Muammar Qaddafi

Seemingly every publication holds its own interpretations of how to best translate the name. The Los Angeles Times calls him "Kadafi," the Washington Post "Gaddafi," and the U.S. State Department "Qadhafi." TheAtlantic.com International Channel uses "Qaddafi," as does the New York Times.
His name, rendered in Arabic, is "معمر القذافي," roughly transliterates to "Muamar Al-Qadafi." The part with his last name in question, is begins with a "ق" a Qoph, an Arabic letter that is definitely a "K" (if you ever studied Hebrew, its essentially the same letter as "kaf"). If it's that simple, then why do many places spell his name with a G? Arabic already has a G, which is not used to spell his name: that letter, ج , is called "gim" and corresponds to the Hebrew "gimel." Because, apparently, Libyans pronounce the qoph with the softer g-sound, even if Standard Arabic spelling dictates otherwise. That's right, in all of Arabic literature, there's only one way to spell Qaddafi.
This pronunciation detail is probably why Al Jazeera English spells it "Gaddafi." Interestingly, Al Jazeera doesn't use the "al" article when speaking about him, but the New York Times does. And the latter spells the article as "el," — note that the "al" of Al Jazeera and the "el" of Qaddafi are spelled the same in Arabic.
A much-circulated 2009 ABCNews.com story found 112 different ways to render his last name in the Latin alphabet, used in English and most other Western European languages. The Library of Congress lists 72 alternate spellings, and the New York times, Associated Press and Xinhua news sources used 40 additional spellings between 1998 and 2008.

Qaddafi, Muammar
Al-Gathafi, Muammar
al-Qadhafi, Muammar
Al Qathafi, Mu'ammar
Al Qathafi, Muammar
El Gaddafi, Moamar
El Kadhafi, Moammar
El Kazzafi, Moamer
El Qathafi, Mu'Ammar
Gadafi, Muammar
Gaddafi, Moamar
Gadhafi, Mo'ammar
Gathafi, Muammar
Ghadafi, Muammar
Ghaddafi, Muammar
Ghaddafy, Muammar
Gheddafi, Muammar
Gheddafi, Muhammar
Kadaffi, Momar
Kad'afi, Mu`amar al-
Kaddafi, Muamar
Kaddafi, Muammar
Kadhafi, Moammar
Kadhafi, Mouammar
Kazzafi, Moammar
Khadafy, Moammar
Khaddafi, Muammar
Moamar al-Gaddafi
Moamar el Gaddafi
Moamar El Kadhafi
Moamar Gaddafi
Moamer El Kazzafi
Mo'ammar el-Gadhafi
Moammar El Kadhafi
Mo'ammar Gadhafi
Moammar Kadhafi
Moammar Khadafy
Moammar Qudhafi
Mu`amar al-Kad'afi
Mu'amar al-Kadafi
Muamar Al-Kaddafi
Muamar Kaddafi
Muamer Gadafi
Muammar Al-Gathafi
Muammar al-Khaddafi
Mu'ammar al-Qadafi
Mu'ammar al-Qaddafi
Muammar al-Qadhafi
Mu'ammar al-Qadhdhafi
Mu`ammar al-Qadhdhafi
Mu'ammar Al Qathafi
Muammar Al Qathafi
Muammar Gadafi
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Ghadafi
Muammar Ghaddafi
Muammar Ghaddafy
Muammar Gheddafi
Muammar Kaddafi
Muammar Khaddafi
Mu'ammar Qadafi
Muammar Qaddafi
Muammar Qadhafi
Mu'ammar Qadhdhafi
Muammar Quathafi
Mulazim Awwal Mu'ammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi
Qadafi, Mu'ammar
Qadhafi, Muammar
Qadhdhafi, Mu`ammar
Qathafi, Mu'Ammar el
Quathafi, Muammar
Qudhafi, Moammar
Moamar AI Kadafi
Maummar Gaddafi
Moamar Gadhafi
Moamer Gaddafi
Moamer Kadhafi
Moamma Gaddafi
Moammar Gaddafi
Moammar Gadhafi
Moammar Ghadafi
Moammar Khadaffy
Moammar Khaddafi
Moammar el Gadhafi
Moammer Gaddafi
Mouammer al Gaddafi
Muamar Gaddafi
Muammar Al Ghaddafi
Muammar Al Qaddafi
Muammar Al Qaddafi
Muammar El Qaddafi
Muammar Gadaffi
Muammar Gadafy
Muammar Gaddhafi
Muammar Gadhafi
Muammar Ghadaffi
Muammar Qadthafi
Muammar al Gaddafi
Muammar el Gaddafy
Muammar el Gaddafi
Muammar el Qaddafi
Muammer Gadaffi
Muammer Gaddafi
Mummar Gaddafi
Omar Al Qathafi
Omar Mouammer Al Gaddafi
Omar Muammar Al Ghaddafi
Omar Muammar Al Qaddafi
Omar Muammar Al Qathafi
Omar Muammar Gaddafi
Omar Muammar Ghaddafi
Omar al Ghaddafi

Part of the reason his name's spelling has remained so unclear is that Muammar Qaddafi refused to use any language other than Arabic in public, despite being fluent in English and Italian.