Dynastic Naming Conventions
As one would expect in a society of obligation ruled by a small number of powerful Great Houses, names in the Dynasty matter, and family matters more than individual.
When listing names, the name of one’s Dynastic House (Tepet, Ferem, Ragara, etc) always comes first.
Second comes the name of the Branch or Household, if any. Households are strong family units within a given Great House... in some Houses such as Peleps they play a major role within the House, while in Houses more tightly controlled (such as Mnemon) or of small size (V’neef) they are far less significant if they exist at all. Branches are established Household lines which have managed to retain significant influence even as they produce smaller Households in turn. A Dynast is able to choose whether they identify themselves by Household, Branch, or leave off such a name, though in the case of powerful lines the family may ensure they are known by Household even if the Dynast herself attempts to abandon the name.
Finally comes the given or personal name of the Dynast, which is subject to significant variation due to the influences of many languages and traditions.
Thus a Dynastic name might appear as such:
Tepet Tilis Chotei = Chotei, Dynast of the Tilis branch of House Tepet.
Cathak Meata Okubo = Okubo, Dynast of the Meata household of House Cathak.
V’neef Burning Spray = Burning Spray, Dynast of House V’neef.
Outside of the Dynasty, names vary widely across Creation based on culture and local language. The typical pattern for names amongst peasants in the Realm and elsewhere, where politically powerful Houses do not push their way to prominence, is a simple personal name in an adjective-noun pattern, sometimes adding additional words for more complexity.
Examples: Sad Ivory, Bright Jewel, Hissing Marmot, Beloved Rutabaga.
It is traditional for Immaculate monks, when they take up the robes and tonsure, to adopt a simple name of this type in place of their House name and the name given by their parents, symbolizing separation from mundane politics and devotion to the Immaculate Order. Of course, this symbolic step rarely keeps the clergy free of politics.
Internal conversations within Houses tend to drop the shared portion of a name when referring to each other: thus when speaking of Tepet Tilis Chotei, Tepet Marek Saigo will usually refer to him as 'Tilis Chotei', while Cathak Meata Yagu will usually refer to Cathak Meata Iyari as 'Iyari'. Use of more name elements than required can be used to reinforce formality or indicate displeasure, while using one's own full name where unnecessary can indicate an interaction is deemed formal not friendly, or can show pride in one's House and Household.
