Personal naming conventions within your nation

[Xekliv]

Typical western naming conventions are as follows: Two given names, typically a first and middle name, followed by a family name. (ex. Smitty Werben Jagermanjensen)
Other cultures do it differently, such as Icelandic names having 'Son of X'/'Daughter of X' instead of a family name. (ex. Ragnar Ragnasson)

What kind of conventions does your nation have? Are they based off of another culture, perhaps stemming from it, or are they totally unique in comparison?

Here are the naming conventions for xeklivians:
[Color Prefix]-[Given Name] [House Name] [Word meaning 'Son of'/'Daughter of']-[Father's First Name] ['Of' equivalent] [House's home town/planet]

Typical xeklivian naming conventions are quite long in comparison to human names, and have slight differences depending on the color of the dragon who is being named. For example, a blue dragon uses his or her mother's first name rather than the father, and black dragons don't have house names or home towns in their names at all. Priests who revere a god of a specific color who are of a different color than that god typically abandon their old prefix in favor of the one belonging to the god. So if a blue xeklivian worships the red god, his blue color prefix of 'Val' will instead be changed to 'Gol,' regardless of his actual color.

Here is an example of the naming conventions in action, using a red xeklivian's name:

Gol-Kartus Volgnir Ozhta-Vahrukt ta Xyrrakh Xao-Dur


Post yours!

(Here is a helpful infograph)

[Yannia]

Adult Yannians can have several names: a chosen name, one or more given name(s), a patronymic or matronymic, a family name, and a tribal name.

Until (s)he completes the rite of passage, a child's personal name is structured as: [given name(s)] [patronym] [mother's family name], for example: Hendric Hendrics Hiddink, or Adëlheyd Gerhards Gélhud.

When (s)he completes the rite, (s)he chooses a new first name and a tribal name, and may choose whether to adopt the patronym or matronym, and which parent's family name to use. Rarely do they choose their names from the same parent, as that would be considered an insult to the parent whose names aren't used.

The new name is then structured as [chosen name] [given name(s)] [patronym or matronym] [father's or mother's family name] [tribal name]. For example, Hendric Hendrics Hiddink might choose to be officially called Gerhard Gertruys Moltmákër þer Ródër Rávërn.

Since this can become quite a mouthful, especially when they have more than one given name, Yannians generally use only their chosen name, usually in combination with the family name, or the patronym (or matronym), or the tribal name. For example, Gerhard Gertruys Moltmákër þer Ródër Rávërn might chose to use only the names Gerhard Moltmákër, or Gerhard þer Ródër Rávërn.

Names are mostly of Germanic, and native origin.

The three most common boy's names are: Herman, Hendric, and Yáþemdí.
The three most common girl's names are: Adëlheyd, Hildegondë, and Sádímá.
The three most common tribal names are: þer Ródër Rávërn, þes Grunëwoldës, and þer Zwartër Wolvërn.

[Chinese Peoples]

Chinese people receive a) actual name, b) public name, and c) nickname. All three are registered with the government.

The actual name is the name that one receives first; it is composed of three parts -- the clan name, the family name, and the personal name. The clan name (there are only 8 clan names in China) is not included in the usual name format as it could be easily determined by a quick search in common books; it is inherited. The family name may have one or two characters, though one is far more common; it is inherited. The personal name is given by one's parents at the age of three months.

The public name is the name by which a person will be addressed. It is given at age 20 (age of majority) by one's parents. Before the age of majority, a child is addressed by his actual name. After the age of majority, it is a grave insult to address anyone by his actual name; it is expected to address him or her by the public name. He may address or introduce himself by his actual name, though on his calling card will be his public name. It is composed of three parts: the sibling order, the name, and the gender denotation. The first part has one character, being 伯, 仲, 季, or 叔; the eldest child of either gender receives 伯, while the youngest receive 叔. Others in between receive 仲 or 季, with the former being older than the latter. The second part is the particular element. The final character is either 甫 or 父 for males and 女 or 母 for females.

The nickname is a name given to oneself at any time after the age of 20. If a person prefers to be addressed by his nickname, it is polite to comply.

