diff --git a/crates/notedeck/src/i18n/manager.rs b/crates/notedeck/src/i18n/manager.rs
index cd240639..db771505 100644
--- a/crates/notedeck/src/i18n/manager.rs
+++ b/crates/notedeck/src/i18n/manager.rs
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use unic_langid::{langid, LanguageIdentifier};
 
-const EN_XA: LanguageIdentifier = langid!("en-XA");
 const EN_US: LanguageIdentifier = langid!("en-US");
+const EN_XA: LanguageIdentifier = langid!("en-XA");
 const DE: LanguageIdentifier = langid!("de");
 const ES_419: LanguageIdentifier = langid!("es-419");
 const ES_ES: LanguageIdentifier = langid!("es-ES");
@@ -16,6 +16,16 @@ const ZH_CN: LanguageIdentifier = langid!("ZH_CN");
 const ZH_TW: LanguageIdentifier = langid!("ZH_TW");
 const NUM_FTLS: usize = 9;
 
+const EN_US_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "English (US)";
+const EN_XA_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "Éñglísh (Pséúdólóçàlé)";
+const DE_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "Deutsch";
+const ES_419_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "Español (Latinoamérica)";
+const ES_ES_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "Español (España)";
+const FR_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "Français";
+const TH_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "ภาษาไทย";
+const ZH_CN_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "简体中文";
+const ZH_TW_NATIVE_NAME: &str = "繁體中文";
+
 struct StaticBundle {
     identifier: LanguageIdentifier,
     ftl: &'static str,
@@ -70,6 +80,8 @@ pub struct Localization {
     available_locales: Vec<LanguageIdentifier>,
     /// Fallback locale
     fallback_locale: LanguageIdentifier,
+    /// Native names for locales
+    locale_native_names: HashMap<LanguageIdentifier, String>,
 
     /// Cached string results per locale (only for strings without arguments)
     string_cache: HashMap<LanguageIdentifier, HashMap<String, String>>,
@@ -100,10 +112,23 @@ impl Default for Localization {
             ZH_TW.clone(),
         ];
 
+        let locale_native_names = HashMap::from([
+            (EN_US, EN_US_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+            (EN_XA, EN_XA_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+            (DE, DE_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+            (ES_419, ES_419_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+            (ES_ES, ES_ES_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+            (FR, FR_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+            (TH, TH_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+            (ZH_CN, ZH_CN_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+            (ZH_TW, ZH_TW_NATIVE_NAME.to_owned()),
+        ]);
+
         Self {
             current_locale: default_locale.to_owned(),
             available_locales,
             fallback_locale,
+            locale_native_names,
             use_isolating: true,
             normalized_key_cache: HashMap::new(),
             string_cache: HashMap::new(),
@@ -391,6 +416,10 @@ impl Localization {
         &self.fallback_locale
     }
 
+    pub fn get_locale_native_name(&self, locale: &LanguageIdentifier) -> Option<&str> {
+        self.locale_native_names.get(locale).map(|s| s.as_str())
+    }
+
     /// Gets cache statistics for monitoring performance
     pub fn get_cache_stats(&self) -> Result<CacheStats, Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>> {
         let mut total_strings = 0;
diff --git a/crates/notedeck_columns/src/ui/settings.rs b/crates/notedeck_columns/src/ui/settings.rs
index 1f541bf1..c1e2522b 100644
--- a/crates/notedeck_columns/src/ui/settings.rs
+++ b/crates/notedeck_columns/src/ui/settings.rs
@@ -103,6 +103,18 @@ impl<'a> SettingsView<'a> {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Get the localized name for a language identifier
+    fn get_selected_language_name(&mut self) -> String {
+        if let Ok(lang_id) = self.selected_language.parse::<LanguageIdentifier>() {
+            self.i18n
+                .get_locale_native_name(&lang_id)
+                .map(|s| s.to_owned())
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| lang_id.to_string())
+        } else {
+            self.selected_language.clone()
+        }
+    }
+
     pub fn ui(&mut self, ui: &mut egui::Ui) -> Option<SettingsAction> {
         let id = ui.id();
         let mut action = None;
@@ -190,19 +202,22 @@ impl<'a> SettingsView<'a> {
                                         .text_style(NotedeckTextStyle::Small.text_style()),
                                 );
                                 ComboBox::from_label("")
-                                    .selected_text(self.selected_language.to_owned())
+                                    .selected_text(self.get_selected_language_name())
                                     .show_ui(ui, |ui| {
                                         for lang in self.i18n.get_available_locales() {
+                                            let name = self.i18n
+                                                .get_locale_native_name(lang)
+                                                .map(|s| s.to_owned())
+                                                .unwrap_or_else(|| lang.to_string());
                                             if ui
                                                 .selectable_value(
                                                     self.selected_language,
                                                     lang.to_string(),
-                                                    lang.to_string(),
+                                                    &name,
                                                 )
                                                 .clicked()
                                             {
-                                                action =
-                                                    Some(SettingsAction::SetLocale(lang.to_owned()))
+                                                action = Some(SettingsAction::SetLocale(lang.to_owned()))
                                             }
                                         }
                                     })