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| 5 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 11 | ->'''Capt. Jean-Luc Picard:''' Yes, Ensign Laren, please have a seat.\ |
| 12 | '''Ens. Ro Laren:''' Ensign Ro, sir.\ |
| 13 | '''Picard:''' I beg your pardon?\ |
| 14 | '''Ro:''' The Bajoran custom has the family name first, the individual's second. I am properly addressed as Ensign Ro. |
| 15 | -->-- "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E3EnsignRo Ensign Ro]]", ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' |
| 16 | [[noreallife]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | [[UsefulNotes/NamingConventions In real life]], many cultures have unique ways of naming their children, based on family, clan, so on and so forth. It should come as no surprise, then, that writers often come up with unique naming conventions for their fictional cultures. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | The simplest way of introducing a bit of foreign spice is to simply swap the placement of the given name and the family name ([[NameOrderConfusion which can cause confusion]]), but it can get far more complex than that. [[UsefulNotes/{{Patronymic}} Codifying]] IAmXSonOfY is not uncommon, nor is simply [[NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom giving extremely long and poetic names]]. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | For names that all have a specific pattern, see ThemeNaming. Though do note that if this ThemeNaming is intentional in-universe, it could still count for this trope (such as a culture where [[FloralThemeNaming everyone is named after flowers]]). In some cultures, children may receive one name at birth and then choose or earn a new name upon reaching a certain age or completing a certain RiteOfPassage, in which case it's a RiteOfPassageNameChange. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | See also FantasticHonorifics and FantasticRankSystem, LetterMotif, and AnimalNamingConventions are also related. Compare and contrast IKnowYourTrueName, ''especially the former'' in RealLife examples.[[note]] It's not a coincidence that [[OnlineAlias usernames]] and [[HardTruckin trucker]] [[The70s handles]] are aliases for a person's name, as these two tropes are [[{{CyclicTrope}} cyclical]] among [[UsefulNotes/{{TheRenaissance}} Renaissance]] and [[SteamPunk later]] [[OlderThanTheyThink cultures]].[[/note]] |
| 25 | |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Examples |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 32 | * The Humankind Empire of Abh in ''Literature/CrestOfTheStars'' employs a complex naming system for its citizens, which can have up to five distinct components, namely [Clan name] [Class indicator] [Family name] [Title][[note]]only applicable to titled nobles[[/note]] [Given name]. So for example, the full name of [[InconsistentSpelling Lafiel]], one of the two protagonists, is "Ablïarsec néïc Dubreuscr Bœrh Parhynr Lamhirh"[[note]]Lamhirh, Viscountess Parhynr, of the clan Ablïarsec and royal family Dubreuscr[[/note]] |
| 33 | [[/folder]] |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 36 | * In ''ComicBook/MightyMorphinPowerRangersBoomStudios'', Eltarians all have names beginning with Z, while Xybrians' names are all one-syllable improper nouns. |
| 37 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': Kryptonian men are typically given one-syllable names and have one-syllable family names, hyphenated together--for example, Superman's birth name is Kal-El, or Kal from the House of El. Women have a first name and their father's full name in place of a surname--for example, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is named Kara, the daughter of Zor-El, and is thus called Kara Zor-El. Women do not change their names when they marry. (Note that many writers seem to forget these conventions, however, and often give women male-style names.) |
| 38 | * The merpeople of ''[[ComicBook/{{Swordquest}} Swordquest: Waterworld]]'' apparently start all names with "aqu-". Their kingdom is Aqualania, their ruler is queen Aquana, and she gives the amnesiac protagonist the name "Aquon". |
| 39 | [[/folder]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:Eastern European Animation]] |
| 42 | * In the first English dub of ''Animation/KikoRiki'' by Creator/FourKidsEntertainment, ''[=GoGoRiki=]'', [[DubNameChange all nine main characters had their names changed]] to end with "-riki" [[note]]This was delivered from the show's original name, ''Smesha'''riki''''', which is a {{Portmanteau}} of Smeshnyye (funny) and Sha'''riki''' (balls). This is supposed to be the plural form of the type of FunnyAnimal that the characters are[[/note]]. Some of the minor characters also follow this theming (For example, Pin/Ottoriki's [[ArtificialFamilyMember robotic son]] Bibi was renamed into Roboriki, and Carlin/Bigoriki mentions a magician Houdini as Merloriki the Magnificent), but some others don't seem to (Lily from the titular episode and the Masked Mintrel/Shadow Prince Lovermore). However, the characters also shorten their own names, often preferring not to use "-riki" parts when talking to each other. |
| 43 | [[/folder]] |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 46 | * The Pe'khdar, a race created for the ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' fic ''Fanfic/{{Bait and Switch|STO}}'', give their names as "[Prefix]'[Suffix], Clan [X]". The prefix acts like a given name, while the suffix is passed from their same-sex parent. So, for example, the USS ''Bajor's'' security chief is Dul'krah, Clan Korekh, with the name meaning something akin to [[IAmXSonOfY "Dul of the line of Krah"]]. In his DayInTheLimelight, ''Fanfic/TheHeadhunt'', Dul'krah reveals that his full formal name uses the IAmXSonOfY convention (referring to his mother rather than his father), followed by the clan he was born into (Korekh), then a Blood-Clan[[labelnote:*]]clans he has children in, according to his Memory Gamma bio[[/labelnote]] (Rustra), then his Ship-Clan (Bajor). |
| 47 | * ''Webcomic/DestinyIntertwined'': Dragons names are based on things pertaining to their element -- for instance, Hayze the Shadow dragon, Vitreus the Ice dragon, Incendis, Kindra and Scorchis the Fire dragons, Rayne and Hydris the water dragons, and so on. In addition, they also use patronymics in the form of "X, Son/Daughter of Y", using the name of their same-sex parent. Dragons of unknown parentage use their place of birth instead (such as "X, Son of Warfang City"), while dragons from high-status clans use their family names (such as "Lynerius of Stormbringer"). |
| 48 | * ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': |
| 49 | ** Wolves of the Packlands are not named at birth, instead later being given a name based on a trait the elders observe in them. As Swift-Pad explains, "For me, it was my ability to move swiftly on my pads when most of my littermates were all fumbling about." |
| 50 | ** Ponies get their names from the "name dream", in which expecting mothers have a series of dreams that inspire the name for the foal as it tends to have some tie to their special talent. |
| 51 | ** As in canon, changelings tend to use insect body parts as names. The exception is Queen Metamorphia, whose name is simply derived from "metamorphosis". Other original characters for this fic are named for the following parts: |
| 52 | *** Maxilla (singular of "Maxillae") is an insect mouthpart, paired and arranged by the mandibles, where they're used to hold and manipulate food so that it can be chewed or sliced by the mandibles. |
| 53 | *** Tegmina (plural of "Tegmen") are the modified leathery front wings on an insect, which protect the hindwings when folded. |
| 54 | *** Scolopidia is the fundamental unit of a mechanoreceptor (sensory neuron) organ in insects. |
| 55 | *** Remigium is the anterior rigid part of the wing of an insect that is acted on by the muscles and is the chief effector of flight. |
| 56 | *** Taenidia (plural of "Taenidium") are circumferential thickenings of the cuticle inside a trachea or tracheole in an insect's respiratory system. |
| 57 | ** Introduced in the first sequel, ''Diplomat at Large'': |
| 58 | *** Stemma (plural Stemmata) - a class of simple eyes in arthropods. |
| 59 | ** Introduced in the second sequel, ''Diplomacy Through Schooling'': |
| 60 | *** Ommatidium (plural ommatidia) - the units that name up compound eyes in arthropods. (Incidentally, both are the parents of Ocellus, a canon character who is named for the simplistic eyes sported by some insects; this gives them all [[FamilyThemeNaming names based on insect eyes]].) |
| 61 | *** Tympanum (or tympanal organ) - an external hearing membrane in insects. |
| 62 | *** Metatonum - the dorsal exoskeletal plates on a mesothorax (the middle of three segments in the thorax of an insect). |
| 63 | ** Introduced in ''The Diplomat's Life'': |
| 64 | *** Tagma (plural tagmata) is a specialized grouping of multiple segments or metameres into a coherently functional morphological unit. The thorax of an insect, which her father is named for, is an example of a tagma. |
| 65 | ** Matching the known names from canon, all gargoyles have names ending in the letter "n", and all centaurs have names ending in the letter "k". |
| 66 | * ''Fanfic/LegacyOfChRihan'' retroactively applies the Romulan naming convention given in the ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}'' series (see Literature) to official characters that don't follow it, with the official name becoming either given name or House-name on a case-by-case basis. For example, [[Film/StarTrek2009 Nero]] is given the full name Nero ir-Benheris tr'Sihalian. "Fanfic/HeisheRinanovai" reveals in passing that a married male takes his wife's surname: Senator Merken tr'Vreenak was born Merken tr'Ortikant and married Liorae t'Vreenak. |
| 67 | * In the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' HighSchoolAU ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10785555/1/Shadow-the-Hedgehog-First-Class Shadow the Hedgehog - First Class]]'', [[FunnyAnimal Mobians]] differ from humans in naming scheme. They have names like "Sonic", "Knuckles", "Charmy", "Cream", etc and [[OnlyOneName don't use surnames]]. Amy Rose and Shadow (who has the last name "Robotnik" in this fic) are oddities because they were raised by humans. |
| 68 | * In ''Fanfic/WarriorsKingdomsTheProphecyBegins'', squires have only one part to their name, but get another part once they change in rank. Monarchs have long names like "Tahliorius" and "Braukkiniaum", as well as their second name being "Star". |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Film -- Animation]] |
| 72 | * In the ''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon'' series, the Hooligan Tribe believes that hideous names scare off gnomes and trolls. While there are exceptions throughout the franchise (like Astrid and Gustav), this proves itself with the likes of Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Hiccup gets special mention because he was actually named after the local term for "runt of the litter" (and possibly his ancestor like in the original books series), which fits perfectly with his "un-[[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Viking]]-like" physique. |
| 73 | * Characters in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' are named after Swahilian terms and phrases. |
| 74 | ** To name a few, there's TheHero Simba ("[[ADogNamedDog Lion]]"), his father Mufasa ("King"), his mother Sarabi ("Mirage"), his best friend and eventual wife Nala ("Gift"), the hornbill Zazu ("Movement"), the meerkat and warthog duo Timon ("Honor") and Pumbaa ("Simpleton"), and the baboon Rafiki ("Friend"). Exceptions would be Ed the hyena and the BigBad Scar, though a book reveals he was originally named Taka ("Trash" or "Want") before he got his name from the scar he gets. |
| 75 | ** For the [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride second film]], we have Simba's daughter Kiara ("Princess"), her love interest Kovu ("Scar"), the BigBad Zira ("Hate"), and Kovu's brother Nuka ("Stink"). There's also his sister Vitani, which is a portmanteau of "Vita" ("War") and "Shetani" ("Demon"). |
| 76 | [[/folder]] |
| 77 | |
| 78 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 79 | * ''Literature/AgeOfFire'': |
| 80 | ** Dragon names consist of two syllables, the first being inherited from the father. They use simply capitalization at birth, but males switch to CamelCase at maturity. For instance, the main character starts life as Auron, son of [=AuRel=], and becomes [=AuRon=] late in the first book. |
| 81 | ** Wolf names consist of two two-word constructs describing their appearance, and use shortened versions of these among packmates formed by putting the first word of the second part before the first word of the first. For instance, the wolf Hard-Legs Back-Bristle is Blackhard to his companions. While staying with the wolves, Auron is named Long-Tail Fire-Heart, Firelong for short. |
