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Raen naming conventions - allgivenover - 04-23-2015
Quote:From the live letter summary: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/230605-Letter-from-the-Producer-LIVE-Part-XX-Q-A-Summary-%2804-23-2015%29?p=2919167#post2919167
Q: Could you give us details about the naming conventions for the Au Ra? Will the naming be Japanese-based like Yugiri?
A: We've already announced that players will be able to select Au Ra as their character’s race, but we haven't talked about the two clans, the Raen and the Xaela. The Raen have been closely related to the people of Doma for a long time, and they use naming conventions based on Japanese. On the other hand, the Xaela are a nomadic clan, and their naming conventions are unique. We’ll be releasing the rules for making names in the future to give our hardcore lore fans the opportunity to pick suitable names.
Alright, I'm sure some of you are groaning already now that it's been confirmed the Raen do use conventions based on Japanese names, but let's take a step back and examine what we've seen so far that makes Raen names differ from just picking a straight up Japanese name.
Yugiri - the closest origin that I've been able to find for this name is the character from the ancient Japanese novel the Tale of Genji. It is written 夕霧 which translates as "evening mist". Given Yugiri's second name (title?) Mistwalker I'm lead to believe this is what they're referencing. The other important thing to note is that this sort of name would not be very common in Japan today.
Rokka - the name of a young Doman girl hanging out in Mor Dhona as of 2.55. This one could be written a number of ways, too many to cover here. The important thing to note is that once again this name would not be considered very modern or common in today's Japan.
Yozan - this one is the name of a young Doman boy. Strangely this name could be a given or a surname depending on how it is written/pronounced. The romaji here is in fact really ambiguous, and the closest name I can find would be written out よã†ã–ã‚“ in hiragana. Again, this name would not be very common today.
Then we have oddballs like this guy:
Doware - I've got nothing on this one. It's the name of a Doman man that hung around the rising stones pre 2.55. Of course we could use kanji to make it a name and choose a meaning, but when it comes to Japanese names that were actually used I'm totally lost on this one. The closest meaning I can get is a kansai dialect way of saying "I'll finish this fool off", but that's even a stretch. This name is notable because it's a good representation of the occasional weirdness present in Doman/Raen names.
Overall it seems you can't go wrong if you pick an archaic Japanese given name or use something that's a combination of words/characters that don't normally make a name but could if we wrote it out in Kanji (they'd just be really weird).
Anyway, just something to consider. We are of course waiting on the official naming convention post, but this is a good place to start planning from if you intend to play a Raen that follows lore naming conventions.
RE: Raen naming conventions - Zhavi - 04-23-2015
In that vein, one of my favorite sites to comb through for names, directly linked to their (admittedly small) section on Japanese names: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/otherasian.shtml#japanese
edit - actually, on a quick glance-through, there are a lot of male names used prior to 1600. Not as many female names, but still a nice list.
RE: Raen naming conventions - Hyakki - 04-23-2015
NIN questline NPCs:
Oboro Moonrise - Oboro could have multiple meanings but ultimately means obscured, dimmed or darkened (by mist, clouds or smoke) Karasu makes a play on words and calls him dim as in stupid.
Tsubame Sunrise- Tsubame= swallow (as in the bird)
Karasu Redbeak- Karasu= crow
Gekkai The Blind-
The other half of their names seem more like titles than surnames. Gekkai's is definitely a title. Is Karasu's an allusion to the blood on his hands due to his role in selling out Doma or does he come from a line of bloody and violent ninjas? Did Oboro and Tsubame take those titles upon their partnership or have their families been long-time allies and partners, hence the complimentary surnames?
Other NPCs
Higiri- Morning Mist
Koharu- open to having multiple meanings, little springtime/heart of spring being the most likely
Shiun- I've nothing on this name
Homei, father of Hozan, father of Yozan- I wonder if is is a tradition in their family to have the son's name similar to that of the father or if that is something commonplace in Doman naming convention. Homei>Hozan and Hozan>Yozan
On Raen 'surnames'
The lore states that they are they are solitary, so they may not have family names. 'Mistwalker' may possibly a term used for Raen Au Ra since they originate from mist-obscured valleys. That is just speculation on my part. I look forward to seeing the naming conventions for both Raen and Xaela.
RE: Raen naming conventions - allgivenover - 04-23-2015
(04-23-2015, 04:08 PM)Mamushi Wrote: Homei, father of Hozan, father of Yozan- I wonder if is is a tradition in their family to have the son's name similar to that of the father or if that is something commonplace in Doman naming convention. Homei>Hozan and Hozan>Yozan
Nice catch.
RE: Raen naming conventions - Kismet - 04-23-2015
A while back in the Lore category of the official forums, someone made an interesting speculation that some people may find useful for inspiration or planning. This may or may not necessarily end up applying to the Raen, but it is very neat food for thought:
TinyRedLeaf Wrote:I thought it might be interesting to add some further information, as it may not immediately be obvious to people who don't read Japanese: the "second" names of the Domans we've seen so far are actually English allusions to their "first" names.
Take Yugiri, for example. The "-giri" part of her name is likely to be 霧 ("kiri", Japanese for "mist"). Hence, the Eorzean/English appellation, "Mist-walker".
