Thinking Medieval with a Twist: Names as a status signifier
This is part of my "Thinking Medieval" series
The Nine
The Nine are said to have three names which are covered in this article. Khemra's common name is "Khemra", her formal name is "Khemra Heekma" which is used as a form of address at relatively formal religious services. She has a third semi-secret name taught to her priesthood that is sort of a "direct line" that using that name will alert Khemra that this is essentially a high priority prayer. It is said that using the third name for trivial manners will result in extreme bad luck. All of the Nine have three names in a similar fashion. The Nine also collect titles, nicknames and honorifics. Khemra is commonly called "the Lady of Light" or "the Mother of the Compact" as an honorific "the Sunblinded" as a sacriligious insult. These are just the most common ones, Khemra has dozens of nicknames. As do the rest of the Nine. Indirectly, mortals can gain status by gaining additional names and nicknames but collecting TOO many names is considered sacreligious, borderline blasphemous.Participants
Human Naming Conventions
by me with Midjourney
Most Scarterran human nobles have a personal name and a family name. Some Scarterran cultures put the personal names first, and some put the family name first.
Most nobles that hold a position of influence or power end up collecting a variety of nicknames. Most nobles hope to gain a moniker "the wise" or "the just" and they dread getting nicknames like "the slothful". Untested leaders are often given the moniker "the young".
A lot of monikers have nothing to do with their quality as a leader. "the red" can refer to someone with red hair or "the dark" for someone with dark hair. Nicknames like "the large", "the fair", or "the bald" are also known.
Havro is a red headed blacksmith from the village of Three Forks. He could be called "Havro the Blacksmith", or "Havro the Red", or "Havro of Three Forks". If a commoner has two descriptors instead of one, that commoner is probably somewhat famous or noteworthy, at least within his or her specific field If Havro was not just a blacksmith but is a celebrated master blacksmith who regularly gets a stream of parents begging him to take their children on as apprentices, then he is probably known as "Havro the Blacksmith of Three Forks" or "Havro the Red Blacksmith". Adjacent is "Janesh the Outrider", sometimes called "Janesh of the Mereshnari".
by Eron12 with Hero Forge
Elves
Elf naming conventions are very similar to human naming conventions. Most assume that human cultures took their naming conventions from the elves before them.
Grey elf nobles put their family name first, then their personal name. Wood elf and dark elf nobles put their personal name first and then their family name.
Elf culture tends to discourage use of nicknames except among very close friends. Elf commoners are usually referred to their place of origin and less commonly by their profession. Since elves are more likely to have more than one career in their lifetimes, identifying them by their profession is less descriptive.
by me with Hero Forge
Gnomes
Ragani portrait by Eron12 using Hero Forge
Most highborn gnomes (what few there are) imitate the naming conventions of the human, elf, or dwarf system they are a part of. Commoner gnomes tend to also emulate the naming conventions.
Gnomes have a relatively small bank of "standard" gnomish names and tend to honor friends and family often by copying their names when naming children. Gnomes may follow the general naming conventions of other races, but they very seldom borrow names from other cultures, and if they do, they will usually modify the name a little bit to make it more gnome-like.
Gnomes tend to go heavy on nicknames with friends and even casual acquaintances.
Satyrs
There are very few satyrs who become ennobled and most of those that do end up marrying human lords or ladies and thus adopting human family surnames.
A majority of satyr names are of Elven origin but human and to a much lesser extant gnome names have been steadily creeping in for generations.
Satyrs tend to be a bit more transitory than most other civilized mortals so they are less likely to use their geographic point of origin as a surname, so they rely on physical descriptors or professions more. even though satyrs joke about horns a lot, it is generally considered rude to give a satyr a nickname or title based on their horns.
comissioned portrait of Aleesia the Satyr by Zeta Gardner
Dwarves
Nuldrun Dragon by Eron12 using Hero Forge
Most dwarves have personal and surnames regardless of whether they are highborn or lowborn: "______ of the _____ clan". Penarchian dwarves flip this by putting the clan name first.
Married dwarf women normally adopt their husband's clan surname as their own.
In formal settings, dwarves are identified as "First Name, Clan Name, Son/daughter of Father's Name".
Dwarves do not commonly use nicknames, geographic origin add-ons, or profession add-ons unless their is confusion about who they are talking about.
Kalazotz
Kalazotz do not put as much as weight on names as other mortal races. They usually view their personal name as all they need. Dwarf influenced kalazotz usually adopt clan names like their dwarf allies, but they operate matrilineal names rather than patrilineal names.
Even when assimilated to other cultures, kalazotz don't put a lot of stock in inherited titles but they do give their respected leaders titles based on deeds and traits. Such as "Brave One" Insert name here for a war leader or "Clever One" insert name here for a learned individual. "Revered Elder" is a common honorific because kalazotz give a lot of respect to their elders.
Commissioned kalazotz flying, grey background by Diana Rahfoth
Tengku
Tengku do not normally use family surnames. Most tengku names are two syllables. Normally, one strong vowel sound borrowed from the mother's name and one from the father's name. There are no rules for which parent's syllable must be first.If additional signifiers are needed, they are identified by their current home's location, not the location of their birth or hatching because it's very common for tengku to settle as adults in a place farm from their birth. Tengku parents are well-known for almost literally kicking their young adult children out of the nest.
If a tengku is introduced by his or her profession, they like to be very specific. Not just "Reeyak the Merchant", but "Reeyak the Merchant of fine silver". "Geeklak the physician" would be replaced by "Geelak maker of fine poultices".
Tengku #5 by Zeta Gardner
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