For some of these cards, the English translators chose Japanese words, often with roughly the same meaning. The Japanese cards have English names, and the English cards have Japanese names. It's odd. Here are some recently encountered examples.

• English card name (Type)
  • Meaning of Japanese word(s)
  • Japanese card name in Roman letters | translation
• Raigeki (Spell)
  • being struck by lightning
  • Sandā Boruto | Thunder Bolt
• Jigen Bakudan (Effect monster)
  • time bomb
  • Taimu Bomā | Time Bomber
• Hinotama (Spell)
  • ball of fire
  • Faiyā Bōru | Fire Ball
• Ryu-Ran (Monster)
  • ryuu = dragon, ran = egg
  • Doragon Eggā | Dragon Egger
• Flying Kamakiri #1 (Effect monster)
  • kamakiri = praying mantis
  • Doragonfurai | Dragonfly
• Flying Kamakiri #2 (Monster)
  • kamakiri = praying mantis
  • Furaingu Mantisu | Flying Mantis
• Sangan (Effect monster)
  • san = three; gan = eye (monster on card has three eyes)
  • Kurittā | Critter
• Nekogal #1 (Monster)
  • neko = cat
  • Kyattsu Fearii | Cats Fairy