# Fantasy/pagan-style personal names in real life **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508 "2015-02-24T13:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/1 "2015-02-24T13:19:41Z")
This is somewhat related to a question about [fantasy place names in real life](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=714699) that was posed a year or so ago. I’m wondering if there’s societies or cultures where colorful fantasy- or neopagan-style names – in any language – are the norm rather than an affectation. You know, like “Stormcrow Windwalker”, “Ravenclaw Wolfsbane”, or “Thundermoon Dragonslayer”. Stereotypical Native American names come close, as do some hippie names (I live in a hippie town, and it’s not all that unusual to encounter people who legally changed their names to something like “Solara Sunspirit” or “Fourth Moon”), but is it the mainstream anywhere on this planet? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/2 "2015-02-24T14:30:25Z")
I don’t know that it qualifies as mainstream (as in, it would be odd to name your kid “Alex” or “Barbara”), but it’s certainly accepted in Berkeley. I went to school with someone named Lotus Goldstein, worked with someone named (legally) Kindred Warrior, and named my son after a D&D character. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/3 "2015-02-24T14:35:46Z")
I worked with a guy with the first name Mageborn, and had an econ class long ago with a girl named Starkind. (That last is more hippie/New Age than fantasy, perhaps). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/4 "2015-02-24T17:03:11Z")
This is a very old Indo-European naming pattern. It’s just that once these names become traditional, they lose their “fantasy” sense of being weird. Nobody thinks “Elf-counsel” when they hear “Alfred,” or “North-man” when they hear “Norman.” If Stormcrow gets popular, in a hundred years it will be “Stockrow” and nobody will think about what it means / meant. It’s only if you invent new names that you get the fantast phenomenon where they all sound exotic. I don’t know of any culture that regularly gives unique names to children. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/5 "2015-02-24T17:25:32Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I don’t know of any culture that regularly gives unique names to children. Some American subcultures, of both the LaShawnDa and Maddyssyn varieties… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/6 "2015-02-24T17:29:59Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Some American subcultures, of both the LaShawnDa and Maddyssyn varieties… I know this is a trend in some subcultures, but I’m not sure it’s the rule. (And I’m not sure if “Maddyssyn” counts as a unique NAME, or just a unique spelling.) Also, for African-American culture anyway, the “LaShawnDa” variety is often formed on a pattern of combining parts of two different existing names, so while it’s unique and created, it’s not completely constructed out of whole cloth. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/7 "2015-02-24T17:34:25Z")
Most of our standard names were once meaningful or fanciful names. David “Beloved”, Michael “Who is like God?”, Christopher “Christ carrier”, Richard “Brave Power”, Daniel “God is my Judge”, and on and on. They don’t seem like fanciful names because we don’t speak the language they were created from, or if we do they’ve become so familiar we don’t notice the fancifulness. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/8 "2015-02-24T17:38:43Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > This is a very old Indo-European naming pattern. It’s just that once these names become traditional, they lose their “fantasy” sense of being weird. Nobody thinks “Elf-counsel” when they hear “Alfred,” or “North-man” when they hear “Norman.” > > If Stormcrow gets popular, in a hundred years it will be “Stockrow” and nobody will think about what it means / meant. It’s only if you invent new names that you get the fantast phenomenon where they all sound exotic… Yes, this is exactly what has happened to a lot of names. Germanic names (e.g. German, Norse, English) names often originally meant something in a Proto-Germanic dialect or an early form of one of the modern languages. Nowadays, the names have largely stayed the same or changed in one direction but the language has gone another direction, so the connection is no longer obvious. Other examples: Adolf: Noble Wolf William: Desired Helmet (i.e. Willed Helm) Filbert: Filled with Brightness (think about it) Ferdinand: Brave Journey Robert: Bright Fame Bertrand: Bright Shield Siegfried: Victory Peace Edmund: Protector of Wealth Girls can get this too. Some of these names have rather violent implications - I wonder if this indicates anything about ancient gender roles?: Matilda : Battle Might (i.e. Might-Hilda) Brenda: Sword (c.f. “brand” in some older English poetry) Brunhild: Brown Shield Hildegard: Battle Guard Ermengarde: Protector of Everything ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/9 "2015-02-24T19:00:59Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I know this is a trend in some subcultures, but I’m not sure it’s the rule. (And I’m not sure if “Maddyssyn” counts as a unique NAME, or just a unique spelling.) > > Also, for African-American culture anyway, the “LaShawnDa” variety is often formed on a pattern of combining parts of two different existing names, so while it’s unique and created, it’s not completely constructed out of whole cloth. True enough. That combining Mom+Dad name thing happens in Afrikaans culture here, too. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/10 "2015-02-24T19:04:29Z")