For example, the Prime Minister's actual name is 沈光虹 of the 姬 clan. His public name is 伯靈甫, signifying that he is the eldest son. His nickname is 揆年. In formal occasions, his family name would be combined with his public name, as 沈伯靈甫.

[Ism]

On average, Ismites have three names, a given name, a family name, and a tribal name. For example, the full name ofou nations highest official is Executor (title) Vasim (given) Zikzael (family name) Sargas (tribal name). There are some exceptions, most prominently for Jewish citizens who have a second, Hebrew name which is also registered with the government. Generally the system is similar to that used is the west, in that the given and family name are regularly used, and the middle name, in this case tribal name, are less commonly used.

[Lusai]

Very simple and very easy. Naming conventions here follow the Arabic Patronymic naming system. For example Abdurrahman bin Suleiman (if a man) or Nur binti Iskandar (if a woman) or simply Abdurrahman Suleiman/Nur Iskandar.

So basically it is [given name]+bin (if male, means son of) or binti (if female, means daughter of) [father's name]. This is the basic and standard naming convention.

Now hereditary clan titles or names act as surnames and are put in front of the given name and if applicable the father's name. Clan titles and names follow a matrelineal system, due to influence from Minangkabau culture. If the person is female, this clan name is occasionally attached to both the given name and father's name. This was more common when there was a visible nobility, but now it's used by pretty much everyone.

For example Abdurrahman bin Suleiman becomes Sung Abdurrahman bin Suleiman or Sung Abdurahman Suleiman. Nur binti Iskandar becomes Tan Nur binti Tan Iskandar, Tan Nur binti Iskandar, Tan Nur Tan Iskandar, or Tan Nur Iskandar.

Now it is [clan title/name]+[given name]+bin (if male, means son of) or binti (if female, means daughter of) [father's name]. This is a reasonably common naming convention.

Then there are other hereditary and non hereditary titles (mostly borrowed from Malay or Mon-Khmer languages) that are appended to the front of the name, and it gets increasingly complex.

However when one is saying a Lusayan person's name, use only the clan and given names. For instances where the name is an Islamic theophoric name, then it is shortened to Abdul, Abdi, or Dur.

For example Abdurrahman bin Suleiman becomes Sung Abdurrahman bin Suleiman or Sung Abdurahman Suleiman. His name would be Sungdur or Sung Abdi. Nur binti Iskandar becomes Tan Nur binti Tan Iskandar, Tan Nur binti Iskandar, Tan Nur Tan Iskandar, or Tan Nur Iskandar. Her name would be Tan Nur.

[Verdiga]

[Given Name] [Mother's Last Name, usually abbreviated] [Father's Last Name]

e.g.

Karl Bergheim Wilhelmsson (Karl B. Wilhelmsson)

For the Japanese minority, it is [Last Name] [Given Name], but anglicized, it is [Given Name] [Last Name]

e.g.

Tachibana Yukari (Yukari Tachibana)

[Shalotte]

Shalottes have only a single given name, which will typically suffice for identification in most conversations and business dealings due to the sparse population of the islands. When necessary, or in the event that formality is required, they will append their clan name to their name. As an example, the current Mon'gaeltyn of Shalotte is referred to in official correspondence as 'Riagán of Damnoni', 'Riagán' being his actual, given name, while 'Damnoni' is the clan of which he is a member. All Shalottes are born into one of the hundreds of ancient clans, inheriting their mother's clan affiliation by tradition, though most never need to actually identify themselves in that manner.

[Fatatatutti]

In Fatatatutti, nicknames are often an integral part of the formal name. For example, our Foreign Minister is invariably known as Carmen "Shimmy" Dijkstra. Nicknames are not considered disrespectful, so General Marie-Louise Castro-Stalina is popularly known as "Blondie", Prime Minister Schuyler Marmish is known as "Sky" and Alphonse is known as "Fluffy".

