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Yian Kutku · **09-09-2017, 05:56 AM**

I'd say I need help coming up with one, but to be honest I have no idea where to start, so "brainstorming" it is.

If it matters, this is for a prose fanfic, rather than RP. The dragon I'd like to name is this fellow, who, as far as I know, does not have a canon name.

I've been going by the official Dragonspeak dictionary, and I realized I have no idea how dragons are named.

Older dragons apparently do not have names based on that dictionary, like Vidofnir, Vedrfolnir, Gullinbursti, etc. However, younger dragonets and apparently wyverns do: the three examples I know of are Ohl Deeh and Orn Khai for dragonets, and Whei Ahf for wyverns.

Ohl Deeh translates as "call deep" according to the Dragonspeak dictionary. Which kind of makes a sort of naming sense: a "deep call", or a "caller of the deep", perhaps. However, "ohl" might also mean "bone", so it would be "bone deep", which makes rather less sense.

Orn Khai is "born sad". Which, again, may make sense, if a little peculiar and heavy for a kid.

And when we have Whei Ahf, whose name either means "wait half" or "method half". At which point I gave up.

Should I just slam together two random words from the Dragonspeak dictionary? Should I ensure the name has some meaning? What arrangement of words is better, ie why "Ohl Deeh" and not "Deeh Ohl"?

Ellmida · **09-09-2017, 07:06 AM**

Let me preface by saying I really have no idea.... but I will do my best to help.

It sounds like based on the dictionary the wyvern names sort of work by Hellsguard Roegadyn where you have an adjective followed by a verb so following that model "ohl Deeh" probably works better?

Yian Kutku · **09-09-2017, 07:54 AM**

(09-09-2017, 07:06 AM)Ellmida Wrote: Let me preface by saying I really have no idea.... but I will do my best to help.

It sounds like based on the dictionary the wyvern names sort of work by Hellsguard Roegadyn where you have an adjective followed by a verb so following that model "ohl Deeh" probably works better?

Possibly

Now that I check it does fit: Orn Khai is Verb Adjective, and depending on which whei way it's supposed to be read, Whei Ahf is Verb Adjective or Noun Adjective. Which matches Ohl Deeh as either Verb Adjective or Noun Adjective.

So that's one mystery solved, thanks.

Kilieit · **09-09-2017, 01:26 PM**

(09-09-2017, 05:56 AM)Yian Kutku Wrote: Older dragons apparently do not have names based on that dictionary, like Vidofnir, Vedrfolnir, Gullinbursti, etc.

I think I might know the reason for this! Those names were, if I recall correctly, given to them by mortals. I think they might have Dragonspeak names too, but we're unaware of them..?

ANYWAY, yes, seconding that the Hellsguard naming convention is transferrable. The research I did on this was a good while ago now so I can't remember the ins and outs, but I definitely remember getting half way through and going "...oh, this is just the Hellsguard convention, but in Dragonspeak".

The dragon OC I was naming (also not for public RP, haha) ended up being named "Gahr Yah", roughly NaÃ¯ve Anger.

Rosekitten · **09-09-2017, 01:36 PM**

Not much input but this is something I've been thinking of too with my fc's growing interest in some dragon plot lines. The best idea i could suggest is to go over all the in game dragon names and just take notes of them and work from there. I mean some of the more lore heavy dragons have well known names (while they may very well have a dragonspeak name too) and others are named like the little whelpling. That or maybe the above post is right in that some were given names later while others were not.

Sounsyy · **09-09-2017, 10:13 PM**

(09-09-2017, 05:56 AM)Yian Kutku Wrote: I've been going by the official Dragonspeak dictionary, and I realized I have no idea how dragons are named.

I would highly recommend (if you've not already seen this) Fernehalwes's Lessons in Dragonspeak which have been compiled into a thread here on the RPC by Kage. Links to the original posts by Fernehalwes are provided. Fernehalwes goes over the basics of the language, why it's written the way it is, how words are economic in their meaning, which is why you get very strange and simple naming conventions. It should provide a lot of insight!

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(09-09-2017, 05:56 AM)Yian Kutku Wrote: Older dragons apparently do not have names based on that dictionary, like Vidofnir, Vedrfolnir, Gullinbursti, etc. However, younger dragonets and apparently wyverns do: the three examples I know of are Ohl Deeh and Orn Khai for dragonets, and Whei Ahf for wyverns.

(09-09-2017, 01:26 PM)Kilieit Wrote: I think I might know the reason for this! Those names were, if I recall correctly, given to them by mortals. I think they might have Dragonspeak names too, but we're unaware of them..?

Kilieit has the right of it. Fernehalwes gives us this:

Fernehalwes Kagoshima Letter Wrote:Q:
How are dragon names decided? Many of the dragons in and around Anyx Trine have names made from words in from the dragon language, but there are others--Vidofnir, Vedrfolnir, Gullinkambi--who have names taken from Norse Mythology like Midgardsormr and his children's are. Is there a reason they have their own unique names? Are names like this earned?

A:
Every dragon has a name in the base draconian tongue, including the more prominent figures such as Bahamut, Vidofnir, Midgardsormr, etc. The 'Eorzean' names have been earned through the dragons' interactions with past civilizations. The elder dragons (especially those of Midgardsormr's first brood) have spent thousand (tens-of-thousands) of years roaming about Hydaelyn. During that time, they have come in contact with many different peoples--some primitive, some advanced. Some with which they warred, some with which they fostered peace. Those peoples gave the dragons names in their own tongues. Some were based on existing words in those tongues, while others were phonetic interpretations, bastardizations, and subsequent degradations of a language that they could not accurately pronounce. These names took hold amongst the people of Eorzea, being passed down orally and in print, and effectively became the second names of the dragons. Rather than fight this, it was ultimately easier for the dragons to simply allow man to call them what they wished. Some of the dragons have even grown fond of these names, choosing to use them even when speaking with other dragons (who would otherwise know them by their draconian names).

Hope this helps! ^^

Need a bit of brainstorming for a dragon's name

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes