373 replies to this topic

[Jonzzon]

Youre probely rigth, but I think its the best bet as of now.

[BrettM]

ShadowedSin said:

House of Stegalkin probably just meant Household of Stegalkin not necessarily a lineage.

Unless it is a clan designation -- the kin of Stegal -- rather than a direct lineage.

[Lyssa]

The names of the Forgotten typically include many S's and soft hissing sounds, probably to replicate the way the snake people talk and their language. You will rarely find a harsh consonant sound in their names. They have both a first and last name, whether the last name is to do with family, simply another name (like Human second names) or something different all together we do not know
-Dassk Arossyss
-Byssha Hisst
-Goss Aleessh
-Ayassah Hess
-Wissper Inssani

The Naga also have a similiar snake-like naming convention. 8/10 of the named Naga we met had names begining with 'S'. They have short first names, commonly only having one sylable, but there are some with two (none with more.) Naga appear to have titles rather than second names, and these titles seem to be named after a particular characteristic.

-Sarss, Stormscale
-Sessk, Woe Spreader
-Siska Scalewand
-Ssuns, Blessed of Dwayna
-Sskai, Dragon's Birth
-Xiriss Stickleback (Note here that this is the only name begining with something other than an 'S' and yet it still produces a similiar  sound).

There is one anonmaly with regards to the the Naga and their naming conventions: Tin Dao Kaineng. This Naga appears to have a very Canthan name, and even bears the same last name as the city. It follows none of the set conventions.

So its either an error or there's a very interesting story there which we havent been told.

Edit: Meh may as well keep going. This is kinda fun.

Centaurs!
Without exception every single centaur has had a first name with exactly two sylables. In many of these cases the name can be spelt with just 4 English letters, which should be indicitive of the short-sharp nature of them. Second names are a combination of two words: A part of the Centaurs body and a description of it.

-Aguo Gruffmane
-Huma Cleansinghoof
-Moro Stormcalf
-Rubi Spottedmane
-Fawa Torncalf
-Geno Darkheart
-Numa Plaguemane
-Yino Burlyhaunch
-Zalo Soulhaunch
-Ramtha Brokenhoof

Then we have the Titans... everyone knows these. A first and last name which are written in Latin. (Though there were a few in Nightfall who didnt..) Usually the name follows the lines of: ''I do this'' or ''I do that''

-Gigas Expi (I atone for Giants/Giants atonment)
-Creo Vulnero (I create Harm/Pain/hurt)
-Exuro Flatus (Burn Breathe/ I Breath fire)
-Ignis Cruor (Blood of Fire)
-Scelus Prosum (I gladly do Evil)

Note that all those are pretty rough translations but thats the basic message they bear.

Okay i'm done for now.

Oh and may I make a suggestion? Put the minor races section into a spoiler so that the focus stays on the 5 main races, since I'm sure thats what most people will be coming here for. The minor races section may end up considerably larger.

Edited by Lyssa, 30 January 2011 - 03:25 PM.

[Konig Des Todes]

Lyssa said:

There is one anonmaly with regards to the the Naga and their naming conventions: Tin Dao Kaineng. This Naga appears to have a very Canthan name, and even bears the same last name as the city. It follows none of the set conventions.

Kaineng is Canthan for "Lord Emperor."

So that one's probably the naga leader of the Shing Jea nagas. With a human given title/name. I wouldn't doubt that "Tin Dao" is Canthan for something either. May even be "Snake Lord Emperor" or something of the sort.

[BBQman]

Great suggestion, Lyssa! I put the information for all races in spoiler tags--now it's far easier on the eyes and one can much easier find what they are looking for.

[RedStar]

Wow great job guys ! :D

Quote

Without exception every single centaur has had a first name with exactly two sylables

Not totally true.
http://wiki.guildwar...wiki/Veldrunner

[Eragon Zarroc]

nice! :D  very cool :)  this could come in handy for any characters that don't receive names from my gw1 chars ;)

[Lyssa]

Konig Des Todes said:

Kaineng is Canthan for "Lord Emperor."

So that one's probably the naga leader of the Shing Jea nagas. With a human given title/name. I wouldn't doubt that "Tin Dao" is Canthan for something either. May even be "Snake Lord Emperor" or something of the sort.

Ahh interesting. So maybe he does have his own Naga name, we just dont see it because we know him as the 'Snake Lord Emperor' or something.

RedStar said:

Wow great job guys ! :D
Not totally true.
http://wiki.guildwar...wiki/Veldrunner

Ooh I missed these guys. Thanks. So the Veldrunner of Elona have their own Naming conventions. I gotta say i'm a little embarrased I forgot about our old buddy Zhed. Though its only slightly different, thankfully.

Edited by Lyssa, 30 January 2011 - 04:42 PM.

