Names

hoeroathlo · Post by **hoeroathlo** » 04 May 2015 01:12

How do names work in your conculture?
So what I mean is how are names structured, like in english for example it goes Given name, middle name, and then surname.

In my conculter of Ginara a the structure of a name is a little more complex, It still has the same order but all the names are predetermined for the most part.

Given name: The first name is borrowed from the grandparent of the parent. If it's a boy who is being named the grandfather of the father would be chosen. If its a girl the name comes from the mothers grandmother, if there is a second boy or girl the name is borrowed from the opposite side of the families. Finaly if there is a third child of either gender then the name is chosen by the parent and has no relation with the family.

Middle name: The middle name is the fathers first name followed by son or doughter

Surname: the surname is where the person was born

My name if I were to follow the rules that I just stated would be "Patrick seanson of Kitchener". I think it's a good name but I still prefer my name I currently have.

elemtilas · Post by **elemtilas** » 04 May 2015 02:19

hoeroathlo wrote:How do names work in your conculture?
So what I mean is how are names structured, like in english for example it goes Given name, middle name, and then surname.

In my conculter of Ginara a the structure of a name is a little more complex, It still has the same order but all the names are predetermined for the most part.

Given name: The first name is borrowed from the grandparent of the parent. If it's a boy who is being named the grandfather of the father would be chosen. If its a girl the name comes from the mothers grandmother, if there is a second boy or girl the name is borrowed from the opposite side of the families. Finaly if there is a third child of either gender then the name is chosen by the parent and has no relation with the family.

I like that system of deriving names from both sides. Why do they stop at the second child though? Why not switch over to grandparents' siblings for the children beyond the second?

Middle name: The middle name is the fathers first name followed by son or doughter

Okay.

Surname: the surname is where the person was born

How do they determine "where"? Is there a traditional formula? In other words, is the surname the country one born in, the county, the town, the house, the street, the field, the forest, the ship...? Etc.

My name if I were to follow the rules that I just stated would be "Patrick seanson of Kitchener". I think it's a good name but I still prefer my name I currently have.

I see. So you were born in someone's kitchen? Handy for umbilicus cutting is that. Plus they're warm and cosy. More children ought to be born in kitchens.

As for naming customs in the World, well, Wot's in a name? A toad by any other name would still be green. Thus wrote that great bard of Angera, Will Shaxepear. But we did not come to bury Caesar so much as to figure out why he was so named...

Unlike most other Daine, those of Westmarche are given a Name but once in their lives, though they may take nicknames or other names on their own later in life as they please. One name is given by each parent and each godparent, so everyone has at least four names to start with. If a girl's father has three wives, then she'd have six names.

Of these names, the eldest sister will pick one seems most suitable to be the "common name" or what we'd call the first name, and that's the name folks will call a person by. The other names are used on formal occasions but the first name is how everyone around knows the child and generally how friends and visitors from far away will be introduced.

During childhood, the child's siblings and cousins will naturally give her one or more nicknames and by adolescence (say 20 to 25 years) she'll almost certainly have given herself a name or two.

So we might find a girl with the given name Appenybret Whitteth Forspon Ponchfang, which literally means "Halfpenny-Bright White-Tooth Old-Spoon Five-Fangs" who calls herself Moonwolf (probably because she fancies herself a bit of a mancalio heroine) but everyone knows her as Lil Bit because she's so short, and really can't do much about it. We can easily guess which of those names her younger brothers call her...