| 82 | * ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': |
| 83 | ** Andalites have three names strung together, with the first being the personal name: for example, [[TokenNonHuman Ax]]'s full name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, [[ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin Elfangor]]'s is Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. It's notable that 'Esgarrouth' and "Sirinial" are their respective parents' second names, but it's unknown if that's a convention. |
| 84 | ** [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerks]] are all a name, followed by a string of numbers; for example, [[BigBad Visser Three]] is Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six primary. The "doubled" last number and "primary" comes from being a twin; [[SerialKiller his twin]] has the same name, except with "primary" replaced with "lesser." Most Yeerks only have three numbers. |
| 85 | ** [[GoodIsDumb Hork-Bajir]] have a personal name and a surname that passes from father to child; females don't change theirs when they marry. For example, Jara Hamee married Ket Halpak, and their daughter was Toby Hamee. |
| 86 | ** The Ketrans, the species from which [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien the Ellimist]] came, have long, bizarre designations based on where they live on their planets' giant floating crystals; his was "Azure Level, Seven Spar, Extension Two, Down-Messenger, Forty-one." Because of this, individuals just make up names that they like; his was Toomin. "Ellimist" was basically his screen name, likewise made up just to sound cool. |
| 87 | * ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'' books (including the ''Trevelyan's Mission'' spin-off series): |
| 88 | ** [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Haptor]] add their family or clan name to the end of their given name after an apostrophe. For example, the lord of the Kshoo Clan, one of the First Dynasties, is Sheggeren'kshoo, although informally they may omit the family/clan name. It's unclear if the same naming structure applies to commoners. |
| 89 | ** [[HumanAlien Kni'lina]] of the Ni Clan use common words as the second part of their name, while the first part depends on their hierarchy within the current group, meaning it can change. For example, a man named Third Blade can become Second Blade if his boss dies or is transferred. |
| 90 | ** On the primitive world of Osier, those of the Seven Provinces use hyphenated dual names (e.g. Ugo-Tasmi). The same applies to their gods (e.g. Tavan-Gez). Their cities always start with "Mad", which refers to the drops of blood that were spilled by a nobleman to consecrate the ground (e.g. Mad Aeg, Mad Torval). |
| 91 | ** [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Bino Faata]] of the ruling caste seem to use two-syllable names (e.g. Yatta, Iveh), while those of the lower castes (assuming they even have names) have one syllable (e.g. Yo, Yegg). |
| 92 | * ''Literature/BooksOfTheRaksura'': |
| 93 | ** Raksura tend to be named after nouns that follow a theme within lines of descent, like the siblings Chime, Knell, and Bell; or Flower and her distant relative Petal. |
| 94 | ** The Golden Islanders grant additional names as a mark of prestige, indicating that the CoolOldGuy Delin-Evran-lindel is ''highly'' distinguished as a scholar. |
| 95 | * ''Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy'': People have three names, the first which is the given name that people call them, the second which is their "use-caste", which determines what job they are to have when their community needs it to survive the cataclysms called "seasons" that happen every few hundred years, and their last name is the community they belong to. |
| 96 | * ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': There is no clear naming pattern at [[AerithAndBob all]] for younger sisters, but the eldest sister is, apparently, named "Eldest", and has no other name. Eldest is also a title, that changes to "Mother Elder" when a woman gives birth. |
| 97 | * ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'': Played with in ''Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants''. The antagonist comes from a country named New Swissland, where everyone has a silly name. His is Professor Pippy Pee Poopypants. He later changes it Tippy T. Tinkletrousers. The book even comes with a naming chart so that readers can make their own silly name. |
| 98 | * ''Literature/TheCityAndTheDungeon'': Some delvers take the name of the first monster that successfully killed them. T.B. Kyoto, for example, was killed by a Tengu Bushi. |
| 99 | * ''Literature/ConfederationOfValor'': Taykan names go [life stage]'[family name] [given name], and having a shorter family name indicates a higher-class family (e.g. di'Ka Jarret); they usually go by their given name rather than their surname. Krai use OnlyOneName, which typically has has at least one 'r' sound and is usually but not always monosyllabic. |
| 100 | * ''Literature/CradleSeries'': We see three main ones. |
| 101 | ** The first is what the Sacred Valley uses: [clan] [family] [given]. So Wei Shi Lindon is Lindon of the Shi family of the Wei clan. |
| 102 | ** The Blackflame Empire, where most of the story takes place, uses [clan] [given], so Jai Long is Long of the Jai clan. Most clans always use their clan names and given names together (even Jai Long's sister calls him Jai Long), but the Akura clan that rules most of the continent typically just uses their given name in casual conversation; Akura Mercy is almost exclusively just called Mercy. Likewise, they are almost exclusively named after virtues, with the occasional vice thrown in (Mercy has a brother named Pride, and the matriarch is named Malice). |
| 103 | ** Third, the Arelius clan uses a familiar [given] [clan] format, so Eithan Arelius is Eithan of the Arelius clan. While they are well-established in the Blackflame Empire, they're foreigners from another continent, so presumably that's the format used over there. It also makes it convenient when they want to adopt promising young people into the family, as they can just slap their clan name on the end. Lindon becomes Wei Shi Lindon Arelius when he joins the family. |
| 104 | * ''Literature/TheCulture'': |
| 105 | ** People in the Culture have multi-part names consisting of the star system and celestial body where they were born, a given name given to them at birth, a second name chosen at adulthood, a surname, and the house, town, estate or similar where they were raised. As an example, the author gives his own name "Sun-Earther Iain El-Bonko Banks of South Queensferry". |
| 106 | ** Culture Minds, advanced artificial intelligences, choose their own names. These often take the form of quippy phrases such as "So Much For Subtlety" and "Of Course I Still Love You". |
| 107 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' |
| 108 | ** The Ramtop Mountains have a naming convention in which a child is named by whatever the priest doing the ceremony says, regardless of whether it's intentional or not. This has resulted in names like James What The Hell's That Cow Doing In Here Poorchick (known as Moocow Poorchick to his friends). Even royalty is not immune, with at least one of Lancre's rulers being named King My-God-He's-Heavy the First and most recently, in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', Princess Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre. |
| 109 | ** ''Literature/ReaperMan'' has One-Man-Bucket, whose tribe names children after the first thing the mother sees upon looking outside their tent after the birth. One-Man-Bucket's full name is One-Man-Throwing-A-Bucket-Of-Water-Over-Two-Dogs. His twin brother, born just a few minutes earlier, wishes he could've been called Two-Dogs-''Fighting.'' |
| 110 | ** ''Literature/InterestingTimes'': In the Agatean Empire, almost everyone's name is number-adjective-noun, such as Nine Turning Mirrors and Six Beneficent Winds. Two Little Wang is particularly disgruntled about this... [[BaitAndSwitch because two is an unlucky number]]. Some characters lack the adjective and run it into one word (Twoflower, Ninereeds). WordOfGod from Creator/TerryPratchett is "I think I pinched the Mayan construction." |
| 111 | ** Omnian (a Discworld religion) characters all have names that are descriptive of religious duties including Visit-the-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets (called "Visit") and Smite-the-Unbeliever-with-Cunning-Arguments. The names are allegedly shorter in Omnian but in Ankh-Morporkian (which is established to be the same as English) the names are longer. |
| 112 | ** The dragon-riders of the Wyrmberg all have an exclamation mark in their names, in parody of [=McCaffery=]. |
| 113 | ** Trolls all have RockThemeNaming, generally of the mineral they most resemble. |
| 114 | ** Dwarfs have either human first names (mostly Nordic but occasionally Welsh), one or two syllable names that vaguely resemble Tolkien's dwarves (Modo, Glod) or emotional descriptors like "Cheery". Surnames are generally either LukeNounverber or UsefulNotes/{{Patronymic}}s, which are usually {{Repetitive Name}}s and can refer to relatives other than a parent, such as "Glodsnephew". |
| 115 | * In the web-novel ''Literature/{{Domina}}'' the angels swap out their last name for a Name based on their job and role. Gabriels are warriors, Jegudiels are workers, Michaels are protectors, Raphaels are doctors, Uriels are hunters, and Lucifers are teachers. There seems to be a little blurriness at times, though; Alex is a tracker, but he bears the Name Gabriel. WordOfGod is that the Lucifers should have been called Samael, but the Arch-Saints sort of skimmed some parts of traditional angelic lore. |
| 116 | * ''Literature/DownwardToTheEarth'': Nildoror names consist of a three- or four-letter syllable, an apostrophe, and a longer section (i.e., Srin'gahar, Vol'himyor, Luu'khamin). Sulidoror names are similar, but with a two-letter starting syllable and a dash (i.e., Na-sinisul, Se-holomir, Yi-gartigok). |
| 117 | * In Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' series, multiple conventions exist. |
| 118 | ** A common naming convention among Weyrborn is to have the first half of one parent's name combined with the second half of the other's (modifying the end to the appropriate gender, adding '-n' or '-a'). In this way, you have Falloner and Lorana giving Falarnon, and Falloner and Manora giving Famanoran. |
| 119 | ** When a male rider [[DragonRider Impresses]], they shorten their name and contract the first syllable. This originally developed to aid communication during combat, and later became a [[FantasticHonorifics honorific]]. |
| 120 | *** Falloner becomes F'lon, Falarnon becomes F'lar, and Famanoran becomes F'nor. |
| 121 | *** One of the things that distinguishes Jaxom of Rutha Hold as ''not'' a Dragonrider is that he does not recieve the honorific. Although before that descision was made, several characters discuss what his name might be fore-shortened to. |
| 122 | ** For the dragons themselves, each one has a single personal name, which always ends in "th". |
| 123 | ** In Creator/ToddMcCaffrey's books from the 3rd Pass, it is revealed that watchwher have their own naming convention. Their names end in '-sk', with the first part taken from the name of the person or bloodline they are linked to. The closer the bond, the more of their name taken. |
| 124 | *** The watchwher for Fort hold is Forsk. |
| 125 | *** Nuella's first, green, watchwher renames herself to Nuelsk when she transfers her bond from Kindan. After she dies, Nuella then bonds a gold, Nuellask. |
| 126 | * In the ''Literature/EarthsChildren'' series, the following naming conventions can be seen: |
| 127 | ** '''Clan''': Masculine names have one syllable and start and end with a consonant. Feminine names have two syllables, start with a vowel and end with an -a. This only seems to apply to Clan people in the region where Ayla grew up; those living further west have two-syllable masculine names and feminine names starting with consonants, or at least with a Y. |
| 128 | ** '''Losadunai''': Both masculine and feminine names start with a consonant. Masculine names have three syllables and end with an -i. Feminine names have four syllables and end with an -ia. |
| 129 | ** '''Mamutoi''': Masculine names have a variety of endings, including -ag, -ut and -ec. Feminine names end with an -ie. |
| 130 | ** '''S'Armunai''': Names may begin with either a vowel or a consonant. Masculine names typically end with -an or -ar. Feminine names end with -oa. The S' prefix is added to someone's given name as a mark of respect; it loosely translates as "Honoured One". |
| 131 | ** '''Sharamudoi''': Masculine names end with an -o or a -do according to which half of the tribe its bearer belongs to. Feminine names end with an -io. |