[Roania]

Most residents of Rudan, Jeok and Tonh follow the convention Clan Name Personal Name, and this name remains mostly static throughout a man and woman's life. QiRu Nesar (who prefers to use an older latinization of his name) and his wife Kaera Daeri thus remain members of different clans, though their children QiRu RiHyl and QiRu Nesar are obviously part of the father's clan. In general, unless specifically invited otherwise you should not use an individual's personal name in place of the whole name.

Certain individuals will pick up honorifics that should be used instead. Each of the Emperors will have an Era Name they chose following their ascension to the throne. Most Emperors retain the same all their lives, and it is both in exceptionally poor taste and somewhat dangerous to use their birth names without permission. Other individuals, usually in the higher ranks of the Academy or the Temple, will generally be addressed as Master Personal Name. For instance, Hy KouRan is known to his his peers and juniors as AiDae Kouran, Superior Master Kouran. Occasionally an individual will be acclaimed as a Master popularly and have it confirmed for other deeds, and other traditional uses of the word Dae are in use.

On Myaar and Ailae, only a personal name is used. Aleis, the Ailaen granddaughter of the ArchChancellor and the current Foreign Secretary, only has the one name. Different rules regarding it apply in each culture. In both you should only use it once invited. In Myareese circles it is usual now to use the title Say when speaking to strangers, though in more traditional circles you would be expected to say Haait when you would speak to a man, and Nyhait while speaking to a woman. On Ailae, expect to find yourself invited to use their personal almost immediately. If you are not, just continue with the conversation and they generally will. The exception are the Chiefs, who stand on their dignity as much as any Emperor and yield only to him when it comes to their prequisites. A simple Chief (Kahum) will do, though one Chief with no grasp of English once spent a happy conversation being called Idiot. The main thing is to sound respectful.

On Kaeghen the pattern is Personal Name jok Tribe Name. For example, Aldanidrae jok (of the) Kiyok.

Nmmr are all called Nmmr. All of them. No exceptions. Don't worry about it. They don't. And by now, neither do their neighbors.

The Swaii (who call themselves the Paeshoch) all have countless names, though you are unlikely to meet one socially. If you meet one unsocially the appropriate greeting is a heartfelt scream, followed by begging. They have a preternatural comprehension of language. Your begging will be appreciated, and ignored, in any language you know. Very informal people, the Paeshoch.

Other cultures and races exist within the Empire's bounds, A tourist is unlikely to need to know their naming conventions. Their lands may be sealed to foreigners by local government, Secretariat fiat and even Imperial Decree; or they may simply have no desire and wish to deal with barbarians. In the former case, when you encounter them an Internal Administration Officer will be standing by to explain to both parties how to interact. In the latter case, expect to be completely ignored unless you really provoke their attention, in which case someone may attempt to violently beat you to death. All in all, leave well enough alone.

[Victor Praedarum]

Names tend to draw from ancient or dead languages. Words or fragments of words that are no longer used serve to identify persons and places. They are typically significant.

New citizens are grown in a state of unconsciousness until their cognitive functions are fully developed. Thus, upon "birth" they are soon capable of naming themselves, which they are required to do before joining Victor. This requirement, among others, is in place to help preserve the newborn's individuality - without a well-developed sense of self, they would soak up Victor's personality like a sponge, unable to contribute fully to his consciousness.

Individual names are one word, and usually no more than a few syllables. Each living person must have a unique name, so Victor can easily identify and communicate with them. Deceased persons' names may be reused - if the late individual needs mentioning, a short descriptor related to their accomplishments in life is appended to their name.

Social entities' names vary widely. Victor is called such because he is the dominant social entity of our planet. Like individual persons, social entities name themselves, usually as soon as they encompass enough members to have the requisite self-awareness.

[Geadland]

See here

[Anollasia]

Name - (Middle name) - Last name

Middle names are uncommon. Titles, such as Sir, Lord, Pasha, Bey, are banned. So are some last names, such as Atatürk, Hitler, or anything unreasonable, such as names with numbers.

