Names that stand out

by Unknown

Back to Common Grounds.

Abethor2010-12-28 16:37:42
QUOTE (Jules @ Dec 28 2010, 07:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I like the name I chose: Havastus. Three syllable names sound a bit more regal, in my opinion. I was trying to spin off Hephaestus when I created this name, and that's what I came up with. Though Hephaestus would fit better with a dracnari, and my character's a loboshigaru. Go figure!

My favorite name in Lusternia is definitely Nydekion. I have the utmost respect for him simply because his name is awesome. Even though I'm pretty sure he doesn't like Havastus, simply because he's an Ama'nar'isil! tongue.gif

(Hava's family has cause way too much unnecessary drama in Celest. Amirite?)

Nydekion and Nejii are definitely two of my favorite names in Lusternia. Hands down.
Neos2010-12-28 17:18:17
QUOTE (Daraius @ Dec 28 2010, 09:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Yeah, I never understood the point of apostrophes at syllable boundaries. Seems redundant. The name itself doesn't seem immediately out of place in Lusternia, but I think just Amanarisil would fit better.

As for Daraius, I stole it from a story I wrote a long time ago when I was capable of writing longer-form pieces. It was the surname of a royal family, which I'd arrived at by sticking an 'a' into the name Darius (which was the name of several Persian kings, hur hur hur) and putting the stress on the second syllable. I think it has a regal, no-nonsense sound to it--moreso than Darius. That wasn't necessarily what I was going for, but it fits now.

(P.S. I totally thought Malicia was a bad guy too. I always thought Faragan sounded like a name a wise, benevolent kind of person would have. Don't know him well enough, though--I just sell him a monthly IV drip of dingbats.)

He really is.
And I really forget why I chose the name Neos. It was just something I came up on the spot when starting out. For my original character who was a human Tahtetso, I just took the name I made for a character in a story I never finished, Kirum. Several different alts I've made were names that I felt fit how I wanted the character to be played before I forgot about it or suicided it. Aidan/Aiden, Paladin. Talon, Geomancer. Shen, honorable Sentinel. Forget all the little alts I forgot about.
Okin2010-12-28 17:27:07
"Mength" has four consonants, is totally pronounceable, and sounds pretty good to me.

Daraius has four syllables in my head. I don't even know how to say it with three.
Siam2010-12-28 17:29:46
I named my character Siam because I'm asian. :3
Daraius2010-12-28 17:35:05
QUOTE (Okin @ Dec 28 2010, 12:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Daraius has four syllables in my head. I don't even know how to say it with three.


Well it's supposed to be dah-rye-us. I don't even know how to say it with four. Maybe I'll call up Dr. Unwalla to see how he says it.
Shiri2010-12-28 19:19:29
Da-RAH-ee-us. I dunno why Okin sees it that way but I'm used to seeing double-vowel sounds like that as two syllables from Japanese.
Unknown2010-12-28 19:25:49
It sounds like Dair-ee-us in my head. tongue.gif

Which I know is ignoring the second 'a', but whatever.
Sylandra2010-12-28 19:45:03
QUOTE (Deschain @ Dec 28 2010, 02:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It sounds like Dair-ee-us in my head. tongue.gif

Which I know is ignoring the second 'a', but whatever.

Me too! laugh.gif
Talan2010-12-28 20:16:46
QUOTE (AquaNeos @ Dec 28 2010, 12:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Several different alts I've made were names that I felt fit how I wanted the character to be played before I forgot about it or suicided it. Aidan/Aiden, Paladin. Talon, Geomancer.

That's kind of weird... I created as Aedan, but switched to Talan because there were too many variations on that name floating around, at one point I was the third on qw or something. I am pretty happy with the character name I ended up with. Someone pointed out ambiguous and hallifax which is just right, since vaguely androgynous trill was how I started the character. Names that stand out for me as being particularly appropriate to the characters paired with them... Narsrim (it has 'arse' written right in! biggrin.gif), Silferras (the sil lends to soft, the ferr is hard, pretty fitting for a motherly role), Sidd (straightforward but hinting at badass), and then both Crek and Nyir have always seemed incredibly appropriate to me for people who follow Crow, I can imagine actual crows making both of those sounds.
Lysandus2010-12-28 20:22:20
Ixion stands out as a name for me, due to his reputation in the game.

Lysandus... well, those who are familiar with the Elder Scrolls series would know the origins of the character.

Speaking of Elder Scrolls... *Points at Sig*
Shiri2010-12-28 20:34:08
QUOTE (Abethor @ Dec 28 2010, 04:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Nydekion and Nejii are definitely two of my favorite names in Lusternia. Hands down.