The people of Morotuncaê -- a land far across the glasy expanse of the Ocean of Sunrise -- are extremely sensitive to the concepts of balance and symmetry. All things have a "left" nature and a "right" nature. Even the names of people have a left and right component. The "left eye" name is given at birth by the grandparents or family elders, and is often composed of parts of names of illustrious ancestors. The "right eye" name is given upon reaching majority (23 years) by one's closest friends. It typically expresses one's personality and aspirations. Though given first, the left eye name actually becomes one's second name, while the right eye name becomes one's first name and the name people outside the circle of kith and kin know one by during adulthood. The queen-consort of the Auntimoanian emperor, by way of example, is a Morotuncanean princess by the name or Yesseraê Willunno. The left side of her name is composed of syllables from her ancestors' names (Ayyessaê, Seriano, Rallano, Esserinaê), while the right side of which was given by her sisters and schoolmates and means something like "travels far". At the time, ironic for a girl who had never travelled further than her native city, except undoubtedly in her dreams; and now she's gone all the way across the ocean to be a queen!

The Horog have only two names. One is given at birth by the parents (or by the mother if there is no father known or living). The second is given once one has survived one's first season of battle. Popular male names among Horog are Dalugdug, which means "he thunders" and Kitlat, which means "he flashes like lightning".

And then at the other end of the spectrum there is a school of philosophers in Alixaundria of Iconia who, ironically, call themselves the Anomioi, the No-Names. They hold that names and naming things are evils in the world and that wise folk would do well to unname things, thus returning to the Golden Age of primitive Men who had no use for language and names and whatnot. Much of their discourse is filled with words like "wossit" and "whozat", on account of their having unnamed so many things. When an aspirant is invited to join the school, he undergoes an Unnaming Ceremony where he is officially stripped of his former identity and is, according to the rubrics, "henceforth to be addressed only with a fraternal 'oy! you!' that shall suffice for all the whozats of the wossit".

Foolster41 · Post by **Foolster41** » 04 May 2015 04:39

In Saltha, children are given a name at birth, along with their father's name, the city they are from or their clan.
On the day they come go through the coming of age ritual (at the age of 10, this is not the same as being age of majority), they take for themselves a second name, that has some special meaning to them. This name becomes their given name, and their birth name becomes their middle name.

Sometimes, in cases of children of polygamous families, they will add a signifies for which wife of the father is their mother, such as a number of their mother's name.

Some example names: (Coming of age name, Birth name, mother signifier
ukakel uLaila elsila ("little pebble". Laila, son of sila)
Kakeleldaona kes-dasai (Kakeleldaona, Son of the Kes clan, son of his mother Dasai)*
Utasi Kari Lykesanai-shi ("Humble" Kari, daughter of clan Kykesanai, of the second mother)
urela Esha ulkarathe ("little fire", Esha, of Karathe**)

* From the name, is either not yet 10 yet, or chose to keep his birth name.
** a city, the capital of Saltha

Post by **Micamo** » 04 May 2015 05:20

Mithe names come in two parts: The Clan name (which is always prefaced by whether the clan is a xhw'sh clan or a thkw' clan), and the personal name. Mithe personal names furthermore come in two general categories: Birth names, and prophetic names. The birth name is based on one of the circumstances of one's birth: Greeted-by-birds or Frozen-Waterfall, for example. A family member who is present (preferrably an elder) will choose such a name for the baby. Prophetic names are done when a xwish'aan is available: They take the baby to them and have them take a reading of the baby's future. Sometimes, the xwish'aan will make an ash painting to assist in the reading. The xwish'aan will then choose a name depending on what he or she sees the baby will be like as an adult, like Her-Heart-Is-Iron or He-Tames-The-Sea.

Egerius · Post by **Egerius** » 04 May 2015 08:45

I considered a Roman-style naming scheme over a year ago and forgot about it.

In short, the middle name would be derived from the parent of an individual (depending on the gender of the person in question), tucking on a suffix on the parent's name (úr ~ ár) derived from the Latin genitive.

gestaltist · Post by **gestaltist** » 04 May 2015 13:19

Maandi typically only go by their given names chosen by their parents or guardians and given to them in a religious ceremony a few days after birth. If they need to specify further, they name the town they come from. (Not necessarily the specific hamlet they belong to - they are more likely to name the seat of the nearest ternan (count)). However, important families use the name or nickname of their most notable ancestor as their last name.