Interestingly, Oboro also refers to "haziness" or "mistiness", except that in this case, it's an adjective for the moon. Hence, his second name, "Moonrise".
Karasu is literally the "crow" in Japanese. Hence the appellation of "Redbeak", which I believe to be a reference to the blood on his hands — the man is a traitor to his people, responsible for the deaths of his comrades, after he betrayed them to the Empire.
(Source)
TinyRedLeaf Wrote:Anyway, if you guys need ideas for plausible Japanese/Doman first names, I'd suggest taking a look at the names of ships from the Imperial Japanese Navy. Some of them were oddly poetic, especially the names of the "special type" Fubuki (å¹é›ª, literally, "blown snow", or more appropriately, "flying snow" or "driven snow") class destroyers.
It's not as far-fetched as you may think. Yugiri (夕霧, "evening mist") and Oboro (朧, "gloom"), for example, were the names of two destroyers from this class.
(Source)
RE: Raen naming conventions - allgivenover - 04-23-2015
It's very likely to be as TinyRedLeaf speculated, I'm just holding off on planning for it to be sure.
The given names are very easy to deduce though.
RE: Raen naming conventions - Steel Wolf - 04-24-2015
heh, If RedLeaf has 'cracked' it, so to speak, I will be honestly delighted. That was stupendously perceptive and it has a line of themeing that makes sense for name conventions.
Is it weird that I'm geekin' out over people's geeking out over names? XD
RE: Raen naming conventions - Clover - 04-25-2015
This was a really interesting read, thank you very much! I haven't done the ninja quest myself, so IÂ didn't know much about Doman surnames.
RE: Raen naming conventions - Ha'uruh Nunh - 04-25-2015
Good thread - lots of good research here and a refreshing lack of "Let's just use any ol' Japanese name from an anime".
I don't have anything substantive to add unfortunately; I'm looking forward to seeing what the namingways will spit out for both types of Au Ra.
RE: Raen naming conventions - Desu Nee - 04-25-2015
(04-25-2015, 08:44 AM)Ha Wrote: Good thread - lots of good research here and a refreshing lack of "Let's just use any ol' Japanese name from an anime".Sakura Naruto Moe as Fuck
I don't have anything substantive to add unfortunately; I'm looking forward to seeing what the namingways will spit out for both types of Au Ra.
RE: Raen naming conventions - Sarangerel Qestir - 04-25-2015
Ahhh I don't think I did badly with Kotori Birdsong. I'm relieved. Thanks for this thread!
Edit: When I was looking up the meaning of Yugiri a long time ago, I did find out that it was the name of a ship but that it was also apparently the name of a character in the Tale of Genji (The peak of Genji’s glory, however, also announces his slow but inexorable decline, and chapters such as “Nowaki†and “Wakana†reveal his vulnerability in front of a new generation of young heroes, Yūgiri and Kashiwagi. The disintegration of Genji’s world becomes final with the death of his beloved Murasaki, in chapter forty, “Minori,†and not long after, the Prince’s shining light is finally extinguished.* - Wikipedia
I guess it's based on the definition of the name but Oboro seems to always be used in manga/anime/games/shows relating to a ninja or bandit character. I thought that was pretty interesting as well.
http://www.babynames.ch/Info/Language/laJapanese Here's a list of names, some of them two-parted if anyone else was looking. It's a pretty short list but I liked some of them and it gives both the Kanji and the Hiragana spellings as well as the translations (which you might want to double-check if you pick one).
RE: Raen naming conventions - allgivenover - 04-25-2015
http://jisho.org/
This is a good place to start to search for kanji meanings. You can even search using romaji.
RE: Raen naming conventions - allgivenover - 04-25-2015
I want to share name ideas, but I also don't want to get crushed if it doesn't the way I think it will.
Ah.. a month is a long time.
RE: Raen naming conventions - Arelian - 04-25-2015
One of the more interesting questions is are the surnames changeable?Â
For instance, Karasu's surname fits both his deeds and his given name a little too well for it to be a coincidence. Are surnames more of a title that's given--sorta like they used to be? Along those same lines, do the surnames change when a couple enters into marriage? Does the newlywed couple choose a new surname that fits their newfound conjoined purpose?
My partner and I have been mulling this stuff over since forever. We're going to be playing a married Raen couple, so would they have taken on a new surname when they actually married, or what's the deal there?
The best we could come up with was to say fuckit and give'em both the same last name--one that they chose when married. If the lore comes out and outright tells us it's wrong, we'll change it, but I'm not certain if the lore will actually address it or not.
RE: Raen naming conventions - K'nahli - 04-25-2015
I want to share Clover's forename idea, particularly to get help and impressions from you(or anyone else) but since she didn't post it herself, I wonder if maybe she was paranoid of throwing it out there in case anyone subconsciously(or not) remembers it further down the line and ends up using it without meaning to(or not), haha.
I'm disappointed that we must wait until the end of May to get a release on naming conventions, but hopefully I'll still get my character made and to end-game in time ;
Please, Balmung.
(04-25-2015, 06:11 PM)Sylas Wrote: ...and give'em both the same last name--one that they chose when married. If the lore comes out and outright tells us it's wrong, we'll change it, but I'm not certain if the lore will actually address it or not.
I really doubt it. I'd take the risk if I were you.