Wait, now I'm confused as to whether Rika/Solanis like the name Nejii or if they were just bringing that up to annoy me. chin.gif
Abethor2010-12-28 20:37:13
QUOTE (Shiri @ Dec 28 2010, 02:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Wait, now I'm confused as to whether Rika/Solanis like the name Nejii or if they were just bringing that up to annoy me. chin.gif

I can't speak for them, but I was completely serious!
Casilu2010-12-28 20:37:41
QUOTE (Shiri @ Dec 28 2010, 12:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Wait, now I'm confused as to whether Rika/Solanis like the name Nejii or if they were just bringing that up to annoy me. chin.gif


Everyone likes Nubby.
Okin2010-12-28 21:19:11
QUOTE (Shiri @ Dec 29 2010, 05:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Da-RAH-ee-us. I dunno why Okin sees it that way but I'm used to seeing double-vowel sounds like that as two syllables from Japanese.


Now that he's pointed out da-RYE-us, that makes a lot more sense. I was indeed seeing da-RAH-ee-us, and I had no idea why for a while, and that was annoying me. But I've worked it out! I speak French as well as English, which inclines me to see 'ai' as 'eh'. "Da-reh-us" is hideous and was automatically rejected by my brain, so it split the vowel.

Speaking French also inclines me to have an aneurysm when I greet denizens in Delport, but that's separate.
Diamondais2010-12-28 21:21:00
QUOTE (Okin @ Dec 28 2010, 09:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Now that he's pointed out da-RYE-us, that makes a lot more sense. I was indeed seeing da-RAH-ee-us, and I had no idea why for a while, and that was annoying me. But I've worked it out! I speak French as well as English, which inclines me to see 'ai' as 'eh'. "Da-reh-us" is hideous and was automatically rejected by my brain, so it split the vowel.

Speaking French also inclines me to have an aneurysm when I greet denizens in Delport, but that's separate.

Think most people who know and speak french have a bit of a twitch when it comes to Delport. biggrin.gif
Eliron2010-12-28 22:02:38
QUOTE (Druken @ Dec 27 2010, 08:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'm of the mind that we project our own ideas onto the names. After all:

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

We think of 'hot' and 'heat' when we see the word 'sun,' but someone who speaks another language wouldn't. Thus, Daevos and Asmodea evoke images of darkness and winter because their characters are just good at it. It could easily be the other way around (Asmodea, to me, just sounds scary).

A lot can be said about phonology, but I still think a lot of how we associate feelings and images with names comes from our perceptions of the character. Druken is brooding and dark because I make him be that way, and therefore, the word 'Druken' means dark and brooding. Viravain could be the Creatrix and Estarra could be a furrikin, etc.

All hail the power of semantics!


I had wondered how you'd come up with Druken. I think you're right though, since I can tell I've been playing Lusternia too long on any given day when the word drunken starts to mean dark and brooding instead of anything alcohol related.


I'd say lack of association with other characters or people is what usually makes a name fantasy. Frodo is a great sounding fantasy name, but if you take it out of Tolkien, it's not fantasy at all anymore. It's that name from that book (or movie, depending on whether you're a purist or in it for the man-flesh), and a book is an every-day reality thing. Heloise on the other hand is a very old name that used to be common, but I'd accept it as a fantasy name because I don't know anyone named Heloise, and I haven't read or heard the name recently. Names like Talan and Malicia have associations, but they're with things or ideas, not people (unless you know someone who was a LOT more awesome about naming their children than I do).

I'd say sound does more for what I think the character is like than whether or not I think of them as a fantasy character. Eliron is a rolling, lyrical name. It's also a variation on an actual Hebrew name meaning "my God is song." Melony is also rolling and lyrical and a variation on the Greek name Melody. I associate both names with music, but Eliron is fantasy to me because I haven't heard it used before and Melony is mundane because I know a Melony.
Daraius2010-12-28 22:14:08
QUOTE (Eliron @ Dec 28 2010, 05:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
(unless you know someone who was a LOT more awesome about naming their children than I do)


Not to derail the topic, but I knew a guy who was set on naming his kid Turok Effing Gunst. No one's ever topped that in my book. laugh.gif
Everiine2010-12-28 22:33:23
Everiine originally came from a DnD campaign I was in that lasted all of one session before the DM forgot about it. He was a half-elf, and so I was going for something Tolkien-ish that rolled off the tongue. The double vowel is because Everine suggests EH-veh-rine instead of EH-veh-rin, but Everin just looked odd to me. I figured doubling the vowel and throwing the "e" back on did what I wanted it to do.

When I started Lusternia, I had a hard time picking a name. So I figured, hey, I have this practically unused name, why not use it? Seemed to fit my image of a graceful Trill gliding through the air, since the name rolled off the tongue pretty easily. Of course, I had no idea the name would be so androgynous.

Seems a lot of people rip off Tolkien names (though mine wasn't a ripoff so much as the end result of Tolkien inspirations).
Ileein2010-12-28 22:50:34
QUOTE (Everiine @ Dec 28 2010, 05:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Seemed to fit my image of a graceful Trill gliding through the air, since the name rolled off the tongue pretty easily. Of course, I had no idea the name would be so androgynous.


*patpat* You're not alone *cougheventspostcough*
Unknown2010-12-28 23:21:30
Hallifaxians seem to love androgynous names.