E.g., the ruling dynasty has been founded by the first king to unify Maadú, known under the nickname Épaandaar (Great Warrior). The dynasty members are known as Épaandaaret (Épaandaar-ABL = coming from Épaandaar).

alynnidalar · Post by **alynnidalar** » 04 May 2015 19:03

I have spent far too much time over-analyzing the Tirina naming traditions, but I'll give the short version.

A name consists of a given name, a patronymic/matronymic/ancestral name, and a family name. As an example, let's use Saya ni Yarwe rıl Kaorn.

Given names (personal names, first names, etc.) can be pretty much whatever parents want. Sometimes a pleasant noun or adjective is chosen (Arai (happy), Tamrel (clever), Yon (healthy), etc.). Sometimes, perhaps more frequently, names are just chosen for sounding nice or are original, made up by the parents (Nesi, Alın, Talesin, etc.). People are almost always referred to by their given name only in polite company--in most contexts, it's rude to refer to someone by either their "ancestor" or family names. Saya is a given name with no meaning that I know of; it's a relatively common female name.

Ancestor names (patronymic or matronymic... I don't know a generic term for this) are based on your parents, or in some cases a more distant ancestor. This takes the form "ni <ancestor's name>". Usually this is one of your parents' names. Traditionally, you take the name of whichever parent has the highest social standing, and if both are of equivalent social standing, sons are usually given their father's name and daughters are given their mother's. Or it could just be whichever name sounds nicer, they're not picky. In my example above, ni Yarwe indicates that Saya's mother is named Yarwe.

Alternately, the name could be that of a more distant ancestor. There's certain lists maintained by the government of notable historical figures. If you can prove your descent from one of these people, you can take their name instead. So for people who are descended from the founder of the Sanmra nation, Tirina, it is extremely common to use "ni Tirina" instead of either a matronymic or a patronymic. (although in this case, in the modern day, you must be descended from Tirina on both of your parents' sides to call yourself that)

When you reach adulthood (that's at 48 years old), you can legally change your ancestral name if you want--that's not the only time you can change your name, but it's so common for young people to switch to the other parent's name at this point that it's a very streamlined process. You basically just have to fill out a form.

Family names require a little explanation. On the surface, it just looks like any other surname, but how yours is determined is tied into the clan/house/family system. "Families" are legal entities in the Sanmra nation; as a group, an extended family has certain legal rights and protections. When two people marry, they must either join one of their families or break off from both and start their own--and whichever they do, they are not legally considered related to the family that they didn't join. So if Yarwe rıl Kaorn and Rulo rıl Losa get married, they can join the Kaorn family (at which point Rulo is no longer considered related to the Losa family--he can't inherit property from a Losa family member, he doesn't have any legal rights or responsibilities for his parents, etc.), or they could join the Losa family (and Yarwe would no longer be related to the Kaorns), or they could start their own family (which would be unrelated to both of their birth families).

At any rate, this means that a family name isn't inherited from either your father or your mother specifically--it's from whatever house/family/clan/whatever you want to call it that they're both a part of. So our example of Saya is rıl Kaorn, or of the Kaorn family. Once she reaches adulthood, she could choose to leave her family on her own or get disowned, but both of these are extremely rare--ordinarily, the only way you'd leave your family is through marriage.

eldin raigmore · Post by **eldin raigmore** » 08 May 2015 16:06

I've talked about Adpihi naming systems before.
There are three "family names"; one inherited from the mother, one inherited from the father, and one inherited from the parent of the opposite sex (so full-brothers share all three family-names and full-sisters also share all three family-names, but a full-brother and full-sister share only two family names).
There are also two-component personal-names, the components inherited independently from various direct ancestors and collateral ancestors (siblings of direct ancestors).
In contexts where there are likelier to be many people with the same family name than with the same personal-name (for instance a reunion of an extended family), the usual way to address or refer to a person is by their two-component personal name.