| 132 | ** '''Zelandonii''': All names start with a consonant. However, while masculine names have various endings such as -lan, -lar or -nan, feminine names always end with an -a. |
| 133 | * In the ''Literature/{{Eldraeverse}}'' the eldrae tend towards {{Overly Long Name}}s, as noted on the blog's "[[http://eldraeverse.com/2015/06/04/trope-a-day-overly-long-name/ Trope-A-Day]]" feature. The example given, Miran Esitariel Prime Cyprium-ith-Avalae isil-Claves Linlethar ion-Atiran iel-Calandra mis-Eliera-en-Kiriv Leir, includes a: title, personal name, [[MesACrowd persona identifier]], [House]-ith-[Lineage], spouse's House and Lineage, attributive name, {{UsefulNotes/Patronymic}}, Matronymic, and location. |
| 134 | * In Marcus [=LaGrone's=] ''Literature/TheHighlandsOfAfon'' novels Highlands Taiks have a personal name, a patrilineal clan name, and a house name that comes from the First Mother and is shared with her husband and [[ExoticExtendedMarriage co-wives]]. Females usually just use their given name and house name, while males use both their clan and house name as children and switch to just their given and clan names at adulthood until they get married. |
| 135 | * Creator/MCAHogarth, self-proclaimed "anthropologist to aliens" uses a variety of naming conventions for her different species. |
| 136 | ** [[Literature/TalesOfTheJokka Jokka]] use [Given name] [contracting house]-[birth [[BizarreAlienSexes gender]]], i.e. Keshul Akkadin-emodo. |
| 137 | ** ''Literature/FlightOfTheGodkinGriffin'': The Godkindred kingdom, with their religious prerogative towards interspecies breeding, have last names indicating their number of bloodlines (Silfia Fiveblood for example), while those with at least ten use "Godkin" (Angharad Godkin). |
| 138 | ** ''Literature/{{Kherishdar}}'': Ai-Naidar names are [Given name] Nai'[House]-[[[FantasticCasteSystem caste]]]. Ai-Naidar may change their House name upon founding or joining a new House, or even their caste if re-evaluation is deemed necessary. |
| 139 | ** ''Literature/{{Paradox}}'': Many of the Pelted have developed their own naming customs, Tam-illee choose "foundnames" based on their calling in life instead of surnames (Carevei [=EarthHunger=] was a geologist but changed it to [=HawkFreed=] later after a spiritual experience, and one wonders how Fleet commander Jonah [=NotAgain=] chose his name). Harat-Shar refer to their families as "trains" but are known only by their personal names. While Ciracaana, Glaseah, Phoenixes, and Naysha seem to dispense with more than one name entirely. And the true aliens have their own customs, Eldritch have a personal, family, and House name (i.e. Jahir Seni Galare is heir to the Seni family of House Galare), and Chatcaava put no stock in names and prefer to be known by their titles. |
| 140 | * In ''Literature/JunctionPoint'', the ktrit'zal take on the family name of those they marry or make blood-brothers with. Family names are separated by clicks, which are represented as apostrophes. |
| 141 | * In the two Neolithic tales in Rudyard Kipling's ''Literature/JustSoStories'' there are just three names given, but they all conform to the same pattern: A word consisting of three syllables, [[AlliterativeFamily beginning with "T-"]] and ending with "-mai" and a polysyllabic second word, all [[MeaningfulName descriptive of the bearer's character]]: |
| 142 | -->"His name was Tegumai Bopsulai, and that means, 'Man-who-does-not-put-his-foot-forward-in-a-hurry'; but we, O Best Beloved, will call him Tegumai, for short. And his wife's name was Teshumai Tewindrow, and that means, 'Lady-who-asks-a-very-many-questions'; but we, O Best Beloved, will call her Teshumai, for short. And his little girl-daughter's name was Taffimai Metallumai, and that means 'Small-person-whithout-any-manners-who-ought-to-be-spanked'; but I'm going to call her Taffy." |
| 143 | * ''Literature/KnownSpace'': Kzinti are not born with names, and need to earn them. As kits, they are referred to as their fathers' sons and by number of birth (e.g., "Fifth Son of Tsaar-Rrit"). On adulthood, they are instead referred to purely by their job or military designation ("Third Forward Gunner"). If they perform a deed of notable bravery or accomplish some valuable goal, they're awarded a partial name ("Chuft-Gunner"). A repeat of this will earn them the right to bear their family name ("Chuft-Rrit"). A single very impressive deed can catapult a kzin directly from the second stage to the final one. Referring to a named Kzin by his old title is a profound insult. |
| 144 | * Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin: |
| 145 | ** In ''Literature/TheDispossessed'', the Anarresti are given names randomly drawn from a predetermined list without duplicates. When someone dies, their name is made available again. There are enough names on the list that each is used only every few generations. The protagonist Shevek is the third person to have that name since the system was set up, two of whom were men and one who was a woman. |
| 146 | ** In ''Literature/AlwaysComingHome'', the Kesh typically have three names throughout their lives: one given to them as children, one they choose as adolescents, and one they choose in late adulthood. They do not have family names, but are identified by where they live and by their position in the moiety system of the Five Houses of Earth. |
| 147 | ** In ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'', everyone has a true name used only by their closest confidants and a public use name. This custom developed because of [[IKnowYourTrueName true-name-based magic]]. |
| 148 | * ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'': The Nine Houses don't use family names; people are given two names at birth, where the first can be [[AerithAndBob almost anything]] and the second incorporates some reference to their House number. For siblings to share a second name is rare and suggests that they're extremely close (like the Tridentarius twins) or were bred for a singular duty (like the Asht brothers). |
| 149 | * The ''Literature/MegLangslowMysteries'' have an InUniverse example with the kitschy SoapOpera Meg's husband is on. Everyone and everything is named for a medical term - the Duke of Urushiol (the chemical in poison ivy), the Metatarsal (a bone in the foot) Knights and so on. |
| 150 | * ''Literature/AMemoryCalledEmpire'': Citizens of the Teixcalaanli [[TheEmpire Empire]] choose their own two-part names, comprising a number (each with its own symbolic association) and a noun (usually a proper object, plant, or concept -- animal names are considered improper). Three Seagrass ("[[AffectionateNickname Reed]]" to her friends) boggles a bit that one citizen ''wants'' to be known as Thirty-Six All-Terrain Tundra Vehicle. |
| 151 | * In ''Literature/{{Mirabile}}'', everyone on the colony world of Mirabile has a middle name reflecting their occupation, and the formal short form of a name is Middlename Lastname; for instance, Leonov Bellmaker Denness, known for short as "Bellmaker Denness" (but "Leo" to his friends). The middle name can change if the occupation does; for instance, Bellmaker Denness used to be Opener Denness before he retired (an "opener" is an explorer type who opens up new territories for human occupation). |
| 152 | * ''Literature/MorgaineCycle'': Nhi Vanye i Chya's native culture uses [Given Name] [Father's Clan Name] i [Mother's Clan Name]. |
| 153 | * In Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/Nightfall1941": The inhabitants of planet Lagash have a name followed by a number, e.g. Sheerin 501, Beenay 25, etc. |
| 154 | * ''Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats'': All cats have three names: first, they have a sensible name for everyday use, the kind you might find a cat having in real life. Second, they have a much more grandiose name, one unique to each cat and apparently necessary to afford them proper feline pride, such as Jennyanydots, Bustopher Jones, Growltiger, Griddlebone, etcetera. Finally, they have a hidden and secret name that no human will ever discover and no cat will ever reveal, reserved exclusively for the cat’s own private contemplation. |
| 155 | * ''Literature/{{On}}'': The protagonist is named "Tighe", but it's not until a few more characters of the protagonist's culture have been introduced that we learn that they use the suffix -he for all male names and the suffix -she for all female names. |
| 156 | * ''Literature/PostSelf'': As uploaded consciousnesses have the ability to 'fork' or create duplicates of themselves, these new instances begin by having the same name as their 'down-tree' instance followed by a tag consisting of a string of hexadecimal digits such as Ioan Bălan#c1494bf, though they can also change their names later (Ioan#c1494bf becomes Codrin Bălan of the Bălan clade). Of note, those of the Ode clade take their names from lines of a poem that holds great meaning to them, such as Dear, Also, The Tree That Was Felled and The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream. These are commonly shortened to a word or phrase (Dear and True Name in these instances). As there are only one hundred lines in the Ode, the number of instances is necessarily limited. "It is perhaps not a very good poem," Dear opines. |
| 157 | * In Creator/TanyaHuff's ''Literature/{{Quarters}}'' series, people use a given name, then a matronymic, then a patronymic. For example, the child Annice has with Pjerin in ''Sing the Four Quarters'' ends up being named Magda i'Annice a'Pjerin. |
| 158 | * In ''Literature/{{Remnants}},'' members of the "Blue Meanies"/Children (of [[SapientShip Mother]]) have [[NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom Names That Unfold Like Lotus Blossom]], in the style of [Number] [Pleasant Adjective] [Natural feature]. Examples include "One Perfect Mountain" and "Four Divine Streams." [[spoiler:When some start worshiping [[TokenEvilTeammate Yago]] they take names like "Yago's Catlike Grace."]] |
| 159 | * ''Literature/Reaper2016'': People choose new names when they enter Game. The Founder Players, like Hawk, have a single name. The First Wave who joined after the experimental period have two names. When all the variations available have been used, people started taking three names. By Jex's generation, they're on four names. |
| 160 | * ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': |
| 161 | ** Surprisingly for a series chock full of dueling clans, none of the Southern characters have family names. When a second name is applied (Celia Corvino, for instance), the intention is to differentiate the person from another family member with the same name, and is taken as shorthand for X, son or daughter of Y. So Celia Corvino would be known to be Celia, daughter of Corvino. |
| 162 | *** Calvarians do have secondary names, but they only serve to tell you the order of their birth (Drauglir Seventhson) or whether they were an unwanted child (Isengrim No-Father). As Calvarians are only permitted to have half as many children as they have personally killed in battle, having the last name Fifteenthson is a pretty clear indication of someone's pedigree. |
| 163 | *** The royal family of Solothurn do have a family name, Vargr, but it's really more of a title than a name, as it is an indication that the person is descended from [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wargs.]] |
| 164 | * ''Literature/{{Rocheworld}}'': The [[BlobMonster amorphous]] Flowen take their names from 1) their flavour, 2) their color, and 3) the overtone of their voice, plus a unique wingding, leading to names like "Bitter◇Orange◇Chirr." Animals get an adjective, an ×, and a sound, like the Big×Boom, an ambush predator that hunts by exploding peices of its body to stun prey. |
| 165 | * ''Literature/ShatterTheSky'': Zefedi people often have last names in the form of 'ben' something (e.g. Gao or Garret), but not always. |
| 166 | * ''Literature/SpellslingerSeries'': All over the place. Jan'Tep mages have their childhood name, and receive their mage-name with an apostrophe in it once they pass their mage trials. The Gitabrians name by profession, family, and position in the family, in that order. The nomadic Argosi are named after the paths of fate they choose to walk, so you get names like Path of the Wild Daisy and Path of the Stormy Mountains. |
| 167 | * ''Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse'': |
| 168 | ** ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}'': |