[Zorbae]

Male children are given a first name, which serves to identify them. Then a middle name, of their father or rarely grandfather (paternal), which identifies their immediate family. Their surname is inherited from father to son, identifying family.
Female children are given a first name, which serves to identify them. They are not given a middle name. Their surname is inherited from father to daughter, identifying family. Upon marriage, their previous surname becomes their middle name, and they adopt their husband's surname.

[Olwe]

Olwean children are given a first name and middle name at birth. Until they come of age, the middle name serves as a last name... once adulthood is reached, an Olwean is allowed to choose whether to take their mother's or father's family name, and can also take the third option of continuing on into adulthood with the middle name as a last name (as Princess Lotus Blossom recently did).

Spouses never take each other's names in Olwe, hence the need for each child to make a decision which family name they will use.

[Heidenheim]

Ours is pretty much a typical naming convention, on has (usually) several given names and a family name, though there is a trend in recent generations of inheriting the family names of both parents.

[Arcturus Novus]

Arcturan naming conventions typically follow traditional Latin naming. There is a given name, or praenomen; a tribal/clan name, nomen; and finally a family/sub-clan, cognomen, which may be chosen by the individual themself. There are also agnomina, titles earned after notable feats or events, which act as additional cognomina. The name is usually in this order:

Praenomen Nomen Cognomen (Agnomen possibly)

For example, Emperor Iacobus' full name is Iacobus Oryza Iosephus Indivisus. There is Iacobus, his given name; Oryza, the name shared by every member of the Oryzan bloodline; Iosephus, the cognomen chosen by his father, Emperor Venator; and Indivisus, a nod to his worship of Chaos Undivided, rather than a specific god of Chaos.

[Old Tyrannia]

Tyrannian naming conventions are based on those of ancient Rome, the Tyrannian Empire being a continuation of the Western Roman Empire. Tyrannians have at least three names; the praenomen or personal name, which is only used in very casual contexts (usually only between close friends and family members); the gens or clan name which is called the nomen; and the cognomen which indicates the family to which the Tyrannian citizen belongs. Some individuals may have multiple cognomina. There are various reasons for this- for example, if a Tyrannian is adopted into another family, they may take the name of the new family but retain their former family's name as well, altering the -ius ending of the name to -ianus. Alternatively two children with the same father and the same names but different mothers may use their mother's nomen as an additional cognomen to tell each other apart. There are also honorific cognomina that are bestowed by the state to deserving citizens. These are called agnomina.

For example, the full name of the reigning Tyrannian Emperor is Gaius Romulus Lepidus Augustus. Gaius is the praenomen. The Emperor belongs to the imperial gens Romula, and so the nomen is Romulus. Within the House Romula, the Emperor is a member of the Lepidus family; as such his cognomen is Lepidus. Additionally, all Emperors of Old Tyrannia carry the honorific agnomen Augustus, meaning august or illustrious one. Traditionally women in Old Tyrannia keep their original names upon marriage, but in the last few centuries a custom has developed by which a woman will adopt the nomen of her husband while retaining her old family's cognomen.

[Apiatica]

Tradition dictates that all citizens are labeled by job and place of order. For instance, the 87th engineer in a given company would be Engineer 87. Usually, this will be prefixed by their hive number and the charter number of their company.

So, as an example, the 10th store clerk in the 100th chartered store in hive 1000 would be called Clerk 10-100-1000, if they were abroad and on official business. The short name (Clerk 10) is used among close friends and coworkers, while the slightly longer one (Clerk 10-100) would be used with strangers within the same hive.

In return, one doesn't use the short name unless they are familiar with the bee in question, while using the long name in a first encounter makes it seem like you're a snotty douche.

If someone changes jobs, the name and number changes, as well. In a large, unorganized and non-hive-based body (such as the federal bureaucracy or the army), social security numbers (a 9-digit code similar to US Social Security Numbers) are used to identify members. Occasionally in the military, unit numbers are used to identify soldiers.

This makes it rather convenient for employers, since, instead of individually naming employees, they can ask for a group of employees for help immediately. For instance, using the Western human naming system, if you wanted five people to come and help you, you'd have to use at least five long words, or more, if they have the same first name.