Spoiler:

Edit: The stuff in the above spoilers is no longer entirely accurate.

Clearly this cries out for an illustrative example. I'll come up with one and post it later, if anyone's interested.

OTOH in contexts where there are likelier to be many people with the same personal name than with the same family-name, (for instance, nobody in the group is closely-related to anyone else in the group), the usual way to address or refer to a person is by their three family names.
Occasionally one finds oneself in contexts in which several pairs of people share one or both components of their personal names and also there are several pairs of people who share one or two or even all three of their family names. In such contexts, people just cope somehow (for instance, using titles or nicknames).

Most people also have nicknames and titles. A person's complete formal identification might be as long as fifteen "names" (or, rather, components of names). It is highly unlikely that two different people alive at the same time and born on the same planet will have completely duplicate names.

The usual order of names is:
Matrilineal family name: patrilineal family name: that weird, other family name: personal name (first component first and second component second, duh.)

Edit: I forgot that every person is given at least one "nickname" (that is, one that's not pre-determined regardless of anyone's choice or whim) at birth; within the family s/he may be known by this nickname as well as by his/her personal name. Boys are "nick"named by their father's mother and girls are "nick"named by their mother's father. In other words each child's chief or only nickname is assigned by that grandparent from whom the child will not inherit a surname.

Among some groups a child is assigned "godparents" (designated alternate parents in case something happens to the child's birth-parents) when "christened"; and among some of them each godparent can give the child a nickname when the child is "christened". Ordinarily all of the child's grandparents, all of his or her parents' full- and half-siblings at least ten years older than the child, and all of the child's own full- and half-siblings at least ten years older than the child, are included among the chid's godparents. But clients and/or patrons, or lords and/or vassals, or simply close personal friends, of one or the other parent may also be godparents. So a child born into a big family, or a child of influential parents who is probably destined to become influential himself/herself, may have very many godparents and therefore very many nicknames. But still the nickname that counts the most, while the child is young, is the one given by the grandparent from whom the child does not inherit a surname.

Technically, the nicknames given at christening are part of the child's formal full name, though usually only the main one is mentioned after christening (unless the child winds up being adopted by one of his/her godparents).

As part of the rite of passage to adulthood a person usually chooses his/her own nickname; part of "putting away childish things". And they also get nicknames the same way we do in real life. But so long as they still have a relationship with a living person who knew them by one particular nickname, such a person may still call them by that nickname.

The first post of this thread makes it clear the O.P. intended it to be about "anthroponymy" -- names of people.
But there's more to onomastics (proper nouns) than that; and IMO many of us will also find the rest of it interesting.

For instance, what about ethnonyms ("names of nations", or rather, of ethnic groups)?

And what about toponymy (names of places and/or geographical features)?

Hydronymy is about names of bodies of water. It's an interesting fact that a river that flows through the homelands of several different languages usually gets called the same name in more than one of them.
Oronymy is about names of mountains. Oronyms in successor languages -- languages of later, newly dominant newcomers -- often reflect the oronym in formerly-majority languages without being exact. Consider "Torpentow Hill" (which translates, diachronically/etymologically, as "Hillhillhill Hill".)

What about names of towns and/or cities?

What about names of streets, roads, highways? Do they often, usually, or rarely have proper names in your conlang/conculture?
Consider England's and Wales's "Watling Street", which runs nearly the width of (at least one of) the countries.
Are inter-city, or even inter-state (or inter-national), highways in your conculture, more or less likely to have proper names than city streets?
Are these names likely to be the same in both cities and/or both states (or nations)?

What about names of houses and/or other buildings (like "the White House")? How many of them get proper names in your conlang/conculture?

