Confusion on Keeper of the Moon naming conventions

[Valence]

I'm a bit concerned about the naming conventions for female Keepers of the Moon as stated in the lorebook. It seems to be completely contradictory to the naming conventions we have had until now, only for females.

 

The males still follow the pattern of followed by the corresponding male offspring number letter for the first name, and sharing the last name of the mother. 

 

The old naming conventions said that the same way, females got their last names from their mother, and their first name is their own. The one exposed in the lorebook seems to say that the first name is the mother name, and the last name is the given name. Which makes absolutely zero sense, and as they pointed out in the lore panel, the book still contains bugs and mistakes. 

 

I'm inclined to think that way... Or I hope so.

 

Source : it would seem they inverted Okhi and Nbolo...

[Maril]

It could be a translation error, or at least I could definitely see how a translation error could happen with it. Though, I guess it could also be that they have retconned it, to put a greater emphasis on the fact that the name is passed down from the mother. What it just completely misses out on, if we assume the latter is correct, is where the names like Relahna etc fit into the female name. If their name is only meant to be a homage to their mother and not a name passed down from a mother (presumably) many years ago, which I think was/is the origin of those names. Unless they really mean for those to be thought of as first names and not surnames, but then why does keeper men have the option to have them? Surely we're not out in a (Mother's First Name)'(number of male) (Also mothers first name) situation.

[Knight Kat]

That entry in the Lorebook is an error, or a blatant contradiction that may not be resolvable, and may have to be ignored. Here's my argument.

 

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/63112-Race-Naming-Conventions?p=1014930&viewfull=1#post1014930

 

This is the naming conventions post that is still up on the FFXIV forums. This is what was used to give us our conventions on Au Ra names too.

 

 

Miqo’te – Keepers of the Moon

------------------------------------------

 

Female

 

Unlike the Seekers of the Sun, the Keepers of the Moon is a highly matriarchal society, with family names passed down from the mother, not the father. It is said that some of these surnames have survived since the First Astral Era.

 

The Keepers of the Moon lead more solitary lives, rarely forming communities of more than two or three families. Therefore, a tribal letter is not assigned to the names.

 

The matriarchal strength is further displayed by the fact that female first names are short, one/two syllable constructions that closely resemble names used by male Seekers of the Sun.

 

Unpronounced aitches are also present in the names.

 

- Okhi Nbolo

- Cemi Jinjahl

- Gota Jaab

- Sizha Epocan

 

Male

 

More evidence of how important the mother is to the Keepers of the Moon can be seen when looking at the names given to males. In addition to taking the mother’s surname, males also take the mother’s forename, adding a suffix (separated by an apostrophe) to the end to designate the order in which they were born.

 

First son: 'a

Second son: 'to

Third son: 'li

Fourth son: 'sae

Fifth son: 'ra

Sixth son: 'ir

Seventh son: 'wo

Eighth son: 'ya

Ninth son: 'zi

Tenth son: 'tan

 

- Okhi’a Nbolo

- Cemi’to Jinjahl

- Gota’li Jaab

- Sizha’sae Epocan

 

Though there are ten suffixes listed above, rarely do even the largest Keeper of the Moon families have more than two or three sons. This is not by choice. Nature merely sees to it that more females are born to this race.

 

 

 

 

This still arguably leaves a weak potential for the Lorebook information (on Keeper naming) to still be compatible with previously-established lore, so here is the second piece of lore for people.

 

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/playguide/db/quest/43461d8d384/

 

"The Past is a Story We Never Tell" once again becomes a valuable reference for Keeper of the Moon lore. Feel free to play this Post Moogle Side-quest in-game.

 

Muah Lihzeh bids the Warrior of Light to find and deliver a message to her sister Urha Lihzeh. You eventually meet both sisters and see their names. Muah drops tons of exposition about Moon-Keeper traditions and mindsets. It is made clear Muah and Urha are sisters from the same mother, and were raised with Keeper traditions.

 

Setting aside any arguments that might arise with -where- they grew up, this obviously lore-based side-quest displays two Keeper sisters with different forenames (first names) and matching surnames (last names).

 

Urha Lihzeh

Muah Lihzeh

 

This is contradicted by the Lorebook, so which is correct?

 

There's no objective answer. In-game lore should be just as legitimate as Lorebook lore.

 

If the Lorebook introduces a retcon, the devs must go back and retcon the names of a lot of Keeper NPCs. I doubt they will though, so even if it is a retcon, the old lore will be constantly represented in-game, and it would be unfair to hold any players to the new lore that is only in the Lorebook.

 

It's not resolvable. If you play a Keeper of the Moon like me, and went by in-game and developer forum post lore about naming conventions like me, I say stick with what you have in this matter; at least until the devs clarify this point of confusion.

 

 

Note: I just wanted to add that I LOVE the Lorebook. It is this one point of contradiction that has me peeved and confused. But I am still buying the damn thing.

[Wemrys]

It's not a retcon, likely just a mistake as the localization team may have translated the name literally given that the Japanese put a person's surname before their given name when referring to a person by their full name. Though that first line before the name seems to imply differently, I would say it's just a minor flub and go by what was online before this.

[Kismet]

A friend of mine and I also talked about this passage. We came to the consensus that it has to be an error. The naming structure in Keeper families would be way too chaotic and confusing otherwise.