| 169 | *** A Romulan's formal name is composed of a given name, a locative indicating their place of origin, and a clan name which is passed matrilineally. So, for example, Areinnye ir-Menhei t'Sei means "Areinnye, from the Menhei region, of the clan s'Sei." The prefix on the surname is t' for women, tr' for men, and s' when speaking of the clan itself.[[note]]"s'" is the possessive prefix for proper nouns.[[/note]] In common usage Romulans default to a simple first name, last name arrangement, Areinnye t'Sei for our example. (This explains the simpler names used in the shows.) Married men take their wife's surname. [[http://www.rihan.org/drupal/grammar/names More information here.]] Romulans also have a secret fourth name that they only tell to people they trust implicitly, a practice that evolved from Vulcan Internet usernames. |
| 170 | *** The same series establishes that the Vulcan male naming convention in the franchise's present day of five-letter names beginning with 's' and ending with 'k' is meant to honor Surak, the Vulcan philosopher who led the species to embrace logic. |
| 171 | ** ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse'' continuity: |
| 172 | *** Andorians have a given name and a surname, with their surname containing a prefix indicating which of the [[BizarreAlienSexes four sexes]] they belong to. [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Shran's]] full "Imperial name" in the ''Literature/StarTrekEnterpriseRelaunch'' books is Hravishran th'Zoarhi (he's a ''thaan''), with his better-known full name Thy'lek Shran (originally referring to his MirrorUniverse counterpart in the TV series) apparently being the Aenar translation of his non-Imperial, home-culture name. The character Kanshent Shelav, from a highly traditionalist branch of her clan, insists on using this (her native Dreshna name), even though Andoria officially registers her by her Imperial name, Trenkanshent sh’Lavan. Her cousin answers just as readily to Aranthanien ch’Revash as to Thanien Cherev. The four gender suffixes are th', sh', zh' or ch' (e.g. Thirishar ch'Thane, Sessethantis zh'Cheen or Kellarasana zh'Faila, whose shorter "familiar" names are Shar, Thantis and Kell - though the latter's MirrorUniverse counterpart prefers Sana). An additional prefix for an outsider adopted into an Andorian clan was recently introduced. In all Andorian names, sibilants and lisping sounds are very common. |
| 173 | *** Tellarites have three names, usually of one or two syllables, the middle being a non-capitalized connective that appears to be chosen from a small pool. Examples include Bera chim Gleer, Bodor chim Grev, Bersh glov Mog, and Mor glasch Tev. Typically, they're referred to by the final name, which is shared among close family members (Rif jav Balkar and Sagar bav Balkar are a married couple). |
| 174 | *** Hermats have a name followed by a number (e.g. Burgoyne 172, Dogayn 418 or Rulan 12). |
| 175 | *** Among the Nasats, names are letter-number-shell colour, e.g. P8 Blue, Z4 Blue, C29 Green or V1 Red. These are actually shortened forms of a longer string of numbers and letters which serve as the official designation, with shell colour added on. |
| 176 | *** Triexians have two names often connected by "na" (e.g. Krelis na Then, Arex na Eth, Ferin na Yoth), or sometimes "ko", as in Nexa ko Tor. The first name appears to be the one used formally. The first name is almost always two syllables, the final name a single syllable. The Triexians' Edoan cousins seem to have only a single name. |
| 177 | *** Tholians have a single name, which usually ends in "ene". Examples include Loskene, Tezrene, Yilskene and Kasrene. Exceptions appear to be from the lower castes like the technicians; most Tholian characters of note are from higher castes like the politicians, warriors and diplomats, and almost always use the "ene". |
| 178 | *** Damiani names have two syllables separated by an apostrophe, followed by a letter, an apostrophe and ullh, ullho or ullhy depending on sex (they have three). Examples include Ra'ch B'ullhy (female), Je'tran T'ullh (male) and Ne'al G'ullho (the third sex). |
| 179 | *** D' and N' are common Romulan prefixes, the former suggestive of importance or "greatness", while T' is apparently a Vulcan feminine prefix. Other than that, Romulans vary DependingOnTheWriter. Some of the books borrow the naming structure from the ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}'' books[[labelnote:*]]they're otherwise not considered part of this continuity[[/labelnote]] (for example the ''Literature/StarTrekEnterpriseRelaunch'' expands the name of Admiral Valdore from the canon show to Valdore i'Kaleh tr'Ihaimehn), while others favor the OnlyOneName pattern more common in the shows. It seems that this single name is usually the family name; a first name will sometimes be used, e.g. Gell Kamemor, Aventeer Vokar, but this is apparently rarer than simply using the family name. |
| 180 | *** Thallonians tend to use the honorific "Si" between their given and family names (Zoran Si Verdin, Jang Si Naran, etc). Royal Thallonian Si Cwan appears to use the honorific itself as his first name. |
| 181 | *** Betazoid males have names of one or sometimes two syllables (Tam, Cort, Gart, Hent, Ven), the females of two, three or four (Anissina, Mollarana, Damira), while their family names often end in "n" (Enaren, Kaldarren, Povron, Tevren) or "x" (Grax, Xerix, Mryax, Xerx). |
| 182 | *** Efrosians tend to use a "Ra-" prefix on the surname (Ra-Yalix, Xin Ra-Havreii, Ra-Ghoratreii, Satlin Ra-Graveness), but not always. Ni- and Hu' prefixes have been see as well (e.g. Ni-Jalikreii, Fellen Ni-Yaleii, Hu'Ghrovlatrei). |
| 183 | *** Tzenkethi names have four components: the individual name, their job, their echelon within that job, and their proficiency grade. Example: Alizome Tor Fel-A, with "tor" indicating a position as special agent to the Tzenkethi Autarch, "fel" being her membership in the "problem-solver" echelon, and "A" indicating the second-highest proficiency in that role (AA rating is incredibly rare, though). |
| 184 | *** Alonis have long names like Quirmirkis, Nerramibus or Liezakranor. When off-world, they add a shorter additional name to the beginning to designate their function (“Tel” is diplomat, “Los” is soldier), and split the name in two (e.g. Admiral Los Tirasol Mentir is probably Tirasolmentir back home, Ambassador Tel Ammanis Lent is probably Ammanislent). |
| 185 | *** Grazerite names, following the formula established onscreen by Jaresh-Inyo (the Federation president during ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' season 4), are two names joined by a hyphen (e.g. Severn-Anyar, Torvis-Urzon, Lonam-Arja, Amster-Iber). They sound ponderous and each of the names is typically two syllables long, very occasionally one. The first name is shared between siblings or herd members - Jaresh-Inyo's brother is Jaresh-Uryad. |
| 186 | *** Coridanite names very frequenly end in a V. The "ev" sound is particularly common (e.g. Lekev, Kalev, Chulev); another common ending is "g" (e.g. Seareg, Yoralig). The emphasis always seems to be on the first syllable, and family names are rare. |
| 187 | *** Zakdorn possess both a given name and a surname, the latter almost always longer than the former, with choppy syllables and lots of "k" sounds yet also oddly melodic (e.g. Koll Azernal, Klim Dokachin, Myk Bunkrep, Virum Kalnota, Rujat Suwadi, Gruhn Helkara). |
| 188 | *** Betelgeusian names seem to almost always have an "uu" sound, an "i" sound, a "t" sound and an apostrophe (e.g. Chuu'iik Hru'uith, Kuu'iut, Hrrii'ush Uuvu'it, Chi'iot). |
| 189 | *** Rhaandarite names always seem to have an "aa" sound (e.g. Gaanth, Haarv, Vaylin Zaand, Laarin Andos). |
| 190 | *** Benzite names are two syllables and harsh-sounding (e.g. Meldok, Veldon, Linzner, Salmak, Cardok, Melnis). |
| 191 | *** Bolian names are short, almost never more than two syllables, and quite often only one. Some use surnames (which are indistinguishable from given names), but most don't. Examples: Chell, Min Zife, Gom, Frnats, Zim Brott, Nea, Sovan, Rixx, Bor Loxx. |
| 192 | *** Chelon names have lots of short, sharp syllables that sound like wet clicks and snaps - "i"s and "t" are common (e.g. Rinsit, Simmerith, Latanum, Jetanien, Miltakka). |
| 193 | *** Gnalish have a first name of one or two syllables, a surname of three or four. Examples include Sar Antillea, Phigus Simenon, Qur Ontallium, Ganris Phrebington, and Gorus Gelemingar. |
| 194 | *** Choblik have a two-syllable first name and a last name consisting of three hyphenated syllables. The only two individuals known are Torvig Bu-Kar-Nguv from ''Literature/StarTrekTitan'' and Felbog Bu-Tsop-Vee from ''[[Literature/StarTrekDepartmentOfTemporalInvestigations Department of Temporal Investigations]]''. |
| 195 | * ''Literature/CrestOfTheStars'' has the Abh, which seem difficult but are fairly straight forward when you get the hang of them. [Family Name] [An element that signifies social rank] [Founder of the Lineage] [Noble Titles (if any)] [Given Name]. So our female lead's (Abriel Nei Debrusc Borl Paryun Lafiel) is from the Abriel family, of royal lineage (the nei particle is reserved for the royal families) of the line of Debrusc, Vicountess Paryun and her given name is Lafiel. Just watch out for [[InconsistentSpelling variant spellings]]. |
| 196 | * Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse: |
| 197 | ** Bothans' given names don't follow any particular pattern but their surnames are usually three letters, an apostrophe, and another three letters (Borsk Fey'lya, Laryn Kre'fey). |
| 198 | ** In the ''Literature/BlackFleetCrisis'' trilogy Yevetha have a three-letter given name and a five-letter last name (Nil Spaar). |
| 199 | ** ''Literature/NewJediOrder'': Most [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] have names that go [personal name][Domain name], with Domans being [[TheClan large, powerful extended families]]. So [[TheDragon Tsavong Lah]] is Tsavong of Domain Lah. [[FullNameBasis It's usually considered highly insulting to refer to someone, especially someone you don't know well, by anything less than their full name at all times]], but there are exceptions. Most priests have OnlyOneName, and this shows up occasionally in other castes as well. Shamed Ones, the Vong's despised outcast class, generally get kicked out of their Domans when they get Shamed, though some still use their Domain name out of defiance. Finally, the [[GodEmperor Supreme Overlord]] belongs to the entire Yuuzhan Vong people and thus never uses their Domain name after ascending; the current Supreme Overlord as of the series' present is Shimrra Jamaane, but by tradition he's just known as Shrimrra. |
| 200 | ** ''Literature/StarWarsThrawn'': Chiss names typically start with the family name, followed by an apostrophe, a part of the person's core name, another apostrophe, and a suffix. In daily use, though, they tend to shorten it to just their core name. As an example, a young but promising Chiss officer from a minor family is named Kivu'raw'nuru. He is adopted by the powerful Mitth family and is now named Mitth'raw'nuru. Eventually, he is honored by the Stybla family, and the suffix "odo" (meaning "guardian" in an ancient language) is added to his name, making him Mitth'raw'nuruodo. His core name also changed from Vurawn to Thrawn. However, when an officer reaches flag rank (commodore and above), they are tradition-bound to renounce their family connections and drop that part of their name. Thus, Captain Irizi'ar'alani (AKA Ziara) becomes Commodore (later Admiral) Ar'alani. Had Thrawn ever reached flag rank, he would've become Raw'nuruodo. |
| 201 | ** ''Literature/XWingSeries'': |
| 202 | *** In ''The Krytos Trap'', Tal'dira explains that Twi'lek names often involve [[PunnyName puns]] in their language. Rogue Squadron pilot Nawara Ven is addressed as "Nawar'aven" among his own people, which sounds like "silver-tongued" in Ryl. If pronounced as Basic-speakers do, it sounds like "tarnished silver"; the Twi'leks adjust the pronunciation to retain the correct meaning--and pointedly don't with disfavored figures such as [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Bib Fortuna]]. Wedge Antilles, a human, then asks why they address him as "Wedgan'tilles" and is informed that it sounds similar to "slayer of stars", and that "Wedge Antilles" is roughly similar to "one so foul as to induce vomiting in a rancor". |
| 203 | *** Adumari names have a "ke" between given name and surname (Cheriss ke Hanadi). |
| 204 | * ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': |
| 205 | ** The Veden are named using the traditional [Given] [Family] format, with one exception: The sons each have an honorific indicating their birth order. The eldest son is Nan (second, after their father), third is Tet, and fourth is Asha. These honorifics are ingrained in the culture enough that they are used even privately among family members. |
| 206 | ** The Shin are named after their parents. So there's Thresh-son-Esan, Shauka-daughter-Hasweth, so on and so forth. Szeth, due to being a dishonored Truthless, refers to himself as Szeth-son-son-Vallano, so as not to sully his (still living) father Neturo by association. |
| 207 | * ''Literature/SwansBraidAndOtherTalesOfTerizan'': Most people in Oreen have names with a z included, whether as part of their personal or family name. |
| 208 | * ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' uses the same system as ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'', with a simple first name, a more impressive second name, and a third and entirely private secret name. These are referred to as the a cat’s Heart, Face and Tail names, respectively. Their use is a bit switched around from ''Old Possum's'' -- the simple Heart Name, given at birth, becomes reserved for lovers, friends and family, while the grandiose and descriptive Face Name, given later after the cat has grown enough for their personality to become evident, is the one used in everyday conversation. For example, the main character, Fritti Tailchaser, is Fritti to his family and to a very small number of other characters he tells that name to, and Tailchaser to everyone else. The Tail Name is not given -- each cat must discover it by themselves -- and none are revealed in the book. |
| 209 | * In Creator/RyuunosukeAkiyama's ''A Terribly Dangerous Coat'', characters have names in an invented language, given in Eastern order, all of which natively mean something. |
| 210 | * ''Literature/TheTravelersGate'': In the villages, where Simon is from, they use IAmXSonOfY, so Simon is "Simon, son of Kalman," while Leah is "Leah, daughter of Kelia." In the cities of Damasca, they use house names similar to real life, and like in real life most of them appear to be simply the names of the original founders. Interestingly, the royal family of Damasca does neither, to represent how they have no allegiance except to the nation itself. According to Leah, this has prevented a handful of civil wars over the centuries. |
| 211 | * ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': In Barrayar, aristocrats have the syllable "Vor" as the first syllable of their last name, and in-universe the entire warrior caste are routinely referred to simply as "Vor". There's also a tradition where the firstborn son is given his paternal grandfather and maternal grandfather's first names as his first and second names in that order and the second son is given his maternal grandfather and paternal grandfather's second names as his first and second names in that order (assuming each grandfather agrees if living). The Cetagandan warrior caste does the same only using the sylable "Ghem". |
| 212 | ** There is mention of a custom at the Barrayar military service academy that Vor cadets are referred to only by the rest of their names (e.g. Miles Vorkosigan gets referred to as "Kosigan"), to emphasize that they are to be treated like any other student. It only works so well. |
| 213 | * ''Literature/WarriorCats'': |
| 214 | ** The Clan cats have a naming system that involves putting two nouns, verbs, or adjectives together. These can include more or less anything, but tend to be drawn from the cat's appearance, distinctive physical or personality traits, or nature (Fireheart, Ivypool, Whitestorm, etc.) The suffix of the name changes throughout their life, starting as "kit" when they are kittens, and becoming "paw" when they begin training, pretty much anything on adulthood, and "star" if they become a Clan leader. (For example, one character goes from Bluekit to Bluepaw to Bluefur to Bluestar). |
| 215 | ** This got distorted somewhat by [=SkyClan=] in their isolation. They kept the general rules but broadened the vocabulary to the point that the other Clans seem to see it as an AerithAndBob situation. Their ranks include the "normal-sounding" Mintfur, Blossomheart and Hawkwing, but also the likes of Bellaleaf, Frecklewish and Macgyver. |
| 216 | ** Tribe cats are named after the first thing their mother sees when they are born, and this results in several-word-long, [[NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom descriptive]] names, such as Bird Who Rides The Wind and Brook Where Small Fish Swim. (They just go by the first word of their name for everyday use.) The leader of the Tribe gives up their name and becomes "Teller of the Pointed Stones" (Stoneteller for short). |
| 217 | ** Both naming schemes began with an early group of cats, who had names like "Moth Flight" and "Gray Wing" and so forth, which are very similar to Clan names. The Tribe's pattern branched off of this when an ancient cat, Stone Song (who was temporarily leader of the ancient group), was named by his mother for the wind that blew over the rocks when he was born. |
| 218 | * ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': |
| 219 | ** The Aiel have OnlyOneName, which they append with their home sept (i.e.: fortified settlement) and clan. This causes them to be on a FullNameBasis with Westerners, since Aiel are unfamiliar with the concept of surnames and consider it a very intimate gesture to abbreviate someone's name. |
| 220 | ** People in the Age of Legends were born with two names and could be awarded a middle name as an honorific for performing some major public service. |
| 221 | * ''Literature/WingsOfFire'': Most dragons only have one name, which is typically a word associated with their tribe’s natural environment: |
| 222 | ** [=HiveWings=] are named after non-lepidopteran insects[[note]]Any insect that’s not a butterfly or moth[[/note]], with a preference for venomous, poisonous, or parasitic ones (Cricket, Bumblebee, Wasp, Treehopper, Aphid, Hornet, Mantis). [[note]]Lady Jewel at first seems like an outlier, until you realize she’s named after the parasitic jewel wasp, also known as the emerald cockroach wasp.[[/note]] |
| 223 | ** [=IceWings=] are named after animals, plants, geographical features, or concepts relating to northern regions (Hvitur[[note]]Icelandic for "white"[[/note]], Icicle, Tundra, Narwhal, Mink, Glacier, Snowfall, Changbai[[note]]Chinese for "long-white"[[/note]]) |
| 224 | ** Modern [=LeafWings=] have two naming schemes, depending on which faction of the tribe they’re from: [=SapWings=] keep to the traditional tree-and-plant-based one (Hazel, Sequoia, Willow), while [=PoisonWings=] specifically are named after poisonous or carnivorous plants (Sundew, Belladonna, Cobra Lily, Bryony, Hemlock). |
| 225 | ** [=MudWings=] are named after shades of brown, animals, plants, geographical features, and concepts relating to the swamps and marshes (Sepia, Ochre, Moorhen, Reed, Cattail, Marsh, Sora, Crocodile). |
| 226 | ** [=NightWings=] have an odd naming scheme unlike any other in the books, tending to give their children compound names that [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast inspire fear]] (Darkstalker, Battlewinner, Deathbringer), are based off of physical traits (Strongwings, Fierceteeth), relate to some occupation the parent hopes they may have (Tunesmith, Preyhunter), relate to their [[{{Telepathy}} psychic]] [[{{Seers}} abilities]] (Mindreader, Clearsight, Morrowseer), or relate to the night sky (Moonwatcher, Starflight). However, single-word names that fit into the above categories are also not unheard-of (Slaughter, Vision, Eclipse). |
| 227 | ** [=RainWings=] are named after rainforest animals, plants, geography, and related concepts, as well as various synonyms for 'beauty' (Kinkajou, Tapir, Jambu, Liana, Glory, Magnificent, Bright, Grandeur). Until recently, [=RainWings=] did not practice any sort of individual parental care, operating under the 'it takes a village' philosophy, with everyone chipping in to help raise all the kids. Therefore, the names for new dragonets were drawn off a list, and whenever they got to the end of the list, they'd start over from the beginning again. This means there are probably multiple [=RainWings=] with the same name, though [[OneSteveLimit we never see this in-story]]. |
| 228 | ** [=SandWings=] are named after desert animals, plants, geography, weather, and concepts (Jerboa, Rattlesnake, Cereus, Ocotillo, Dune, Sandstorm, Sirocco, Blister, Smolder). |
| 229 | ** [=SeaWings=] are named after oceanic wildlife, geographical features, weather conditions, or concepts relating to water (Tsunami, Auklet, Kelp, Tempest, Whirlpool, Reef, Fathom, Eel, Riptide). |
| 230 | ** [=SilkWings=] are named after lepidopteran insects (Luna, Tau, Swordtail, Morpho, Whitespeck, Danaid, Admiral, Atala, Blue, Dusky). |
| 231 | ** [=SkyWings=] are named after mountain geography, birds, or red gemstones and colors (Avalanche, Cliff, Kestrel, Vermilion, Garnet). |
| 232 | * In ''Literature/TheWolfChronicles'', both wolves and humans have name patterns. Normal wolves' names have a double letter in them - Kaala, Rissa, Trevegg, etc. Greatwolves' names end in -dru or -dra, as an homage to their ancestor, Indru. Humans have compound names such as [=TaLi=] and [=MikLan=]; the last half signifies their gender and which tribe they are from (for example, [=TaLi=]'s tribe is the Lin tribe, so all males have the ending "Lin" and all females have the ending "Li"). |
| 233 | [[/folder]] |
| 234 | |
| 235 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 236 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': |
| 237 | ** Minbari typically have OnlyOneName, usually with two syllables and featuring no hard consonants (e.g. Delenn, Lennier, Neroon). Their clan's name, though not typically used, is preceded by "of" (e.g. Delenn of Mir) and sometimes with a subdivision (e.g. Lennier of the Third Fane of Chudomo). |
| 238 | ** The Centauri use given names and surnames that ''sound'' Roman or Italian (e.g. Londo Mollari, Antono Refa, Urza Jaddo, Cartagia). On occasion, they ''are'' (presumably coincidentally) Roman/Italian (e.g. Vir Cotto[[note]]Whose name could be interpreted as "Cooked Man": ''vir''= "man" in Latin, ''cotto''="cooked" in Italian[[/note]]). |
| 239 | ** Of note here is Centauri emperors and their regnal names. Emperors only use their family name and, if necessary, a regnal number. Londo rules as Emperor Mollari II, because a very distant ancestor of his had briefly held the throne. |
| 240 | ** Narns use OnlyOneName, with a prefix-apostrophe-suffix format. G'Kar explains in the season 5 premiere that Narns are given a temporary name for the first ten years of their life (because of high infant mortality rates in ancient times), then at age ten they choose a new name with a prefix denoting which of the many Narn spiritual leaders they've chosen to follow (G'Kar follows G'Quan; other options include G'Lan and Na'Kili). |
| 241 | ** The members of the Zathras family, the caretakers of the Great Machine on Epsilon III, are all named Zathras, with small differences in pronunciation. This mightily confuses {{the Comically Serious}} Ivanova when she finds it out. |
| 242 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': We never learn if there's some cultural reason for it, but Time Lords who have gone renegade seem to give up their birth names and go by [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep short titles]], like "The Doctor", "The Master", "The Corsair", "The Monk", "The Rani" [[note]] Hindi word for "queen", though what significance Hindi has for her is a mystery[[/note]], etc. |
| 243 | ** Perhaps this is because normal Time Lord names tend to be [[OverlyLongName painfully long]] and difficult to pronounce, sometimes veering into NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom territory. |
| 244 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': |
| 245 | ** Within Westeros, those descended from the First Men tend to have shorter, straight-forward names (Stark, Reed, Mormont, Bolton) while the Andals tend towards more complex names (Lannister, Tyrell, Arryn). |
| 246 | ** Valyrian names almost always contain "ae" and frequently end in "-on", "-ar", or "-rys" (Aegon, Aemon, Rhaegar, Maekar, Aerys, Viserys, Daenerys). |
| 247 | ** Male Dothraki names end in "-o" (Drogo, Rakharo, Kovarro). Daenerys combines Valyrian and Dothraki conventions for her son Rhaego and her black dragon Drogon. |
| 248 | ** The letters "k", "r", and "z" are very common among the Ghiscari of Slaver's Bay and there is a "mo", "na", or "zo" between the given and surnames (Kraznys mo Nakloz, Razdahl mo Eraz, Prendahl na Ghezn, Hizdahr zo Loraq). |
| 249 | ** Names from the Free Cities often have suffixes like "-io", "-is", and "-o" (Syrio Forel, Illyrio Mopatis, Daario Naharis, Tycho Nestoris). Others show clear Valyrian influences (Varys, Petyr Baelish, Shae, Talisa Maegyr), and some are even more exotic (Jaqen H'ghar, Salladhor Saan). |
| 250 | * ''Series/{{Krypton}}'': Like in the comics, Kryptonian males have a given name (usually single-syllable) with a hyphenated family name. Unlike the comics, the females follow this same naming convention (though they tend to use multi-syllable given names), rather than using their father's name. This was done intentionally to make Kryptonian culture less patriarchal. |
| 251 | * ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': The Dwarves of Khazad-dhum never tell their true names to people who are not close family members. They use rather alternative names with strangers. |