What about proper names of, say, animals, or of tools (such as swords, guns, shields, hammers, axes, ploughs, cars, bikes, boats, ships, …)?
Is "Bessie" (or its equivalent in your con-thing) the most popular name for guns, cars, and bikes?

gestaltist · Post by **gestaltist** » 08 May 2015 17:35

alynnidalar wrote:I have spent far too much time over-analyzing the Tirina naming traditions, but I'll give the short version.

A name consists of a given name, a patronymic/matronymic/ancestral name, and a family name. As an example, let's use Saya ni Yarwe rıl Kaorn.

I love the aesthetics of your conlang. Do you have it posted somewhere?

alynnidalar · Post by **alynnidalar** » 08 May 2015 17:59

eldin raigmore wrote:Clearly this cries out for an illustrative example. I'll come up with one and post it later, if anyone's interested.

I am very much interested! It sounds like a fascinating system, and I'd love to see it in practice.

gestaltist wrote:
alynnidalar wrote:I have spent far too much time over-analyzing the Tirina naming traditions, but I'll give the short version.

A name consists of a given name, a patronymic/matronymic/ancestral name, and a family name. As an example, let's use Saya ni Yarwe rıl Kaorn.
I love the aesthetics of your conlang. Do you have it posted somewhere?

Here's my ConWorkShop page. Be forewarned that some of the information is outdated (there's a phonology article, but it was mostly copied from old notes and desperately needs to be updated now that I actually know a thing or two about how allophony works :)).

elemtilas · Post by **elemtilas** » 09 May 2015 19:27

All very interesting aspects of geopoesy indeed!

eldin raigmore wrote:For instance, what about ethnonyms ("names of nations", or rather, of ethnic groups)?

The ethnic or racial names of Daine kindreds are pretty well understood. For example, most Daine you'll find in the Eastlands are of a kindred called Sharrundaine and that means 'radiant folk'. While they tend towards very white skin colour, I think the 'radiance' is an inner one more than an external one. Troaghladaine are also common in the Eastlands and the Near West, beyond the
Holy Hills. Their name means 'slave people' or 'subjected folk'. A very ancient name indeed, and anymore it's quite forgotten why that's what they're called. Alghadaine are the 'blood folk' so called either because of their brilliant red hair or else because of their penchant for warfare. You generally find them way out in the hinterlands.

The Men of the Eastlands have kind of 'boring' ethnonyms in comparison: the Thiets are Germanic speaking folk and, obviously, their name simply means "people". Smaller tribal names tend to be of the Descriptive/God/Culture Hero + -manni type. Avantimanni, Osmandmanni, Marcomanni. The Rumen call themselves Qeriti or Macurmûli. Talarian means 'lords of the earth'. Probably the most curious one is the Mentolatians, whose name literally means "exported mint". Another curious one is a wee association of diminutive realms that call themselves the Heptarchians. And it's all in red ink on white parchment, Act I of the White Parliament (Act I, W.P., 1514). The big joke being, of course, there's only five countries that constitute this grand alliance!

And what about toponymy (names of places and/or geographical features)?

What about names of towns and/or cities?

Can't have proper geography without a healthy side of toponymy I always say. The Whythywindle Mountains were so named by the Thiets and is undoubtedly a misconstrudlisation of the Daine name Withwandiê. In the Westfolds of Auntimoany there is a quaint little grafdom called Ypsiy Dale and its chief town is called Mumford Bridge, so named for the mighty stone arches of the bridge of the Great West Road as it flies over the Yppe River. Which is really little more than a broad crick, but anyway. Tis a braw old bridge all the same. But the name Mumford goes back quite a way, its origins being a Teyorish word, momon. Long ago there was, in the old woods beyond the old Teyorish town, a curious open place with a momon in the treeless center and a momon is a kind of stone archway, sometimes a trilithon, sometimes but one great massive stone. The momon here was of the latter sort, and probably is a Gate, though its precise location is now lost. Anyway, the place then was called Mumnarrea and was a mill town. The ruins of the tidy villas can still be seen in the hillside, though the ancient mill is still operating. The street through town forded the Yppe just below the millhouse. By the time Men settled the area, they moved the town up against the Great Road (I guess the Teyor preferred to be more away from such traffic as came from out of the distant West), leaving the old houses to fall into disrepair and ruin. The old millhouse is now quite on the edge of town and few people have occasion to ford the river along the old main street. But the name Mumnarrea became Mummen Ford and then Mumford.

