A note on Naming

[bronwhitehill]

I know that you have a random name generator, but I think that the names are missing something. Especially with the House Indoril, there are a distinct lack of Saint's names. Think about it, in the real world, so many names are based off of those in religion. Like, how many Muhammads are there in the world, or Peters? Especially in Morrowind, where ancestor worship is revered, wouldn't it make sense just to even have a few Olmses, or Delyns? How many Nerevars would there be in one city alone? Is there any particular reason why there are no Saint Names? I apologize if I have come across as rude, it was not my intention.

[Not]

How many Nerevars would there be in one city alone?

Well, perhaps this is a bad analogy, but that's sort of like saying "how many Jesus Christs are there in one city alone?"

Although you do have a fair point with the other saint names. Hmm...I'm definitely not the right person to answer this.

[Rats]

There's a tendency in video games--and in other arts like say, movies and literature--to avoid using same names for different characters (even if it wasn't uncommon at all in real life) unless it has some special meaning or acts as a plot device. That being said, there's no reason why there couldn't be a Dunmer named Delyn or Olms somewhere, but having five Nerevars walking the streets of any city no matter what its size would be really disorienting.

You make a valid point, though, and I agree that there should be religion-based names especially among the Indoril, but I'd much rather see the most of them in the family names, for example Olmsethi, Delythran, or Nerevyn; or in slightly altered forms when being used as first names like Olmu, Dels, or Nerevas.

[Osidian]

How many Nerevars would there be in one city alone?

Well, perhaps this is a bad analogy, but that's sort of like saying "how many Jesus Christs are there in one city alone?"

Although you do have a fair point with the other saint names. Hmm...I'm definitely not the right person to answer this.

Well, I know two people called Jesus in real life. It's not common here but they exist. And in Spanish speaking countries it's a common name. Of course they're not called Christ, but that's just a title.

(But I'm not advocating the use of the name of Nerevar in other NPCs though.)

[gro-Dhal]

And look at how many people in Asia are called Buddha, and how many Ancient Greeks called their kids Zeus and Achilles.

Not every culture follows the same pattern. Nobody's addressed how Dunmer names are chosen. Maybe they're all named after their grandparents, or their names are Dunmer words for various stars in the sky. There's no evidence for a preponderance of saintly names anywhere.

[Why]

Meris Denaven will be a Councillor of House Indoril.

[Yeti]

Personally, I never use the TR Name Generator. I just look at [url=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dunmer_Names]this list[/url] and make names similar to them.

[Ashstaar]

I like the idea of using saints names. Not too sure about Nerevar though. There are a few original npc's with saint names. I believe there is a Tunesea? Veloth in the arena for that "make her leave because she has corprus" quest. Also the name generator doesn't seem to work very well for me. I seem to get too many duplicate names and not enough variety. I think some names even appear in male and female lists. Mostly for Dunmer I think. Don't know if this could be worked on?

[bronwhitehill]

And look at how many people in Asia are called Buddha, and how many Ancient Greeks called their kids Zeus and Achilles.

Not every culture follows the same pattern. Nobody's addressed how Dunmer names are chosen. Maybe they're all named after their grandparents, or their names are Dunmer words for various stars in the sky. There's no evidence for a preponderance of saintly names anywhere.

I'm not saying that every culture follows this, but wouldn't it make sense that in a culture that worships their ancestors, wouldn't it make sense to name one's child after a saint, so that maybe they can become like a saint themselves? (I don't know, this is just my thought process, I could be and probably am horribly wrong)

[gro-Dhal]

It might make sense, but there are lots of valid reasons not to do it- the main gameplay reason being that it's potentially boring/confusing if lots of characters have names that are too similar. The main in-game reason is that, as I said before, there is no evidence for this naming practice in Morrowind.

We already have a small number of NPCs with saint names, and my inclination is that the current balance is about right.

[Haplo]

As gro-Dhal mentioned, there's little to no evidence in Morrowind, as in real life, that naming yourself after a Saint gives you an increased chance of becoming a saint. If anything, there'd be less chance, since people would be less inclined to make you a saint if there's already a saint with your name.

[cabal]

How about a variation? The saints' families renamed themselves after the saints. So instead of dozens of Olmses there is a minor house called House Olms or a family with the last name Olms.