| 252 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has naming conventions for entire planets, except usually the human ones. |
| 253 | ** The Bajorans normally use their family name before their personal name, though Ro Laren explains in the species' debut episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E3EnsignRo Ensign Ro]]" that some Bajorans change it to given name-then-surname when dealing with offworlders for convenience's sake. One such exception is ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' {{recurrer}} Tal Celes, who in fan fiction is often "corrected" to Celes Tal. |
| 254 | ** The Klingons have one personal name, their father's name, and then their ''house'' name. The house name is usually omitted in introductions, but the crest is worn on their metal sashes. A couple variations have been seen: |
| 255 | *** Worf's House is dissolved (again) in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' as a consequence of Klingon politics. Later, General Martok adopts him into his own House, allowing Worf to introduce himself as "Worf, son of Mogh, ''ghIntaq''[[note]]closely trusted advisor, literally "spear-carrier"[[/note]] to the House of Martok". |
| 256 | *** K'Ehleyr gave her son with Worf the human name Alexander in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. Worf eventually sent him to grow up on Earth with his Belarusian foster family, the Rozhenkos, and when Alexander is reintroduced as a Klingon Defense Force enlistee in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', he chooses to go by "Alexander Rozhenko" to spite Worf, rather than introduce himself as "Alexander, son of Worf". |
| 257 | *** Voq introduces himself in ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' as "Voq, son of none", indicating his illegitimate birth. |
| 258 | ** Vulcans have several conventions followed: |
| 259 | *** They do have family names, but Spock and his mother Amanda both note that their family name is unpronounceable by humans. Thus they typically go by their given names. |
| 260 | *** Female names usually begin with T followed by an apostrophe: examples include T'Pol, T'Pau, T'Les, T'Lar, T'Planahath. Notable exceptions include: Saavik[[labelnote:*]]Explained in the EU as being a name of Romulan origin. In TWOK she was meant to be half-Romulan but it never got canonically established, though the EU took this and ran with it.[[/labelnote]] from movies ''II'', ''III'', and ''IV'', Valeris from movie ''VI'', and Sakonna from "The Maquis". |
| 261 | *** Male names usually begin with S, end with K, and do not have an apostrophe. Notable exceptions include Tuvok from ''Voyager'', Vorik from ''Voyager'', and Koss from ''Enterprise''. |
| 262 | ** Romulans tend to have only one name with no surname. The main exception is Admiral Alidar Jarok from [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]: "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E10TheDefector The Defector]]". |
| 263 | ** Ferengi also tend to have only one name, generally one syllable, with no surname. |
| 264 | ** Trill have a given name and family name like most human cultures, but joined Trill replace their surname with the name of TheSymbiote. |
| 265 | ** If ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''[='s=] Seven of Nine is any judge, Borg drones get a numerical designation consisting of their order in a given lot of drones ("Seven of Nine"), followed by a phrase that probably refers to their organizational assignment in the Collective ("Tertiary Adjunct"), and lastly which unimatrix they are part of ("Unimatrix 01"). |
| 266 | [[/folder]] |
| 267 | |
| 268 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 269 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 270 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': |
| 271 | *** In Khorvaire, nobles attach the prefix ''[=ir'=]'' to their family name (e.g. King Galifar ir'Wynarn). Members of the [[MegaCorp Dragonmarked Houses]] gain ''[=d'=]'' and the House name as a second surname - e.g. if John was born to the Smith family within House Cannith then his full name would be John Smith d'Cannith, but he would usually introduce himself to clients as simply John d'Cannith. DependingOnTheWriter, the House name and[=/=]or its ''[=d'=]'' prefix may be restricted to members who manifest the [[PowerTattoo dragonmark]] of that bloodline. |
| 272 | *** The kalashtar are descended from a group of sixty-seven monks who each agreed to [[FusionDance merge their body and soul with]] a refugee from DreamLand, and added the dream spirit's name as a suffix to their original name. Their descendants inherit this bond (albeit severely weakened due to the spirit being spread among so many people) and continue to take the spirit's name as a suffix. E.g. scions of the spirit Harath have names like Golharath and Kabarharath. |
| 273 | ** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': The dwarves and many humans of Chondathan ethnicity (i.e. white people from west-central Faerun) use LukeNounverber-style names ''very'' frequently. |
| 274 | * ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'': The various {{MegaCorp}}s that rule the posthuman Solar System all have different naming conventions. [=MarsCo=] generally uses "corrupted" English names (i.e. J'ohn Matews), ASR combines the first and last name into a Administrivia/WikiWord with the first name uncapitalized, Pulse generally doesn't use last names but includes symbolic typography in their first names (James!!@), Spyglass names are usually anagrams, IRPF names are precluded by rank and use the first two letters of one's taxonomic family and species as surnames (i.e. Student Richard Ca'Ja would be a jackal), Progenitus favors long elaborate names derived from Greek mythology with some warping over the centuries ("U'sisous" from "Ulysses"), while TTI follows [=MarsCo=] with a preference towards Inuit, Russian, or Icelandic, with their job after the name. |
| 275 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': Friend Computer has established a special naming convention for all clones of Alpha Complex that combines their personal name, the initial of their [[FantasticCasteSystem Security Clearance level]], their home sector's three-letter name, and their clone batch number. For example, the fourth of a Red clearance clone batch named Jenny from DND Sector would be "Jenny-R-DND-4", while the first of her batch would have been "Jenny-R-DND-1", and if she is promoted to Orange clearance, her name would be "Jenny-O-DND-4". In earlier editions, non-player characters often have their names rendered to form jokes or gags: Howe-R-YAH, Anne-R-KEY, [[OhCrap Tre-Y-TOR...]] |
| 276 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Chelish and Taldan nobles often have Greco-Romanesque names, referencing the fact that Taldor's former empire essentially served the role of Rome in Golarion's history--an empire that controlled the coastal countries surrounding the Inner Sea and much of the interior, before splitting in two and [[{{Balkanization}} Balkanizing]] due to internal and external pressures (albeit in this case it was the western half, Cheliax, that lasted longer as an empire, before a CivilWar led to it breaking up, too). |
| 277 | * In the ''[[TabletopGame/{{Pugmire}} Realms of Pugmire]]'': |
| 278 | ** Cats in ''TabletopGame/MonarchiesOfMau'' have names formatted as [first name] [surname] von [House], such as a Maine Coon from House Rex being [first name] Mainecoon von Rex. Because cats care less for family relations than they do Houses, it’s common for the surname to be dropped, and instead go by [first name] von [House]. |
| 279 | ** In ''Pirates of Pugmire'', birds have extravagant names referred to as "story names", due to often having a story behind them. These surnames are subject to change depending on one's experiences and commonly include a number. For example, [first name] "of the Six Sharp Talons" |
| 280 | ** Also within ''Pirates of Pugmire'', changing one’s first name is a common practice for lizards, specifically when they come of age, and their surnames are always "[mother’s first name]childe". |
| 281 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' goes into this with several cultures, as described in the appropriate sourcebook. |
| 282 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 283 | ** The Tau Empire as a whole have a very peculiar naming convention for their citizens, using [Caste]'[Rank] [Sept they were born in] [Defining traits]. For example, ''[[VideoGame/FireWarrior Shas'la T'au Kais]]'' means "Brave Fire Caste Initiate from T'au". With the common shortening being [Rank]'[Defining traits] (making the previous name's shortened form ''la'Kais''). |
| 284 | ** Orks, being spawned from spores and having no concept of females or sexual reproduction, instead have a name followed by various descriptive terms or nicknames referring a particularly worthy feat. Such as Ghazkull Mag Uruk Thrakka, Wazdakka Gutsmek, or [[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Warboss Gorgutz 'ead'unta Ghostkilla Ragescreama Gunsmasha Deffkilla Daemonkilla Bloodspilla]]. |
| 285 | [[/folder]] |
| 286 | |
| 287 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 288 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': |
| 289 | ** The Races of Men: |
| 290 | *** [[HumansAreDiplomats Imperials]] have a first name and a last name which both sound Latin, given their Romanesque culture. The latest installment, ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', changes some Latin last names to Italian ones, reflecting the real-life evolution of language. |
| 291 | *** The [[HornyVikings Nords]] have a Norse or Germanic sounding first name and a clan name, or sometimes a first name and a nickname (you can tell the difference by the presence or absence of the "the" article; if there is one, it's a nickname, for example "Sild the Warlock". If there's no "the", it's a clan name, for example "Lars Battle-Born". A clan name has to be earned through some notable deed of strength, valour or shrewdness; once earned, you and all your descendants are free to use the clan-name as they please. |
| 292 | *** The [[UnevenHybrid Bretons]] have a French-sounding name and last name (in the main Breton culture) or a single Celtic name (for the Reachmen). |
| 293 | *** The Redguards typically draw from a mix of Arabic and Persian sounding names. Through ''Oblivion'', they also had the occasional GhettoName mixed in, like Trayvond, or names originally from other cultures that have become very popular in the African-American community (Roderick, Alonzo, Rasheda, etc.) though this has been dropped by ''Skyrim'' in favor of purely Middle Eastern/North African sounding names. In all cases, they have [[OnlyOneName Only One Given Name]], with a region of birth and titles sometimes (rarely) added. (For example, take Frandar do Hunding Hel Ansei No Shira. Frandar is the only "given" part of his name: "Hunding" is the name of the region of his birth; "No Shira" means person of noble birth and "Hel Ansei" is his title of [[TheOrder Sword Sainthood]] in the language of [[{{Precursors}} Yokuda]].) |
| 294 | ** The [[OurElvesAreDifferent Races of Mer]]: |
| 295 | *** Altmer (High Elves) have names heavily inspired by [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]]'s "Quenya" ConLang, tending to be very vowel heavy with lots of "-il," "-ar," and the like suffixes. Reading a [[http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Altmer_Names list of Altmer names]] will sound very similar to reading ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. According to supplemental materials of in-universe [[UnreliableNarrator questionable accuracy]], Altmer names are actually [[GoroawaseNumber complex strings of numbers]] that merely ''sound'' like a name if you aren't fluent in their language. |
| 296 | *** The Bosmer (Wood Elves) instead have names inspired by Tolkien's "Sindarin" ConLang. They use a lot of "th" sounds, plus plenty of "d"s, "f"s and "g"s surrounded by soft vowels. The end result are a lot of names like Glarthir, Fargoth, and Enthir. |
| 297 | *** The Dunmer (Dark Elves) are a varied bunch. Velothi (Ashlanders and rural House Dunmer) Dunmer names draw heavily from ancient Mesopotamia, leading to them sounding like they're straight out of ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''. This works well with their ancient [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedra]] worship (most Daedric ruins have similar names, such as Ashurnabitashpi). More "civilized" Dunmer have a characteristic "Dunmerish" sound (ex. Falanu Hlaalu, Nels Llendo, Hlireni Indavel). The Dunmer nobility also use the names of their [[TheClan Houses]] as prefix to their names (for example, Redoran Hlaren Ramoran, King Hlaalu Helseth, etc.). The Telvanni Masters use one name only (Mistress Dratha, Master Neloth, etc.). |