Hydronymy is about names of bodies of water. It's an interesting fact that a river that flows through the homelands of several different languages usually gets called the same name in more than one of them.

Yes, well, the spirits of the rivers have a way of letting people know what their True Names are. Tis a fact that many folk like to hide their True Name, out of fear that the knower will have power over them. But the riverfolk never fear this, for they know that all such power comes from within, not from knowledge of the Name.

Oronymy is about names of mountains.

See Whythywindles above. The oldest mountains in the World I made mention of elsewhere. They actually have personal names -- Amath, Gahalt and Zahair. Other folks later came along and named them the Teats of Zugarat. How embarrassing is thát for two ancient and proud mountains!

What about names of streets, roads, highways? Do they often, usually, or rarely have proper names in your conlang/conculture?
Consider England's and Wales's "Watling Street", which runs nearly the width of (at least one of) the countries.
Are inter-city, or even inter-state (or inter-national), highways in your conculture, more or less likely to have proper names than city streets?
Are these names likely to be the same in both cities and/or both states (or nations)?

Many streets in cities have names, and they're usually run of the mill descriptive: Ropetwisters Mew has come up recently; Hamhock Hucksters Row; King Street; Checker Street; Long Street; Paribum Street. Highways of the sort we'd recognise as autoroutes do not exist in the World. There are certainly wheeled vehicles, but nothing like a world full of motorcars and lorries. The streets of Auntimoany are clogged with ox-drawn waggons, the occasional olifant-drawn wain, various kinds of triacuclos, a sort of pedicab, push carts and rickshaws, not to mention the occasional automotivated pantechnicon and the great caravan trains.

I think in some respects it might count as a steampunker's nightmare, only without the actual steam...

What about names of houses and/or other buildings (like "the White House")? How many of them get proper names in your conlang/conculture?

Generally only civically important buildings have names that are well known. I've mentioned Elektrodrome the old millhouse. The is certainly well known in Ypsiy Dale, if not elsewhere. The house of the Emperor is known simply as The Palas. An ancient work of astrological wonder, a kind of index of stars if you will, is called The Stellarion and it's located at Pylycundas.

What about proper names of, say, animals, or of tools (such as swords, guns, shields, hammers, axes, ploughs, cars, bikes, boats, ships, …)?
Is "Bessie" (or its equivalent in your con-thing) the most popular name for guns, cars, and bikes?

Guns are a rare thing indeed in the World. Not unknown, but not generally used. The largest gun in the Eastlands, and a bombardon that would have done old Mehmet proud, was called Kingdom Come (as in If you don't open up your city coffers and give us lots of money, we'll blow you to...). It used to be drawn by a team of four olifants and was in pretty constant use by the old emperors of Hoopelle, particularly when they were after embiggening their territories. They actually fired the thing at the first couple cities, which capitulated soon after their gates were blown away and the armies swept in and put everyone to either the sword or the torch (at their option). Thereafter, they'd just park the thing outside a city and ask the burgomasters "Remember what happened to Sfaltzburg? -- I do believe they call it "Splatsburg" anymore...capisce?" The burgomasters usually capiscono and more than happily open up to the victorious liberators.

Swords and shields are sometimes named. Generally those that were borne by renown heroes and fought in famous battles. One of the more famous shields was that shield hight dal Conne, and was used by many famous dragon fighters, all the way back to George the Cartevelean. In a properly sung epic, you will hear the lineage of heroes that have born such weapons all meticulously laid out just as fully as you'll hear the lineage of the heroes themselves. People in the World like that sort of thing, and hardly consider an epic worth hearing if the rimmanaz, the rime maker, can't at least get in all the pertinent background of the characters and weapons involved.