A few more: Romero - Rosemary as in the plant. Olive - yes, like those things from which you make oil. Yes, it is an actual name. Blanca, Blanche, Bianca, Ciara, Clara, Clare, Guinevere, Jennifer, etc etc - white, light-colored. Guadalupe, Lupe - I don’t know offhand what the “lupe” part is, but the Guada is from the Arabic for “river” or “arroyo” (in the NA sense of “a river that’s dry most of the year”). According to this Chilean [webpage](http://etimologias.dechile.net/?Guadalupe), the whole meaning is “hidden river”. Mercedes - presents, favors, graces. Socorro - help. The ever-lovin’, so often trotted out, Dolores - suffering. Mercy - what it says. After the virtue, not after the knife (which is also named after the virtue). Sabino Arana, father of Basque Nationalism, found it irritating that people wouldn’t name their children “in Basque”, so he compiled a list of locally-popular names, added some of his own creation, modified spellings, etc. People are now picking names from the dictionary: after all, if you can call your daughter Mar (Sea) in Spanish, why not your son Ibai (River) in Basque? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/11 "2015-02-24T19:20:31Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > This is somewhat related to a question about [fantasy place names in real life](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=714699) that was posed a year or so ago. > > I’m wondering if there’s societies or cultures where colorful fantasy- or neopagan-style names – in any language – are the norm rather than an affectation. You know, like “Stormcrow Windwalker”, “Ravenclaw Wolfsbane”, or “Thundermoon Dragonslayer”. Stereotypical Native American names come close, as do some hippie names (I live in a hippie town, and it’s not all that unusual to encounter people who legally changed their names to something like “Solara Sunspirit” or “Fourth Moon”), but is it the mainstream anywhere on this planet? You mean a place, maybe even just a virtual place, where people make up their own crazy names, based on fictional characters, animals, self-descriptions, amusing sayings, or even-- God help us-- plants? I don’t know of anywhere like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/12 "2015-02-24T19:39:50Z")
Icelandic names can be [a bit imposing,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafth%C3%B3r_J%C3%BAl%C3%ADus_Bj%C3%B6rnsson) if the exoticism angle works. Quite a few [Native](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_Mankiller) [American](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Youngblood) names, too, but that’s kind of cheating. Like as **Dr. Drake** puts it, a literal translation of a traditional name makes it sound much more fantastic—like with President [Godtree Ironcutter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower). ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/13 "2015-02-24T19:42:21Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > …ike as **Dr. Drake** puts it, a literal translation of a traditional name makes it sound much more fantastic—like with President [Godtree Ironcutter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower). Or US General [North-Man Blackhead the Younger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Schwarzkopf,_Jr.). ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/14 "2015-02-24T20:34:46Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > True enough. That combining Mom+Dad name thing happens in Afrikaans culture here, too. It’s a phenomenon in Mormon culture in the United States, too. For example, the son of Martha and David might be named “Marvid”, and the daughter “Datha”. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/15 "2015-02-24T22:39:21Z")
Weren’t there cultures in UK and American history where they took the whole naming after virtues thing (Patience, Hope, Chastity, etc) to extreme lengths with whole phrases? Blessed Unto The Lord Cotton, Obedient To Scripture Mather, that sort of thing? And I recall from an episode of QI that there was a Soviet era practice of naming kids after heroic industrial stuff, like Farm Machinery, Seven Ton Truck, or the like (I’m making these up, but you get the flavour.) The question on QI was something like “Why would a Soviet parent not name their son Tank Factory?” and the answer was that it was a girl’s name. Where a culture has got to the point that such names are gendered, it must be pretty well established. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/16 "2015-02-24T22:40:21Z")
Well, there are many cultures in which it’s still pretty common to find people with the name of a pagan god. Nobody in Scandanavia would bat an eyelash if they met a guy named, say, Thor Stefansson. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/17 "2015-02-24T22:43:22Z")
> [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > The question on QI was something like “Why would a Soviet parent not name their son Tank Factory?” and the answer was that it was a girl’s name. Where a culture has got to the point that such names are gendered, it must be pretty well established. The word “factory” is already gendered: фабрика (fabrika). I suppose you could call a boy заво́д (zavod), but it doesn’t have quite the same connotations. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/18 "2015-02-24T22:58:03Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Well, there are many cultures in which it’s still pretty common to find people with the name of a pagan god. Nobody in Scandanavia would bat an eyelash if they met a guy named, say, Thor Stefansson. I work with a guy called Torbjörn. That literally means ‘Thor Bear’. It may be the manliest name on Earth, with the possible challenger being Iceland’s Vikingur. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/19 "2015-02-24T23:02:35Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Well, there are many cultures in which it’s still pretty common to find people with the name of a pagan god. Nobody in Scandanavia would bat an eyelash if they met a guy named, say, Thor Stefansson. Or Dennis (\< Dionysios). ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508/20 "2015-02-24T23:09:37Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > This is somewhat related to a question about [fantasy place names in real life](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=714699) that was posed a year or so ago. > > I’m wondering if there’s societies or cultures where colorful fantasy- or neopagan-style names – in any language – are the norm rather than an affectation. Hindu names in the Indian subcontinent may fulfill the criteria you are looking for. Although, by definition these names are pagan (non-christian). Some examples : Here are some Hindu first names of American folks: The Surgeon General of the US : Vivek - which in Sanskrit means Wisdom (personified) Dean of Harvard College : Rakesh - which in Sanskrit means Lord of the full-moon day. Founder of Bose Corporation : Amar: Means The immortal Microsoft CEO : Satya : The Truth Oh BTW : Many Christians in India also choose a Hindu first name [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-pagan-style-personal-names-in-real-life/713508.md?page=2)