| 298 | *** [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs (Orsimer)]] have traditionally Orcish sounding first names and surnames, and the surname gets the prefix "gro-" for male orcs, "gra-" for females. (Ex. Yadba gro-Khash, Borba gra-Uzgash, etc.) The surname in most cases is the name of the Orc's same-sex parent. In other cases, the surname is the Orc's home stronghold. (Ex. Burz gro-Kash is "Burz of Kash"). |
| 299 | *** The extinct [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] seem to have used to build names by mashing hard-sounding consonants together, although it's unclear whether that was actually the case or just a transliteration issue (since Dwemer language and alphabet varied wildly from Tamriel's ''lingua franca'' of the day, Aldmeris). Names known from modern sources contain vowels, such as Yagrum Bagarn (although he could've taken up the name for convenient interaction with his hosts at Tel Fyr), Kagrenac or Dahrk Mezalf. Names mentioned in books - not necessarily (Bluthanch, Nchunak, Nblthd). |
| 300 | ** The Beast Races: |
| 301 | *** The [[CatFolk Khajiit]] have single names with prefixes and a PunctuationShaker, for example Ra'Virr, Dro'Zel. These are generally honorifics bestowed or sometimes assumed (this is seen as arrogant). Unlike Argonians, they usually feel no compulsion to translate them. Sometimes no prefixes are added. (Ex. Vasha, Wadarkhu) |
| 302 | *** The [[LizardFolk Argonians]] are seemingly named (in Jel, the language of the Argonians) after unique traits they display while still hatchlings and, if they have frequent dealings with non-Argonians, get those names translated into Tamriellic. "Haj-Ei" becomes "Hides-His-Eyes," for example. In other cases, their name in Tamriellic is based on their profession. "Quill-Weave" is a writer, "Makes-One-Soup" is a chef, and "Lights-Sparks" is a mage. |
| 303 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': |
| 304 | ** Sangheili ("Elites") typically use a given name and a surname, with the surname made up of a prefixed apostrophe, their house name, and usually a suffix denoting status. For example, ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''[='s=] {{Deuteragonist}} Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee is a scion of House Vadam (with the "-ee" denoting that he serves in the Covenant military), while ''Literature/HaloShadowOfIntent''[='s=] Tulum 'Juranai is the head of House Juran (with the "-ai" suffix denoting that he's a MasterSwordsman). Other examples include [[VideoGame/{{Halo 2}} Sesa 'Refumee]], [[ComicBook/TheHaloGraphicNovel Bero 'Kusovai]], and [[Anime/HaloLegends Fal 'Chavamee]]. After the Covenant falls apart, most Elites have removed Covenant-based suffixes from their names; nowadays, Thel 'Vadamee prefers to be referred to simply as Thel 'Vadam. Additionally, some Sangheili are bestowed middle names as titles; in ''Literature/HaloGhostsOfOnyx'', Voro 'Mantakree becomes Voro ''Nar'' 'Mantakree after being promoted to Fleet Master. |
| 305 | ** Unggoy ("Grunt") names tend to be five letters long and repeat the first two letters, e.g. Yayap, Dadab. |
| 306 | ** The Jiralhanae ("Brutes") use ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming (Maccabeus, Tartarus), although some of this may be a TranslationConvention. Additionally, the "-us" suffix common in their names is reserved solely for those who have reached a certain age (so Tartarus during his youth would have been known simply as "Tartar"). |
| 307 | * In the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' trilogy, people who are originally from Gran Pulse have this naming order: place of birth, then clan (family) name, then given name. Thus, we have Oerba Dia Vanille ("Vanille of the Dia clan, from the village of Oerba") and Paddra Nsu-Yeul ("Yeul of the Nsu clan, from the nation of Paddra"). Citizens of Cocoon, meanwhile, follow the typical Western naming order. Two exceptions to the Gran Pulse naming rule are Noel Kreiss and Caius Ballad (though the latter also has his original name, Paddra Ballad-Caius). |
| 308 | * The different races in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' each have their own naming conventions. |
| 309 | ** Hyur and Elezen have straightforward naming conventions analogous to real-world people. |
| 310 | ** For Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te, their given names are always preceded by a letter denoting their tribe (Y'shtola being "Shtola of the Y tribe", for instance). Being a patriarchal society, women's surnames are taken from the male that sired her (e.g. Y'shtola Rhul, meaning her father was named Y'rhul). Men, on the other hand, only have one of two surnames denoting their status in a tribe: "Nunh", for the leader and breeding male; and "Tia", for subordinate non-breeding males. A Tia may become a Nunh by challenging and defeating the current Nunh in battle, or by convincing enough members of the tribe to leave and start a new one. |
| 311 | ** Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te, being a matriarchal society, pass surnames down by the mother. The men also take the given name of their mother as their own, appended with a suffix denoting the order in which they were born: "'a" for the firstborn son, "'to" for the secondborn, "'li" for the thirdborn, and so on. |
| 312 | ** Hellsguard Roegadyn construct names consisting of an adjective followed by an otherwise improper noun (for instance, "Hoary Boulder" or "Curious Gorge"). |
| 313 | ** Sea Wolf Roegadyn take the given name of their father as their surname, followed by a suffix denoting their gender: "-syn" for men and "-wyn" for women (Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn, for instance, can be read as "Merlwyb, Daughter of Bloefhis"). |
| 314 | ** Lalafell naming conventions place a great deal of emphasis on repetition and alliteration, with vowels being pronounced as though read in Japanese (long "-ee" sounds for "i", for instance). While the exact construction of names differ slightly between Dunesfolk and Plainsfolk, both clans have the same rules for naming men and women: male surnames reuse the last two syllables as their given names (Teledji Adeledji), while female surnames reuse their given name without a repeating syllable (Yayamo Yamo). |
| 315 | ** Raen Au Ra use similar naming conventions as Roegadyn, with inspiration from Japanese nomenclature. Officially, Raen names are structured with surnames coming before given names, separated with "-no-" between them (Gyaku-no-Rina, for instance, Gyaku being the family name and Rina being the given name). |
| 316 | ** Xaela Au Ra, being a tribalistic people, use the name of their tribe as their surname (Sadu Dotharl of the Dotharl tribe, for instance). |
| 317 | ** Viera take the name of their home village as their surname, while their forenames are based on forest names. Since these names translate poorly into the common tongue, Viera who leave their homes behind or otherwise deal with outsiders adopt "city names" inspired by other races, such as "Fran". |
| 318 | ** Hrothgar, similarly, take the name of their queen for their surname. Helion hrothgar use the suffix "-a" to denote a queen to whom their are in allegiance to, while Lost hrothgar use the suffix "-sch" to denote a queen that they no longer serve. For both clans, the suffix "-thgar", meaning "glory", is common in given names. |
| 319 | ** For Garlean names, a title is appended between the given and family name that denotes that person's status in Garlean society. These three-letter titles run down the alphabet roughly from A to Z, with the person's status increasing the further down the alphabet, from "aan" denoting a slave from an annexed territory, to "zos" for the ruling Emperor. [[spoiler:There also exists a special title, "viator", that is assigned to people who are designated as traitors and enemies to the empire. Zenos yae Galvus was originally the crown prince of Garlemald, but after murdering his father and driving the empire to near-annihilation in his single-minded pursuit of another fight with the Warrior of Light, he is designated "Zenos ''viator'' Galvus" by the survivors of Garlemald. Before Zenos, another outlier in Garlean naming conventions appeared with Gaius Baelsar -- formerly Gaius ''van'' Baelsar, who forsook his title as a Legate, shedding the "van" in his name in the process, after his defeat in ''A Realm Reborn'' so that he could hunt down the Ascians that pulled the empire's strings from the shadows. As opposed to Zenos, however, he is not considered an enemy of Garlemald, hence why he is not deemed "viator".]] |
| 320 | ** The various beast tribes also have their own naming conventions. Male goblins tend to have names ending in "ix", while female names end in "ox" (ex. Mutamix and Brayflox). Their names also tend to relate to their personality traits, such as Slowfix Cointoss being a BrilliantButLazy [[TheGambler gambler]]. |
| 321 | ** Sylphs have names ending in "xio" for fertile members and "xia" for infertile members. |
| 322 | ** Sahagin have genderless four-letter names consisting of a consonant, a vowel, then two of the same letter repeated (Novv, Fyuu, Pahh). |
| 323 | ** Kobolds have pairs of two letters as names. The first letter is B, D, G, or Z, while the second letter is a vowel (Ga Bu, Bi Bi, Ga Zi). |
| 324 | ** Amalj'aa have five-or-six-letter first names, with the last two letters being the same, and a second name that seemingly correlates to their role in Amalj'aan society that ends in "h" (Hamujj Gah, Kazagg Chah, Nayokk Roh). |
| 325 | ** Ixal have given names based on both gender and which wind they were born under, followed by a surname based on their caste in ixal society. So "Tozol Huatotl" is a male born under an easterly wind and is part of the highest caste, while "Sutali Hueloc" is a female born under a northerly wind into the middle caste. |
| 326 | ** Moogles of the Twelveswood give names starting with "K" to females, and names starting with "P" to males. Moogles of Dravania all have names starting with [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI "Mog"]], and Moogles of Dalmasca are all named after Moogles from [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII the Ivalice games]]. |
| 327 | ** The Kojin are all named after Japanese words related to their profession, such as the samurai Kabuto being named after his helmet, and the merchant Soroban named after a type of abacus. |
| 328 | ** The Dwarves from the First typically have short names, no longer than one or two syllables, that always end in a vowel followed by double-consonants depending on their home village: -gg for the Dwarves of Komra, and -tt for the Dwarves of Tomra. |
| 329 | * Goron leaders in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' usually have names that begin with 'Dar'. Darunia, Darmani, Darbus, etc. |
| 330 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': |
| 331 | ** Quarians have names organized as given name, apostrophe, clan name, vas/nar (for adult and underage, respectively meaning "crew of" and "child of"), ship of residence/birth (ditto). Thus, Tali receives several {{Meaningful Rename}}s over the course of the series: she begins the series as Tali'Zorah nar Rayya ("Tali of clan Zorah, born on the ship ''Rayya''"), then completes her [[RiteOfPassage Pilgrimage]] and becomes Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya ("Tali of clan Zorah, crew member of the ''Neema'', born on the ship ''Rayya''"), then Tali'Zorah vas Normandy (when she needs to leave the fleet for [[TheScapegoat political reasons]]), although it's just as common to refer to her simply as Tali'Zorah. The much-maligned ''Mass Effect'' novel ''[[Literature/MassEffectDeception Deception]]'' infamously only gave quarians a first name and ship name, and furthermore wrote as if their ship names were their last names. |
| 332 | ** Turians and asari use the "given name then family name" order. Krogan originally have only a given name, but once they complete their RiteOfPassage they bear the clan name in front of their given name. |
| 333 | ** Salarians list the individual's homeworld, nation, city, district, clan name and given name, but cut it down to just the last two (swapped to being in western order) in nearly all circumstances: only two salarians get their full names spoken on screen and neither are major characters. |
| 334 | ** Hanar have two names, a simple one-word "Face Name" (example: "Zymandis") they use in general conversation, and a long, poetic "Soul Name" (example: "Regards the Works of the Enkindlers in Despair") that only very close and trusted individuals are permitted to know. The only hanar who goes by his Soul Name openly is noted as being incredibly rude and arrogant by hanar standards. |