[razor39999]

Nice thread, can someone creative come up with a charr surname for me that includes razor? :D

P.S.
Don't say Scorchrazor! :p

[Helikaon]

Maul Bloodrazor

[Lyssa]

Some more Minor races - Yay!

Grawl:
The Grawl typically have two names. The first name usually has two sylables and often three - though some names only have one such as 'Mok'. Many first names end with a vowel - the most common being O and A. None have been observed to end with an 'E' or a 'U'.

Many second names are two simple 1 sylable sounds put together like 'WaagWaag'. On rarer occasions these two sounds are slightly different like 'Yawpyawl'. And sometimes the second name doesnt follow this convention at all ''Arronn''.

Many Grawl share their second name with one other Grawl, like ''Salani Pipppip'' and ''Kekona Pippip''. Its never been observed that three grawl share the same name, so this second name may be unique to each couple. Theres a lot I can speculate on here but i'll just stick to the facts, eh?

-Alana Kepkep
-Edibbo Kepkep
-Sakalo Yawpyawl
-Jono Yawpyawl
-Allobo Dimdim
-Gougi Gakula
-Kaia Wupwup
-Ipillo Wupwup

Ettins:

Ettins have two names. The first name is a very simple, single sylable sound that probably refers to their low intelligence levels and poor grasp of language.

The second name seems to commonly be to do with the Ettins weapon or a particular attribute of the Ettin in question.

-Droog Stoneclub
-Ferk Mallet
-Glutt Wallop
-Rull Browbeater
-Smuush Fatfist
-Vulg Painbrain

(These are all the examples we have, I believe)

[ShadowedSin]

:(

BrettM said:

Unless it is a clan designation -- the kin of Stegal -- rather than a direct lineage.

Sippe or Clans in the Viking Manner are denoted with the -ung or -ing suffix. Such as the Clan of Scylf (the Scylfings), this is why in LOTR the Rohirrim are called the EORLINGAS. They are of the clan of Eorl.

So a good example of this if we adopt it would be a member of the Stegalkin would be a Stegalkining, or a Stegaling., House could be a clan or Household Term. but if Stegalkin was a clan system and to be honest, I doubt the norn have existence clan systems that tends to infer more interest in heritage. I think their lineage is tracked via stories and legends of prominent family members.

[BrettM]

Norn are norn, not vikings or viking clones. ANet is not obligated to make sure that every single thing about the norn conforms to viking usage, nor are those employees who work on designing the norn obligated to be experts in all things viking.

[Jonzzon]

true... i still belive it means family tho, intil its been proven wrong...

[ShadowedSin]

BrettM said:

Norn are norn, not vikings or viking clones. ANet is not obligated to make sure that every single thing about the norn conforms to viking usage, nor are those employees who work on designing the norn obligated to be experts in all things viking.

I wasn't saying that at all.

I was just stating that the concept of House does not mean lineage necessarily because the norn lack to me any concept of Clan that we would use. House most likely just means THIS IS THE HOUSEHOLD of Stegalkin or of the one with the title orubt aftername Stegalkin. Since it is not the whole -sson or -dottir last name I am not sure it is good to assume it means that Eir is part of a lineage of Stegalkins.

Edited by ShadowedSin, 31 January 2011 - 06:31 PM.

[Chaosgyro]

Could be a strange form of title like Thunderfist.  Maybe there are new monsters named stegals (or something close enough to serve) and Eir is so awesome/ferocious/whatever these creatures are known for that she is like kin to them.

edit: jesus, I think Izzy taught me to spell

[ShadowedSin]

Chaosgyro said:

Could be a strange form of title like Thunderfist.  Maybe there are new monsters named stegals (or something close enough to serve) and Eir is so awesome/ferocious/whatever these creatures are known for that she is like kin to them.

edit: jesus, I think Izzy taught me to spell

When I say the name I was wondering if perhaps it meant something like Stag Elk Kin. Perhaps her father was named Stag and she is being named as Kin of stag or she had a relative named Elk something. I mean it just looks like a morph of the words I listed into a name.

[Qing Guang]

Obviously we have some nice info from the devs on Asura names, but I'll submit my own research anyway. (Note: I doubt all these rules are hard-and-fast, or that the devs even thought most of this out, but they do seem to apply nonetheless)

Asuran names go as high as 6 letters (Giriff, Florggi), but never lower than 4. They tend to use double letters (generally consonants - I believe Oola is the only exception?), although they break that too - Renk, Klub, Mamp, etc. They trend toward 3:1 consonants:vowels for males (resulting in a single-syllable name containing a consonant cluster, which usually falls at the end) and 3:2 c:v for females (resulting in a two-syllable name containing at least one consonant cluster usually placed before the final vowel), as a result of the gender-indicating final letter rule laid out by Soesbee and Grubb; thus, male names follow the pattern CVCC and females follow the pattern CVCCA (with exceptions, of course - Klub, Oola, Florggi). Names also include at least 2 common letters (common vowels are A, E, and O, common consonants are F, G, K, R, and N - there may be more). There seems to be an additional rule about the type of consonant used (I.e. why "Nurr" and "Kessa" sound wrong), but I'm still looking into that. If you look, those should cover a majority of Asura in EotN if you allow one rule broken per Asura. Then there are the weirdos like Yulma, who follows none of the rules, but those are rare.

