Should my Black Dracthyr be Shredsion?
That name makes me feel like my character took Ion Hazzikostas as an apprentice or a squire and now he’s in my collection. It’s an uncomfortable notion. Maybe I should go with bronze instead.
Shredsormu.
Congratulations, this is the first post I’ve ever bookmarked in my 2+ years on the forums. This was really informative, thank you!
1 Like
Timelord Nuidormu
To answer your question truthfully: No. We do not know Dracthyr naming conventions.
I’ma name mine Giran or Tambourine hehe
I’d say the naming conventions for Dracthyr are very open ended: While they can use the traditional Dragon naming rules, as they’re not proper dragons they can probably name themselves whatever they please.
One of the ‘leaders’ of Dracthyr is named Cindrethresh which to my knowledge follows none of the naming conventions. Guess it depends on what path an individual Drakthyr wishes to follow.
Well, don’t know if you’ve ever checked out Fantasy Name Generators, but for each specific franchise they cover, they do give a little bit of info as to how the generator is coming up with names, as well as the occasional lore from that franchise.
https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/
Some basic rules for each race based on established lore. Descriptions are either copied from FNG, or my own observations. As some of the descriptions on FNG were written in the first person, I’ll note when it isn’t me.
Alliance:
- Humans (Stormwind): Human names are usually (old) English names and last names, but depending on the person, the names can be pretty much from any language.
- Humans (Kul Tiras): There’s no official generator on FNG as the pre-existing one for humans should cover that, but culture wise they would lean heavier towards Old English.
- Worgen/Humans (Gilneas): Their culture is based on Old English cultures, as well as some other European cultures like German, so picking a name to reflect this could work better than picking a name from a different culture.
- Dwarves (Bronzebeard/Dark Iron/Wildhammer): Dwarven names, as mentioned, sound strong and are given at birth. Some might choose to name their newborn after an ancestor to honor their memory, as dwarves are usually proud of their history (and intrigued by history in general).
- Night Elves: Night elf names are melodic and often quite long, which sometimes leads to harder to pronounce names as well. Surnames tend to reflect nature, especially the night or the moon, but there’s a wider variety of themes as well.
- Draenei/Lightforged: Draenei names can perhaps be described best as abstract Arabian names.
- Gnomes/Mechagnomes: Reflecting their technological nature, gnomish names tend to sound small and mechanical. However, some gnomes have human names instead, perhaps due to their relatively good relationship with humans, or perhaps as a market strategy, since a human name would be easier to remember for their clients.
- Void Elves: Follow the same Sin’dorei naming conventions.
And with that, we come to…
Horde:
- Blood Elf (also High Elves): The blood elf language (Thalassian) is closely related to that of the night elves (Darnassian), but their names are often quite different, with the exception that both often roll off of your tongue quite easily. Blood elf names tend to be harsher though.
Despite their painful past, Blood Elves still use the same traditions when it comes to naming their children. Names of Blood Elf champions, priests, and other important elves from the past are now used as a name for their newborn. - Nightborne: Generally follow Kaldorei naming conventions, but have surnames in Shalassian. Their names do lean towards sounding closer to French however.
- Orcs/Mag’har: Orc names usually contain more guttural sounds due to the orcish language. Surnames, on the other hand, are in English, and usually reflect a great deed or feat of strength.
- Trolls: Trolls do not receive a name at birth, instead they have to earn a name (usually through battle). A troll’s first given name usually contains just one syllable, which is often all they deserve at first. But as they prove themselves again and again, more syllables may be added before or after their names, which will essentially give them a new, longer name.
- Tauren: Tauren names are heavily inspired by Native American culture, with the exception of their last names of course. In tauren culture you receive your family’s name as a surname at birth, but you’ll usually get a new one later in life once you’ve completed a feat of strength.
- Forsaken: Generally retain their original name, so human or blood/high elf naming rules will apply. Some have minds so fractured that they cannot remember their original name. Many forsaken mistakenly think a nearby tombstone has their name on it, for example.
- Goblin: Due to the goblin language and their voices, goblin names usually contain more screeching and harsher sounds. However, the last names are (almost) always in English, which is mainly for simplicity’s sake, but I (FNG, not me) like to think it’s also to make sure every race knows their last names, which can be a good thing for traders. The last names often reflect economic feats, con-artist feats or simply fighting related feats of strength.