| 335 | * Most Chozo in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' frachise follow an "adjective noun" naming pattern (for example, Samus' adoptive parents were named "Old Bird" and "Gray Voice"). |
| 336 | * ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'': In Elympios, middle names [[MeaningfulName signify some attribute]] the parent wishes for their child to have, and children are occasionally given middle names shared with someone else in their family. Elle and her mother Lara have the same middle name "Mel", which means "hope", and before he changed it, [[spoiler:Julius]] had the same middle name as his mother, [[spoiler:Cornelia Wi Bakur]]. This detail is obfuscated in the English localization, which [[BarelyChangedDubName omits the names for most characters]]. |
| 337 | * ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'': |
| 338 | ** Cattlekind are named after US states and other geographic locations from the Midwest and Great Plains areas, such as Arizona, Texas, Minnesota and Madison. |
| 339 | ** Unicorns are named after flowering plants, such as Oleander and Amaryllis. |
| 340 | * ''Franchise/WingCommander'': The Kilrathi use [Given Name] ''nar'' [Clan Name]. The ''nar'' is always lower case, and usually italicised. The Clan Name is usually the name of the place or planet where the Kilrathi was born. The novels add ''hrai'' to the name of one Kilrathi, meaning 'of the family of'. The character in question starts as Kirha ''hrai'' Ralgha ''nar'' Hhallas (Kirha, of the family of Ralgha, who is from Hhallas), and after being ordered to serve the human pilot Ian 'Hunter' St John, renames himself Kirha ''hrai'' Hunter ''nar'' Aussie (Kirtha, of the family of Hunter, who is from Australia). This part doesn't come up anywhere else though. |
| 341 | * In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' Dragons have naming conventions separated by colors. |
| 342 | ** Blue dragons have names ending in "gos" (Kalecgos and Malygos) for males. Female names end in "gosa" (such as Sindragosa or Madrigosa). There are a few outliers as WordOfGod says this naming convention wasn't decided on until the Burning Crusade expansion. |
| 343 | ** Black Dragons' true names end in "ion" or "ian" for males (Deathwing's true name was Neltharion, for example, while his son's name was Nefarian). Female dragons end in "a" (Sinestra or Onyxia). In the Warcraft universe, black dragons are historically the most evil race and had the most direct contact with mortals, therefore most black dragons are known by nicknames given by mortals, usually based on color (Firemaw, Flamewing, Blacklash). |
| 344 | ** Bronze dragons' names end in "dormu" if male (Nozdormu, Zaladormu). Female bronze dragons have names ending in "i" (Indormi, Nozari) |
| 345 | ** Green dragons only seem do have naming conventions for females, whose names end in "a" (Ysera, Nishera). Most of the male green dragons identified have no discernible naming convention. |
| 346 | ** Red dragons have names ending in "strasz" for the males (Korialstrasz, Nostrastrasz). Female red dragon names end in "za" (Alexstrasza, Rheastrasza). |
| 347 | [[/folder]] |
| 348 | |
| 349 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 350 | * ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'': The goblin adventuring party's clan has their fortune-teller name every newborn goblin according to their visions. This can produce PropheticNames like Dies-Horribly, simple observations like Big Ears, or... "Stop-The-Ceremony-I-Swallowed-A-Bug". |
| 351 | * ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': |
| 352 | ** All trolls are given two names, each with six letters. Adult trolls use descriptive titles of one or two eight-letter words, such as the Signless, Neophyte Redglare, or Orphaner Dualscar. This sometimes requires a little twisting, such as in the case of the Ψiioniic (pronounced "Psionic"). |
| 353 | ** Carapacians use two-word titles describing their role or occupation. These change, sometimes several times, over their lives, but always retain the same initials, and they're sometimes referred by the text using those initials. For instance, WV begins his life as a soldier-turned-farmer known as the Warweary Villein, becomes the Wizardly Vassal while following John around, and is known as the Wayward Vagabond during his exile to the ruins of Earth. |
| 354 | ** [[spoiler:Cherubim]] are all implied to all have eight-letter [[OnlyOneName single names]] beginning with "Cal". (Calliope, Caliborn, and the questionably-canon Calamity.) |
| 355 | * ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'': Princess Voluptua's full name is Voluptua of House [[PrettyButterflies Monoptera]], and the dragon Hibachi's full name is Hibachi of [[{{Pun}} Mesquite]]. Fructose Riboflavin, an outlaw of Voluptua's race, is identified as Fructose, son of [[FamilyThemeNaming Dextrose]]. |
| 356 | * Kayoss in ''Webcomic/LsEmpire'' have a sibling seniority naming system on top of their gender based ThemeNaming (destruction themed for boys and flowers for girls). Eldest children have a long first name and no middle name, second children have a short first name and short middle name, and the youngest have a long first name and middle name (they're biologically incapable of having more than three living children). |
| 357 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Azure City has a number of naming conventions that have no apparent relation to each other. Some (Lord Shojo and his successor Lord Hinjo) are referred to by a title and one name, with no word on whether they have another name or not; others have hyphenated names (O-Chul, Gin-Jun); while others use the same given name and family name construction as most of the rest of the world (Miko Miyazaki, Ho Thanh). In the Kickstarter-backer story ''How the Paladin Got His Scar'', it's mentioned that there used to be many different cultures on the Southern Continent, but they were all absorbed by the Ancient Empire. When the Empire fell, it split into many different countries again, but now the cultures were spread randomly throughout the continent. |
| 358 | * ''Webcomic/{{Outsider}}'': [[SpaceElves Loroi]] names consist of three parts: the first denotes their caste, the second is their military rank and the third is their personal name. Beryl's full name, for instance, is Listel Tozet Eilis; "Listel" denotes her being part of the analyst caste, "Tozet" is a rank roughly equivalent to a tactical analyst, and "Eilis" is simply a word meaning "beryl". |
| 359 | * ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'': Captain Bram gave his [[UpliftedAnimal uplifted]] Spitzes show-dog names like Captain's Fancy Valentine Sweetheart and Captain's Fancy Wildberry Muffintop. Sweetheart considers "Captain's Fancy" to be her family name, and is formally referred to as "Ms Fancy" or "Agent Fancy" when she's working. |
| 360 | * ''Webcomic/{{Tamberlane}}'': Most of the critters of Treehollow use their professions as last names, such as Belfry Baker, while young children have a matro- or patronymic, as with Belfry's daughter Tamberlane Belfriton. |
| 361 | * ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Crescians outside the royal family traditionaly have four letter first names and four letter last names. The tradition started when there was a famine under the first Queen and she chose to ensure rations only for those with four letter names in a desperate attempt to keep the country alive, this meant her own children starved. This is not a hard rule, but it is considered to be inviting bad luck to give your child a longer name. |
| 362 | [[/folder]] |
| 363 | |
| 364 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 365 | * In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', the different nations typically have names that follow phoneme patterns. The Water Tribe uses hard K sounds and lots of O's and A's (Katara, Korra, Noatok, Hakoda). The Fire Nation uses Z's, O's and I's (Ozai, Zhao, Sozin, etc). The Air Nomads use mostly real life Tibetan and Chinese names or names that sound similar. The Earth Kingdom has no strict pattern. |
| 366 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 367 | ** Pony names are simple one- or two-word constructs with literal meanings. While Western-style surnames have occurred from time to time, FamilyThemeNaming is more common (such as the Apples, who are all named after apple cultivars or dishes, and Pinkie Pie's relatives, who are all named after types of rock), when family names are used at all. Although there are plenty of exceptions, there are also noticeable naming trends within the three tribes of ponies: |
| 368 | *** Most earth pony names derive from words relating to the earth, plants and food[[note]]Applejack, Granny Smith, Bright Macintosh and Pear Butter, Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz, Limestone and Marble, Mudbriar, Cupcake and Carrot Cake, Cherry Jubilee, Cheese Sandwich, Meadowbrook, Cattail, Tree Hugger, Burnt Oak, Sandbar...[[/note]]. They also tend to make the most use of FamilyThemeNaming, with families using similar names based on their lifestyles and livelihoods, such as the Apple family, the Pear family, the Rich family and so on. |
| 369 | *** {{Pegasus}} names tend to involve flying, weather and the sky[[note]]Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Soarin', Misty Fly, Thunderlane, Wind Rider, Lighting Dust, Zephyr Breeze, Night Glider, Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail, Rolling Thunder...[[/note]]. At one point, this led to a WhosOnFirst situation when some pegasus weather workers couldn't figure out whether the phrases "Clear Skies", "Open Skies" and "Fluffy Clouds" referred to the weather or each other. |
| 370 | *** {{Unicorn}} names often derive from celestial objects and phenomena, usually but not always nighttime ones[[note]]Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, Starswirl, Moondancer, Sunburst, Twilight Velvet and Night Light, Stellar Flare, Luster Dawn[[/note]]. This seems to be the least prevalent of the three naming trends. |
| 371 | ** Pony names get a little more complicated with families, marriage, and inheritance. Pinkie Pie's family all have "Pie" like a family name. Mr. and Mrs. Cake name their children Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Applejack's family is called the Apple family, but only a few of them explicitly have the word "apple" in their name. Fluttershy's family name is apparently "Shy" (though we don't learn her parents' names), but her brother is Zephyr Breeze. Filthy Rich is the grandson of Stinkin' Rich, and when he married Spoiled Milk she changed her name to Spoiled Rich--but their daughter is named Diamond Tiara, without any mention of a "Rich" family name. In the end, it seems like simple ThemeNaming rules the day, just close enough to real-world name inheritance to be confusing to viewers. |
| 372 | ** [[OurGriffonsAreDifferent Griffons]] have uniformly used "real" human names, with the peculiarity that they all start with the letter "G"[[note]]Gilda, Gustav, Grandpa Gruff, Greta, Gabriella, Gallus, King Grover, King Guto[[/note]]. |
| 373 | ** [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon]] names tend to be short, one- to two-syllable words usually referring to body parts, noises or something to do with fire[[note]]Spike, Garble, Crackle, Ember, Torch, Smolder, Scales[[/note]]. |
| 374 | ** Changelings use names derived from arthropod anatomy and biology, usually ones with emphasis on sibilants[[note]]Chrysalis, Thorax, Pharynx, Ocellus[[/note]]. |
| 375 | ** The hippogriffs/seaponies mostly have names composed of two words, either separated by a space or as a single compound word, pertaining to either the sky[[note]]Skystar, Sky Beak[[/note]] or the sea[[note]]Silverstream, Terramar, Ocean Flow, Seaspray[[/note]]. |
| 376 | ** {{Kirin}} names consist of a first word pertaining to nature and of a second relating to fire or light, referencing their dual natures as peaceful kirin and fiery, aggressive niriks[[note]]Autumn Blaze, Fern Flare, Rain Shine[[/note]]. |
| 377 | ** Ironically, wild animals often have "normal" names[[note]]Antoine and Rupert (snakes), Muriel (an elephant), Clementine (a [[FurryConfusion giraffe]]), or Sandra (wolf)[[/note]]. |
| 378 | * All characters in ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollz}}'' have the word "troll" somewhere in their last name (Amethyst van der '''Troll''', Ruby '''Troll'''man, Sapphire '''Troll'''zawa, Topaz '''Troll'''hopper, Onyx von '''Troll'''enberg). The sole exception would be Miss Tourmaline, which is a disguise by Snarf. |
| 379 | * ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': All the fairy forms end with "-ix" --Charmix, Enchantix, Believix, Sophix, Lovix, etc. Some of the witch transformations follow this pattern too, such as the Gloomix and the Dark Sirenix. There are also a few other things like the Searchix, a technomagic device. |
| 380 | [[/folder]] |
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