Combine that with what the devs said, and you've got yourself an Asura naming factory.

Some Asura names generated by this system:

Male: Gann, Fonk, Bokk, Gedd, Kreb
Female: Lejja (my name choice for my own Asura), Mekki, Venna, Kivvi, Noora

Edited by Qing Guang, 31 January 2011 - 07:40 PM.

[Lyssa]

Its minor race time! I am always so pleasantly suprised when I look around for these. The thought that goes into every freaking race is astounding. Mad props to you A.Net. Anyway, enough brown nosing, lets do it.


Mursaat:
Mursaat seem to have a single first name, followed by a title of sorts. All Mursaat seem to be named ''The XXX'' Such as ''Mercia the Smug''. The only known Mursaat to break this rule also happens to be the Mursaat speculated to be their leader during Prophecies - Optimus Caliph. Coincidence? Maybe not.

As for the first name... I'm finding it hard to point to exact patterns. However, a lot of the names seem to come from European languages and feel, at least to me, quite extravagent. Though that might be quite a speculative observation... maybe someone else can throw me a bone here. Theres obviously something similiar about them, because if you were to give me a name I could probably guess if it fits the Mursaat or not. Though what the criteria exactly is eludes me. Anyone else feel this way?

Examples:
-Ambrillus the Guardian
-Demetrios the Enduring
-Lucent the Spectral
-Odelyn the Displeased
-Willa the Unpleasant
-Coventina the Matron
-Argyris the Scoundrel
-Pantheras The Deceiver

Tengu:
Tengu have two names. The first name tends to be a short 1-2 sylable word, most commonly using 'Y' as a vowel like 'Hyl' or 'Flyt' (there are quite a lot of examples of this).

The second name seems to follow a convention similiar to the centaurs second names. Two words combined together. The first is commonly a verb and the second is usually a part of the Tengus body, such as ''Quickfeather'' or ''Agileclaw''. Additionally, many of these verbs seem to be based around the idea of speed or fast movement. ''Swiftwing'' ''Quickbeak''.  Some Tengu bosses appear to not follow this convention, like ''Petraj the Evasive'' or ''Kemil the Inept'' - but this could just be because we see their title rather than their real second name.

Examples:
-Asynd Blindingclaw
-Chuff Quickbeak
-Hyl Thunderwing
-Phy Deftcrest
-Zyd Pointedbeak
-Wyng Soothingclaw
-Sky Quickfeather
-Myd Springclaw

Trolls:
We dont have many examples of troll names but here goes.
Trolls have two names. The first name is always a single sylable word that typicaly ends in a hard sounding consonant. The second names are a little more complex and a fair few seem to end with the sound 'bool' or 'buul'.
Both the first and second names typicaly feature two of the same letters in a row.

Examples:
-Grook Plugalug
-Krogg Shmush
-Marrg Grummbool
-Plog Hamfist
-Smukk Foombool
-Whuup Buumbuul

(As far as I can see these are all the examples we have so go nuts and make your own observations)

Okay thats it for today. I think most of the important ones that might be relevant to Gw2 are covered now. Just a few left like the Krait, Skree, Dredge...

Edited by Lyssa, 31 January 2011 - 07:53 PM.

[Qing Guang]

By the by, Lyssa, I might point out that it's not just a Veldrunner thing (and actually, of the 6 Veldrunner names we have, only Laph and Zhed are single-syllable) to have a single-syllable first name. There's also Horm Frostrider, the Shiverpeak leader, and Gret Waveringmane. However, I'd argue those are the exceptions that prove the rule, and your observations are generally correct.

Now if you'll excuse me I think I'll elaborate on your notes a little.

Forgotten: Utilize all vowels, showing a preference for A, ɪ (the I in "this" - spelled both as I and as Y in Forgotten names), and ə in the context of "-ər" (as in English "dancer"), spelled both ER and IR (these might be pronounced differently), at the end of names. Every word contains at least one doubled S or SSH cluster, typically in the middle of the name. H seems to be a favored consonant.

