posted
I'm looking for opinions on the subject of suenames in fantasy. Does my hero, whose name is Solnic, need a surname? Should I give all my characters a surname? Can I go with one name only? I know that surnames weren't used until after the 12th century, and only limited at first. I welcome and value any opinions.
posted
I have read lots of books where only one name is used for a person... wether the person is known as a surname or as a given name.
something to keep in mind for this world, is that surnames weren't formalized until the 1700's in most areas. before that it was usually things like "son of" or "daughter of" that differentiated people.
posted
Surnames are supposed to have come from four different things, and "son of" (also known as "patronymic") is one of those ways.
The others involve references to the place the person is from (Woodbury--which means town (burough) in the wood), the person's work (Carpenter, Smith, etc), and a nickname for the person (Eric the Red, William Longshanks, John Lackland, etc).
If you do decide to use surnames, something you might want to consider is making the way the surnames are formed a cultural thing. Have people from one country or culture use one of the four ways listed above, and people from another country or culture use one of the other ways. And you can have the way you use actually mean something, if you like.
posted
The Chinese have used family names for thousands of years. Some other countries had caste/clan systems elaborate enough to fill the same function (where everyone would have both a caste, clan, and other information like their birthplace as part of their formal name--Joe the Wilson drudge from Portland).
Let us not become overly fixed on the shortcomings of western culture in thinking about fantasy milieux, after all, most medieval western fantasies were set in the "fantastic" lands of the Middle and Far East.
posted
I have the same concern for my novel, and it only occurred to me recently when I had my heroine journey to a distant, big city that she's had limited correspondence with. Simply introducing herself as Terise (to the captain of the guard stationed there, whom she has corresponded with but never met) seemed ridiculous-- as if it's implying that she's the ONLY Terise ever to exist in the world. It made me rethink whether all of my characters should have surnames... But then when I'm dealing with my military personnel, I really didn't want to address them as their surname throughout the piece.
One novel I read supplied surnames for characters when they were first introduced in the world, then again when they met new people, but otherwise the surnames were omitted.
I'm still not sure WHAT I want to do. Grrrr... More thought needed!
posted
Siligurl. I have the answer to my question.
If your setting is the typical fantasy setting (Tolkien, Brooks, Eddings type worlds) surnames are optional. I don't think the reader will care, Gandalf doesn't have a surmname. If you have a more technologically advanced, for lack of a better word, world you might want to consider using surnames. In your case, you said that they were corresponding. How? If they sent letters, how would a letter addressed to someone named Robert get to him. I imagine that it would have to be addresses to his full name, something like Robert Robertson. Most militaries these days use last names to address people. You could use this and give your minor characters in the military one name which would be a surname and your major characters 2 names. You only have to use the surname for your major characters a few times, just enough to let the reader know that they have one, and to answer the question of how the correspondence got to her. Hope this helps to answer your question.
"People care more about the ones they love than they do themselves."
posted
Actually, most militaries use a service ID number (SS number for U.S. military) rather than the name at all.
Having her introduce herself as Terise from [locality-name] in [nation-name] would be perfectly reasonable, particularly since you said they were corresponding.
posted
Survivor, I disagree. My husband has been part of both the US Air Force and the US Army National Guard, and has been called by his rank and last name in both; i.e. Specialist Robertson, Airman Robertson.
No, our last name isn't Robertson. It'd be kinda scary if it was though... we have a three-year-old named Robert.
Shasta
[This message has been edited by DragynGide (edited March 03, 2003).]
posted
As to corresponding, it's been written messages... Right now, I'm leaving it as Name from Area, but am NOT sure that's truly believable...
As to the military, honestly we're so used to just calling each other by rank and last name (or just one or the other), most of us--even friends!-- don't know/remember first names. We actually truly just go by last name (at least in the USAF).
That's one of my concerns, because it would never ever be Rank First Name, so it feels odd referring to someone in my book as Capt Darius. Yet, in my mind that's who he is. Not sure I'll get used to tacking on a last name.
posted
DragynGide, I used the name Robert Robertson for a reason. It's my name. Not offended.
SiliGurl, I would have Terise call Capt Darius by his first name. I am assuming that there's a friendship/romance here. His subordinates and superiors would refer to him by his rank and last name. I have some friends from the Army the I referred to by first name, some were superiors, but only in private. As always, it's only advice and you won't hurt my feeling by doing something different.
"People care more about the ones they love than they do themselves." RLR 10/02
posted
Sorry, I thought I was being clearer than that.
quote:If they sent letters, how would a letter addressed to someone named Robert get to him. I imagine that it would have to be addresses to his full name, something like Robert Robertson. Most militaries these days use last names to address people.
quote:Actually, most militaries use a service ID number (SS number for U.S. military) rather than the name at all.
I was referring to addresses as in mail-which is what I thought the previous post was about. And I'm aware that they include the name as part of the address just as they include it on a normal address. But if you spell the name wrong the mail still ends up going to the unit to which your laddie is assigned. Get the number wrong, and it won't matter that the name is perfect.
That wouldn't apply to a fantasy military at all, of course (unless they happen to have computers and so forth).
In a fantasy military, you would probably identify an individual soldier by his name and unit--Robert Robertson with the Red Lions under Gregorian.
posted
My apologies to teddyrux if you got the wrong idea. I meant that the coincidence of it would be scary; as it is, my Robert already carries the same name as an uncle that my husband never knew he had... that uncle died 5 weeks after birth. In any case, I'm glad you weren't offended.
Apologies also to Survivor, for the misunderstanding.
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