Introduction

Naming customs on Tarnus vary from coll to coll, from location to location, and from social class to social class. Still, there are some general conventions that are observed for nearly all families in nearly all settings, and we discuss those briefly here.

Lineage Names

First, names on Tarnus for all colls are homolineal: women inherit names from their mothers, and men from their fathers. A person’s given name comes first, followed by the father’s (or mother’s) name, followed by the father’s father’s (or mother’s mother’s) name, and so forth. Ordinarily three or four names in the line are kept for formal use in oral settings, but as many as ten lineal names may appear on legal documents. In informal settings, only the given name, a nickname, or name-epithet need be used.

Different colls follow different practices in identifying the line of descent within a coll. Nearly all colls append the name of the coll itself in the full formal written name. Some colls, such as Arcus and Astran Terxil, add a clan name for a family, further distinguishing the line. The placement of these names within an individual’s full name vary greatly.

Nicknames and Name-Epithets

Nicknames arise just as on ancient Earth, from shortened versions of known names, alternate forms of known names, or abbreviations used by friends or lovers. Name-epithets are more common among certain colls, notably the Darko Hejj, and are usually created to highlight some deed or possession or trait of the person being named. Andrew gets a name-epithet from a friend when she calls him “Mister Hungry for Justice” – the term “hungry for justice” is a reference to a story character in one of the mythtales who receives more justice than he bargains for. Rion calls Grendel ‘Gojo' at one point, and that usage is a simple nickname improvised off the initial letter.

Andro Names

The names of andros are much simpler. Andros lack lineage, or at least lacked lineage at the outset of the story of Descending Road, so their names are quite short. Sometimes an andro adopts an amusing or ironic surname to follow the name given him or her at birthing from the vat. One andro, named Annabelle by the corp that grew her, shortened her name to Annie and added a surname to get “Annie Thing". Most andros use the name given to them, with exceptions like Tyll, who renamed himself after the monster from the Beowulf mythtale: Grendel.

Name Examples

A few examples of the longer human names are as follows.

Ezzar

Ezzar uses the form Ezzar Astina Turianoch Teron Arcus Harridium, which gives her mother’s name (Astina), mother’s mother’s name (Turianoch), and mother’s mother’s mother’s name (Teron), followed by her coll (Arcus) and clan within Arcus Coll (Harridium). The people of Arcus Coll follow this pattern in general, omitting the coll name when among members of Arcus Coll, and omitting the clan name when meeting within the clan. Ezzar‘s is fairly formal usage, reserved mostly for military or civic occasions.

Leil

Leil, Andrew‘s wife, uses the name Leil Adrili Hartrei Terxil Astrani in their wedding ceremony. Here ‘Adrili' is a clan name, placed to honor the entire Adrili clan, which included her cousin Mentrius. ‘Hartrei’ is her mother’s name, and ‘Astrani’ her mother’s mother’s name. ‘Terxil' is the signifier for Astran Terxil Coll – sometimes both words are used, but more often it is shortened to ‘Terxil', especially in cases such as this one, where one of the names of descent is similar or identical to ‘Astran'.

Martin

Andrew‘s brother Martin is named Martin Denvirel Wranmar Luce Hejj Anassi. The Darko Hejj insert a spirit-name (here, Denvirel) after the given name and before the lineal names. Martin‘s father’s name is Wranmar, and his father’s father’s name is Anassi. The name ‘Anassi' is itself interesting as a name-epithet that the family adopted as a given name, and it refers to a mythtale of a trickster of ancient Earth: Anansi. The Darko Hejj also deviate from common usage in their insertion of a clan name (Luce) followed by the shortened form ‘Hejj', both placed ahead of ‘Anassi' here.

Andrew

Andrew himself, in his wedding to Leil, uses the name Andrew Luce Hejji Anassi, conspicuously omitting his father’s name. A spirit-name, given by the Darko Hejj to Martin, Drin, and Chanzar, was never found for Andrew, and was therefore never bestowed. The finding of spirit-names among the Hejji (note the variations of ‘Hejj' and ‘Hejji’ in Martin‘s and Andrew‘s names respectively) is a separate topic in itself, but depends on the parent of the same sex finding a nameseeker to determine the spirit-name. Wranmar Luce, once he had surrendered his land and moved into the City, gave up all efforts at this task.

Marra

Marra is a member of Fandarinn Coll, and her full spoken name is Marra Sernea Nine Arantow Fandarinn. ‘Sernea' is her mother’s name, ‘Arantow' her mother’s mother’s name, and the number ‘Nine’ tells how many generations of Serneas existed in Marra‘s maternal lineage. The name ‘Sernea' carries special significance among the Fandarinn, since it is the name of the leader of the first Fandarinn Council that arose to assume leadership during the Fourth Dynasty, helping to form the Security Arch of the time of the story.

Arlen

Arlen is the head of ArCorp, and families and people of such social stature alter their names to efface most coll connections. Some reasons for this practice are: 1) the desire to avoid invoking coll rivalries and conflicts, 2) the wish to elevate the named person’s status above the colls for power reasons, and 3) the intent to send a clear message that the individual is indifferent to coll matters of all kinds. Arlen uses the name “Arlen Darghelo Sangrai", in which ‘Darghelo' is a title from the First Dynasty meaning ‘Esteemed’, and ‘Sangrai' is the name of Arlen‘s greatest patrilineal ancestor.

Partial Names

In Descending Road we see other usages, usually of shortened forms of names. When Tomas grieves his dead friends at the memwall, he writes their names there in ashes, but he does not know their full formal names, and that empty place in his remembrance of them redoubles his grief. As we have seen, Andrew shortened his own name at his wedding to omit reference to his father, a clear break from his past.

When members of Arcus Coll “prune a red branch", or assassinate a relative who has betrayed other coll members, they efface the target’s name from the family. Consequently, all of that person’s same-sex descendants drop the name from their own from that time on. There are occasional exceptions, as when there is disagreement over the pruning; in such cases, the descendants keep the name. Such practices have led to serious strife and consequent coll trials to settle the matter permanently and insure that the name-removal has been properly treated.