It might be noted that this is one reason why it takes such a long time for epics to be recited, especially by a new or unknown rime maker. It might take him a day or two to actually convince folks that, yes, it was indeed Barad the Bullslayer who bore the Singing Sword of Snwifte after Cronam the Carl and not before...

Boats and airships are named as well. Back in the old days, in Auntimoany, they'd name a ship after a goddess or a water spirit of some sort, then find a likely looking young street girl, kidnap her and bind her to the prow of the ship. Then they'd whack her on the head with a bottle of red wine and, mixing her blood with the wine, baptise the ship before setting off into the sunrise. If the girl was still alive at sunset, they'd haul her up and make her a ship's girl. Otherwise, well, there's plenty of hungry beasties in the wine dark sea!

Zythros Jubi · Post by **Zythros Jubi** » 09 May 2015 20:54

A Classical Erbatrian (roughly during -200 - 300 Theosian Era; hereafter TA, 1TA = 210 AD) name consist of only a given name in the beginning, usually a combination of two morphemes ranging from adjectives to nouns, similar to Ancient Greek ones. After -100 TA it became a common practice to add the clan name or its place of ancestry after the name, e.g. Ariya Jubii, literally the righteous one "Ariya" from the Jubu region (Jubu is a clan and a traditional region in western Erbatra, which is believed to be originated from a river in Theosians' original homeland, Glatia (today's River Juff in Sianemiria). "Jubii" is a neuter-only adjective form, used in tribal and regional surnames (surnames are unisex despite the gender agreement).
Following the Great Migration when masses of Theosians crossed the sea southwards, landing on those then virgin lands covered by forests and marshes, settled down along the coastline as well as banks of River Méria, and finally succeeding in assimilating its aboriginal population, the clan identity strengthened and clans started to diffrentiate. Many began acquiring a middle name, originally a nickname, often describing their stature/occupation/appearance etc. E.g. Ariya Zithrós Jubii "Ariya Jubii, the stubborn one" or more literally "The righteous stubborn one whose ancestors came from along the river Jubu" and hence my ID.

Ahzoh · Post by **Ahzoh** » 10 May 2015 01:08

Vrkhazhian names function differently, with individuals have adulthood names, birth names, their place of origin, and the (adulthood and birth) name of their parents.

They are ordered like this:
Coming-of-age name/birth name/place of origin/genetonym

Regarding birth names, Vrkhazhi are usually named after sacred animals and aspects of sacred animals, minerals and metals, or of the sun and the moon, light and darkness, or fire.
The "coming-of-age name" (because I can't think of a better word) is the names that is given when an individual passes into adulthood which is 16 for males and 18 for females. The names usually of an essential characteristic or animal that describes the individual at adulthood and they bear this name for life. These kinds of names are usually the most thoughful, often being thought of for months before the individual is deemed an adult. The name is given in one of two ways: it is given by family members or chosen by the individual themselves and professed in public in the coming-of-age naming ceremonies that occur at the end of each month.
Genetonym is the adulthood name and birth name of both parents, who are listed separately. For children, this name is used in place of an adulthood name when giving the binomial address (That is, when referring to or addressing someone, using two of their names)

You address someone by their their full name only in very formal situations such as before the Emperor, or state officials, and in formal writing. Otherwise, you address people by both their adulthood name and their birth name.
Close friends or lovers often only address by birth name.

Sights · Post by **Sights** » 13 May 2015 05:08

(I enjoy names very much, so I have spent some time thinking about them in my conworld. Only given names so far, though

)

Ba names are determined by the day of the calendar on which the namebearer was born (akin to Mayan names like "18-Rabbit"). A name consists of any of the things associated with a particular day sign and a number. Although popular choices often eclipse the rest, the range of things associated with any given day is rather large, and a child can end up bearing the name of an animal, a tree, a foodstuff, an object, a respected folk hero or even a natural phenomenon. This is up to the parents.

