Why does Romanian say “cum o cheamă” for “what’s her name?”

Romanian asks “what is her name?” with the construction cum o cheamă, literally “how do they call her?” The verb a chema means “to call,” and o is the direct-object pronoun “her.” The masculine form is cum îl cheamă (“how do they call him”). Other Romance languages use a reflexive verb instead: French comment elle s’appelle, Italian come si chiama, Spanish cómo se llama. Romanian’s direct-object structure is a small but reliable language fingerprint.

In this clip, an adult asks a small child about her grandmother: “Cum o cheamă?” (“What’s her name?”). The grammar pattern is A1-level but distinctly Romanian.