Good ole whassisname. Libyan President. It changes a bit. Well here is how much it changes, from The Straight Dope. Why did I need to know? I guess because of the Opera which Asian Dub Foundation and the ENO have been kicking around like a football for ages, finally leaping on to stage next week.
So for your delight and delectation: here are the 32 Western spellings from the US Library Of Congress records**.
(1) Muammar Qaddafi
(2) Mo’ammar Gadhafi
(3) Muammar Kaddafi
(4) Muammar Qadhafi
(5) Moammar El Kadhafi
(6) Muammar Gadafi
(7) Mu’ammar al-Qadafi
(8) Moamer El Kazzafi
(9) Moamar al-Gaddafi
(10) Mu’ammar Al Qathafi
(11) Muammar Al Qathafi
(12) Mo’ammar el-Gadhafi
(13) Moamar El Kadhafi
(14) Muammar al-Qadhafi
(15) Mu’ammar al-Qadhdhafi
(16) Mu’ammar Qadafi
(17) Moamar Gaddafi
(18) Mu’ammar Qadhdhafi
(19) Muammar Khaddafi
(20) Muammar al-Khaddafi
(21) Mu’amar al-Kadafi
(22) Muammar Ghaddafy
(23) Muammar Ghadafi
(24) Muammar Ghaddafi
(25) Muamar Kaddafi
(26) Muammar Quathafi
(27) Muammar Gheddafi
(28) Muamar Al-Kaddafi
(29) Moammar Khadafy
(30) Moammar Qudhafi
(31) Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi
(32) Mulazim Awwal Mu’ammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi.
In asking my Arabic speaking colleague for his spelling he comes up with a thirty-third:
Muamar Al-Gadafi. The man is a phonebook unto himself.
*This is just one of them.
**Why this should be the arbitrator, nobody knows.