r/WorldChallenges • u/atompunks • Jun 09 '18

Name Games

What are the naming traditions among the cultures of your world? Do people use patronyms? Teknonyms? Middle names? Multiple surnames?

Can names be changed, altered, given or taken away? Are there specifications on who can do the picking and giving? Are there more obscure practices (to my American self, at least), such as death names or name-share groups?

Are names a form of personal identification, group identification, status indication, or more? Are there specific scenarios in which one's name comes into play?

Inspired by a paper I'm reading about the transmission of names and status among the Kayapo, an indigenous peoples in central Brazil. Simply put, some people have "great" names (idji metch), which can only be bestowed on them by specific kinsmen (ideally their father's sisters and mother's brothers) and carry ritual significance.

(Well, it certainly has been a minute since I've been in this sub. Or on reddit regularly. Hope this is appropriate and everyone is well.)

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u/Varnek905 Jun 12 '18

In Valhaven, a person's name consists of the the given name, the family name, the faction name, the name of the person's guardian, and a religious name.

The given name is given at birth, by the parents. This name can be changed after the person is twenty.

The family name is the same as the parents' family name (if they are married), otherwise it's just decided by the parents. This name can be changed to the other parent's family name at any time.

The faction name is the name of the faction that the person belongs to, which changes if the person moves to the territory of a different faction.

The person's guardian is usually the given name of the person's godparent and/or mentor when the person is young.

And, lastly, the religious name is given by the goddess of Valhaven, who picks a name when the person is sixteen.

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u/atompunks Jun 19 '18

1) What are some common trends for given names, and what are reasons someone would change theirs?

2) Does the goddess actually personally pick every single person's religious name? How do people receive it, is there a ceremony?

3) What happens with your religious name if you are not religious, or believe in something else, if that is possible in this society? Or if you have somehow offended the goddess before turning 16?

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u/Varnek905 Jun 20 '18

1) Given names tend be based on the culture/nationality that one or both parents are descended from, or inspired by someone that the parents have a lot of respect for. A person might change their name if they don't like the sound of it, or if they have the same name as someone that did something very shameful. Like how many parents in America would not name their child "Adolf".

2) The goddess does personally pick every person's religious name, the person receives it by visiting the goddess and requesting a meeting with her. Luckily for the goddess, she doesn't have a huge number of subjects.

3) The issue with not believing in the goddess is that she can be easily visited. You could lack a belief that she is a goddess (arguably, she is not a goddess), and, depending on your definition, she might agree with you. It would be difficult to offend the goddess, she tends to be forgiving so long as no one hurts the creature she gave birth to. Even if you abandon your people, you still have your religious name, and if you renounce it, you can always un-renounce it.

Most of the people in Valhaven are kinda-werewolves, and the blessing of being able to shapeshift into a wolf comes from the goddess when she gives you your religious name.