Vulpera: The developers have released a little information on Vulpera naming conventions. They took inspiration from Japanese names, but try to avoid being too on the nose with the names they pick. They also stick mostly to two syllable names, but three syllable names are relatively common among NPC names as well.
I’ve (once again, FNG and not me) noticed male names are generally softer sounder while female names are harsher sounding, most of this is because of vowel use within their names.
Lastly, we come to:
- Pandaren: Pandaren culture and names heavily reflect Asian cultures, especially Chinese culture (Me: Shocker, I know). However, as far as names go, I’ve (FNG) added Korean and Vietnamese names into the mix too. They occur in World of Warcraft as well, and most Chinese names will have been taken on most servers now anyway.
Their last names usually reflect a family business (like brew masters or farmers), a relationship with nature, or their peaceful way of life.
Fairly sure I’ve covered all the bases.
As for myself, while I’m not a role player I generally try to stick to lore friendly names that follow the conventions of the race I play as. I’ll sometimes toss those conventions out the window, but stick to stuff that can be lore friendly depending on the class. My three most prominent examples:
- Lilus: My go to name for death knights, a variation on Lilith.
- Renai: My first ever character. Name was randomly generated for me when I created a human warrior, and if available on a server has become a go to name for warriors/paladins/demon hunters for me.
- Smallblade: My go to rogue name as I typically play gnome/goblin/vulpera for this class.
Depending on the race I’ll sometimes opt for a surname rather than a first name. For example, my vulpera hunter is Kitsuni (clever, I know…), gnome mage is Bilbi, and vulpera priest is Yuuki (maybe a bit too on the nose regarding Japanese names, but I like it). Meanwhile, my gnome (sensing a trend?) hunter is Sparksniper.
Of course, sometimes if something unexpected is available, you’ve got to jump on it. I actually have a gnome warrior named Boy on Agamaggan XD
3 Likes
- Hit the randomize button.
- Get a string of characters that doesn’t sound like a name.
- Repeat 1&2 until you get something that almost makes sense if you fix it a little.
3 Likes
Yeh, I have seen stuff life that, but it’s not really to the level I meant. I knew about the small racial naming blurbs we do have, and tended to seek em out before I come up with a new name. I found it on the wiki though. I don’t use name generators. Have nothing against em, I just enjoy hand crafting my names.
What I meant though is that Square tends to get pretty detailed for each race. They cover what both the clans from the race prefer and why, as well as covering differences between male or female naming conventions. They cover both common first names as well as last names, as well as any tribe specific naming conventions if those are applicable. It’s kinda nice.
When male Viera were released, they put out an entire forum post going over how they choose their names, why, what they are, and how they may change over time. They detailed both their names before they leave the forest, for both clans, and then they went over how many Viera will often leave those names behind when they leave and pick new names inspired by other cultures, or just things they like.
And every race from FF14 has rules like this. It’s almost strange how much thought they put into their naming conventions when you consider how lax they can be on racial lore otherwise. 0_o
What I had been wishing for was something like that for the Dracthyr. A official, detailed post about how they pick their names, why, and what they mean to them. Unfortunately that isn’t really Blizz’s style. 
Edit: Okay, to be more specific, they updated the post for Viera naming conventions when they came out. Previously it had only had female name guides, so they added the male versions.
My blue dragonflight guy is going to be named xXxKalecgosxXx.
1 Like
It would be Nuidormi, because Chromie’s real name is Chronormu(Unless you plan on making a female Dracthyr, then go ahead!)
Chromie is a trans analogue - biologically male, female visage. Nuidormu is correct.
1 Like
Like Keldar said, Chromie is a unique case, however this does make me think… most of my toons have somewhat gender-neutral names (names based off my favorite desserts and alcoholic beverages mostly) so I have, in my mind, the freedom to swap their genders at will. I wonder if I will feel like my Dracthyr will be gender locked if I stick to a thematic, lore-based name like that. Hmm. Probably. But I probably won’t mind.
If someone doesn’t name one of them Shenron I’ll be incredibly disappointed in this community.
2 Likes
I reserved my dragon name to be Deafwing. The hard of hearing cousin of deathwing 
4 Likes
Newbastrazsa
Gitgudecgosa
1 Like
Seeing a few names in the starter experience, it looks like they don’t follow typical dragon naming conventions at all.