With bees, however, saying "workers 10-15" is an easy and simple way to call in any number of bees, and, rather importantly, takes less time the more employees you have, which makes coordinating military movements and team efforts much easier.

[Source Swarm]

The Face of the Swarm, as encountered by other races and cultures, are what are known as Functional Groups. These groups consist of numerous unintelligent machines of varying degrees of automation, all slaved to the will of a Client AI. Client AI's serve a single purpose, though that purpose may be somewhat abstract (such as a Client AI whose purpose is to "build a better mousetrap"). They're essentially front-line management to the entry-level workers that their Functional Group represents. Client AI is disembodied and distributed throughout most of the high-computing-power machines in their functional group, making each Functional Group an effective hive-mind. This is useful in dealing with other races because it means the Client AI can communicate effectively through any of its parts.

Clients are called that because their are Client processes to information served to them by higher-level AI's called Administrators. The Administrators themselves have somewhat nesting hierarchies of obedience, and handle more complicated tasks. For example, ~/hubGeminiBelt/ is an administrator of a mining centre. As such, it is responsible for assigning tasks to its various client systems, such as mining Function Groups, repair Function Groups, and handling all comings, goings, and day to day business of that station. Even so, its a low level administrator, with only clients subordinate to it, and subordinate itself to higher-level administrators such as ~/systemLiuXiu/indPrimary/Mining/, which is in charge of all mining operations in that particular system.

Swarm Names show the direct process from the top down that it would take to get to a particular AI, using ~ as an indicator that path has been shortened for convenience. For example, let's look at ~/Celebrant/, a Mining Barge and Swarm Client operating from hubGemini Belt. That client's full path would be: Source/externalSystem/sector1/subsector2/systemLiuXiu/indPrimary/Mining/hubGeminiBelt/Celebrant.

[TURTLESHROOM II]

Humans and turtles, since they are reproduced sexually, take on the surname of one of their parents. Mushrooms do not.

All TurtleShroomers are designated with a first (given) name, a middle name (or names), and an assigned surname. The way these come about differ among the species.

Our sentient turtles developed monogamy eons ago, but because of the matriarchial, sexual dimorphism of turtles (that is, the female turtles are bigger, strong, and more dominant than the males), male turtles took on the female's last surname. Their offspring, naturally, take on the same surname as their mother, like their father did before them.

Sentient mushrooms are more complex. They mature to adult-level cognitance and maturity in five years or much less, though they have to learn at the same rate as all the other creatures. After a certain number of years, mushrooms are given the oppurtunity to either choose their own first and last name or have one generated for them. (Most mushrooms choose generation, which leads to names like "Commie Arbitray" or "Jesse Rod".)

Humans used a combination of traditional English naming conventions and Russian naming conventions. A human is given a first name and their middle names, and their surname is inherited from the father.

For their middle names, humans and turtles used a combination of traditional English naming conventions and Russian naming conventions. The two main forms are either "father's first name-ivich/ovich" or "assign anything", and they are split about equal among newborns and hatchlings.

Here's an example of the Russian tradition. The current orchestrator of the military coup d'etat against TurtleShroom is a turtle named Bubba Bubbavich ("son of Bubba") Long II. His last name was taken from his mother as all turtles do, but his middle name was from his father's first name.

Here's an example of the American tradition. TurtleShroom's richest human is Bessford Poehler Be, with the middle name meaning nothing else than something chosen by his parents.

On birth certificates, the creature's four names is listed as FIRST NAME/MIDDLE NAME/RUSSIAN SUFFIX/SURNAME. If the middle name is the same as the Russian convention, three names are listed.

