why wasn’t Confucius called Kong Tzu?

Question

Could someone explain the logic behind Confucius’ English naming?

Lao Zi -> Lao Tzu

Sun Zi -> Sun Tzu

Kong Zi -> Confucius

In: Other

Answer 1

There was also Meng Zi – who got translated into Mencius. (they were likely not speaking modern Beijing mandarin in the 13th century).

We probably don’t even know what language/dialect was spoken at the time and place when these scholars were alive (some more than a thousand years earlier). It likely will not resemble any of the modern dialects in China.