Naga: Utilize all vowels. Aside from S, they use a very limited selection of consonants: K, N, R, T, X, and H (in combination with S, thereby remaining a fricative). Of these, only R and N have been used outside of a combination with S. I would guess that SH and X share or have similar pronunciation. Note that we have no instances of Naga names with fewer than 2 S's, and most have 3. Stsou and Siska are the only ones that do not have a doubled S. So we can guess that most Naga names have a doubled S and that most non-S consonants (aside from SH or X) usually appear in combination with S, forming at longest a 3-consonant cluster that contains a doubled S and one other consonant.

Centaur: Utilize all vowels, though they don't seem to use U except before M (or in one case, doubled L). O's and A's are popular, and most names end in one of these two letters. Most Centaur names seem to follow the pattern CVCV, though some feature a consonant cluster or dipthong or break the pattern entirely (Aguo, Edmi, Horm, Gret). It seems single-syllable names utilizing a 3C:1V ratio are all right, as are two-syllable names with one consonant or a central consonant cluster. Koren seems to be our oddball here. Centaurs make heavy use of nasal and alveolar consonants. Plosives are usually at the beginnings of words, though they do sometimes begin the second consonant.

Edited by Qing Guang, 31 January 2011 - 08:27 PM.

[Lyssa]

By all means! I'm mostly just looking at all the bosses we've met and reading the race pages, making my own observations as I go. I'm bound to miss cool or important stuff and be wrong in places.

[Qing Guang]

*giggles in amateur-linguist glee*

[Jonzzon]

ShadowedSin said:

When I say the name I was wondering if perhaps it meant something like Stag Elk Kin. Perhaps her father was named Stag and she is being named as Kin of stag or she had a relative named Elk something. I mean it just looks like a morph of the words I listed into a name.

I have comed up with anouther posible answer, it dosent realy mean anything as far as norn culture goes the authors just wanted a cool sounding uniqe name...

[Chaosgyro]

I think you've forgotten that you're in the Lore forum.  Here nothing is easy, everything has hidden meaning, and 9/10 things are secretly connected to the mursaat.

[Gmr Leon]

Chaosgyro said:

I think you've forgotten that you're in the Lore forum.  Here nothing is easy, everything has hidden meaning, and 9/10 things are secretly connected to the mursaat.

On the last point, or Abaddon. Even though both get exhausting.

[Konig Des Todes]

Chaosgyro said:

I think you've forgotten that you're in the Lore forum.  Here nothing is easy, everything has hidden meaning, and 9/10 things are secretly connected to the mursaat.

Gmr Leon said:

On the last point, or Abaddon. Even though both get exhausting.

Or how Glint is evil.

Or how Cynn, Devona, and Rurik are siblings.

[Lyssa]

Konig Des Todes said:

Or how Cynn, Devona, and Rurik are siblings.

Awh come on that guy was just curious about his surroundings and the world.

Thats how we all started, how we all ended up here - right? :cool:

Be yeah Abaddon is the source of all Evil and the Mursaat are his children from another world.

You cant deny it forever.

Edit: Yeah now none of you know whether i'm being sarcastic or not. Mwhahaha.

Edited by Lyssa, 31 January 2011 - 11:29 PM.

[Chaosgyro]

Lyssa said:

Be yeah Abaddon is the source of all Evil and the Mursaat are his children from another world.

You cant deny it forever.

Nah, Abaddon gets his power from a previous source.  Obviously the dragons are previous, so the ED are the sources of all....everything.  And the strongest and therefore most...sourceful?...one would be Zhaitan, which is a two syllable name with some consonants and a few vowels in there.

God I love being on topic.

[draxynnic]

Well, let's see...

Zhaitan is a two-syllable name as you say, employing long vowels and a fairly harsh set of consonants. It seems to be based on the Arabic "Shaitan", the Islamic equivalent of demons or the devil.

Primordius is a four-syllable name with a mix of long and short vowels. Harkening from Latin, its meaning pretty much boils down to "first".

Jormag is another two-syllable name, and again seems to use long-ish vowels. It also appears to be referencing the Norse Jormungandr, the Midgard Serpent that encircles the world and is prophesised to kill and be killed by Thor during Ragnarok.

Kralkatorrik is a four-syllable jawbreaker with short vowels and consonants apart from the long "rr". The language it makes me think of most is the Tolkein Dwarfish, although I suspect there are real-world languages it is reminiscent of that I don't know.

The names of the dragons don't appear to share any common links, but it is interesting to note that two of those that were buried beneath nations have names that seem to share linguistic roots (Zhaitan under Arabic Orr, Jormag within the Norse-based norn territories). The implication we've been given is that each of these names is older than the culture above them, which makes for an interesting coincidence - could the sleeping dragons have someone influenced the linguistic developments of the cultures around them?

[Konig Des Todes]

I don't think the ED's names have lore value for their similarity to the naming of their nearby civilization...

It's probably just a design "easter egg."