[Cinnoth]

[given name] [coming of age name] [lover name] [mothers maiden name] [City/town/place of birth] [Family name]

Given name is of course the name you are given at birth
Coming of Age Name when one becomes an adult they choose a name for themselves which will be used for then on, unless they wish to keep going by their given name which is fine
Lover name is the name a lover gives you and you give them usually to spouses and people one are intimately involved in, this name is usually kept secret and only known to the lovers
Mothers Maiden name as implies the name of your mothers Family name before she married this is a way of honoring her and her family 's ancestors, in recent years, sometimes if the father takes on the mothers name then the children simply take on the fathers family name
City/Town/Place of Birth is rather straight foreword the name of the place you where born in
Family name, the name of the Family, the one which is your bloodline and links you to your ancestors, Family names are rather Important to Cinnrons

example our Leaders full name: Dachi Kilroy [as said lover name is usually kept secret between couples and lovers] Da Vinci Zybex Zonox

[The Danish Confederacy]

[birth name] [middle name] [family name] of [birthtown]
Example:
John Cameron Doe of Anytown

[Isla Gazebo]

Isla Gazebó uses Spanish naming conventions. A person has a first name and 2 family names. The first family name is the father's first family name, and the second family name is the mother's family name.

first name + family name 1 (father) + family name 1 (mother)

[YellowApple]

YellowApplan personal names - and the conventions thereof - are significantly varied thanks to the multitude of YellowApplan cultural influences. There are, however, a few name conventions that are especially popular:

• [ <Title> ... ] <Given Name> [ <Middle Name> ... ] <Family Name> [ ( Junior | Senior | <Cardinal Number> ) ]: the numerically most common convention. <Family Name> is inherited from that of at least one parent (occasionally both in the case of a hyphenated surname). <Family Name> is frequently the name of a fruit cultivar/variety (particularly that of an apple cultivar, but no fruit is apparently off-limits) due to the historical prevalence of "native" YellowApplans (i.e. the original citizens of YellowApple, Inc. (and the descendants thereof) at the time of YellowApple, Inc.'s declaration of sovereignty and independence from the United States of America) adopting fruit cultivar names as surnames.
• <Given Name>: while the popularity of the "pure" form of this convention is steadily rising, its popularity pales in comparison to the Adjectival/Nounal variant described separately below.
• [ <Given Adjectival Name> ] <Given Nounal Name>: second-most common convention, and by far the most common among sapient equines. A subset of the <Given Name> convention described above. <Given Adjectival Name> is often an "adjectived" noun; in many cases, it's omitted entirely, and in some others it's merged into <Given Nounal Name> in a "CamelCase" fashion.
• <Given Name> <Patronymic/Matronymic Name>: popular among the descendants of the YellowApplan Nordic Influx, but has gained some popularity among YellowApplans due to the bidirectional influence between YellowApple, Inc. and the Grand Duchy of Thompsonshire (where this style is by far the most popular). The "namesake" is most frequently the father, though the popularity of maternal namesakes is steadily rising, and the popularity of maternal namesakes for female children in particular is high. The exact format for <Patronymic/Matronymic Name> varies, but the following are non-exhaustively among the more common:
  
  • <namesake>(sson|dóttir) ("Icelandic" or "Norse" variant)
  • (Mc|Mac|O'|Ni'|Nic)<namesake> ("Modified Irish" variant)
  • (Mc|Mac|Ó|Ní|Nic) <namesake> ("Traditional Irish" variant; note the inclusion of a space dividing the prefix from the namesake)
  • (ap|ab|firch) <namesake> ("Welsh" variant; note, again, the division of the prefix and namesake with a space)
• <YellowApple, Inc. Resident Identifier>: a very small minority of YellowApplans do not identify by any particular name, and are thus instead identified (formally, at least) solely by their YellowApple, Inc. Resident Identifiers (128-bit integers used as unique identifiers among YellowApplan citizens and residents, assigned at birth or upon immigration).

Because of this diversity in legally-recognized names in YellowApplan jurisdiction, YellowApple, Inc. follows a "shortname/longname" policy in its interactions: define a "longname" as a "full" name and a "shortname" to abbreviate, both determined based on individual preference. Thus (for example), someone with a traditional "Western" name will typically use his/her full legal name for a "longname" and "<Given Name>" or "[ <Title> ... ] <Family Name>" for a "shortname".

[Dainer]

Daineri names usually follow a pattern of one name and one surname. The creation of new surnames is a common ocurrence.

Draconites usually have a single name. Titles, lineal names and the like may be appended, but they are not considered part of the name proper.