A select group of people take on a new name on important dates. Emperors choose a new name when they begin to rule, as do religious initiates when they leave ordinary life to start their training.

IMO, more interesting than these naming conventions is the fact that, although names are carefully chosen, they are seldom used directly. Barring certain exceptions like spouses to each other, speakers of Ba almost never address each other using their given names. When generic terms like "friend" or similar ones are inappropriate, speakers use the given name of someone the addressee is related to and the nature of their relationship. If I wanted to address a boy named Umehegi (2-Fish), son of Ndihari (1-Firefly) and Mesye (3-Cloud), I would probably call him "Ndihari's son" or "Mesye's son". Similarly, I'd call Ndihari "Umehegi's father" or "Mesye's husband". The choice is usually restricted to kin members, but not always so, and who to choose as a point of reference is influenced by tradition, social context, the speaker's intentions and the familiarity of everyone involved (using one's own name as a point of reference is seen as clownish, and some people actually use it to that effect). Inquiring about the names of someone's family members is good etiquette. Understandably, failing to remember family names is a serious faux pas for speakers of Ba.

eldin raigmore · Post by **eldin raigmore** » 16 May 2015 08:24

Thanks, everybody who's posted.
Since my last post, elemtilas, Zythrib jubi, Ahzoh, and SIghts have posted; so, thanks in particular to them.

cntrational · Post by **cntrational** » 17 May 2015 07:00

In my stylish conworld of PSYland, people do not have spoken names, but choreographed dances that serve as their names.

Nowadays, people constantly dance out their names, replacing walking as the primary form of locomotion.

kaleissin · Post by **kaleissin** » 17 May 2015 13:16

There are several naming traditions in my conmultiverse, but the first/given/personal name is usually made in the same way. It's not meant to mean anything (that woud be unlucky), so it is generated with an algorithm: CVCVC, where one of the syllables may be long, and if long, the V may be a diphthong. Combinations already used that year for the area is discarded, so that nobody who are likely to grow up in the same area gets the exact same name. There are local variations: for instance that the final C cannot be a stop, or must be a liquid or nasal, or that only the final syllable may be long etc. etc. Some places prefix another syllable, always light: CV, VC or V, and some weird areas insist on VCVCV-names.

Because given names aren't supposed to mean something, new terms and the names of products or places are deliberately not based on a CVCVC-template.

masako · Post by **masako** » 17 May 2015 13:43

With Qatama I had a detailed naming system: http://www.frathwiki.com/Qatama_names

Considering Kala has no conculture and is a personal conlang, I tend to adapt names by sound or meaning. Here are some examples:

Matthew > mateyo / mate'o
John > yohano
Ralph > otsoneua (advise-wolf)
Howard > hauato / moyotokyo (brave-heart)
Michael > mikelo
Jennifer > yenipa / asuanyahi (white-skinned)
Mary > maliya
Elizabeth > tsipela

Curlyjimsam · Post by **Curlyjimsam** » 18 May 2015 19:50

Viksens typically have three names: a given name and then two inherited names: a (usually monosyllabic) "clan name" (of which there are relatively few in number, referring principally to geographic regions), and then the family name. E.g. Sazobad Em-Mutu, Satjsjig Em-Difi, Obadi Viks-Kovu.

kaleissin · Post by **kaleissin** » 21 May 2015 12:26

What does your conlangs do with foreign names? Taruven attempts to preserve as much of the pronuciation as possible but also forces given names into confirming to a template. So:

Mary, Maria etc. > Maran
Susan -> Sosan
Matthew -> Meþun
Aleksander -> Lesan, Kisan, Saner
Elisabeth -> Lisab, Sabeþ, Betan
Charlotte -> Xalat, Latan

The CBB

Names

Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names

Re: Names