Miqo'te Naming Conventions

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Miqo’te - Seekers of the Sun
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Male

Most males have simple, one or two syllable names. The extra aitches we see in names such as “Bhee,” “Kuzh,” and “Pahsh” represent a slight hissing/spitting sound that is made when the name is pronounced by the cat-like Miqo’te. Many of the other races in Eorzea cannot accurately reproduce this sound, so the aitches end up going silent when read (Bee, Kooz, Pash).

The first name is always proceeded by a letter representing their tribe. In the mass exodus which occurred during the Fifth Umbral Era, 26 Seeker of the Sun tribes crossed the seas (which had frozen solid as a result of the Calamity) to Eorzea in search of food and warmer climates. The names of these tribes contained many sounds which were difficult to represent with the existing Eorzean alphabet; but the fact that there were the same exact number of tribes as letters in the Eorzean alphabet was taken as a sign that they were destined to make the new realm their home, and so assigned each tribe with a letter/sound that was closest to its name. Over time, this resulted in the changing of the pronunciation to more closely resemble the pronunciation of the Eorzean letter than that of the original word.

The tribe names are originally based on traditional beastkin, scalekin, or cloudkin totems, which are said to protect the tribe.

A: Antelope (pronunciation: short Ah)
B: Boar (short Bee)
C: Coeurl (short Ka)
D: Dodo (short Deh)
E: Eft (short Eh)
F: Bear (short F)
G: Gryphon (short, hard Goo)
H: Gigantoad (short Hah)
I: Bufflalo (short Ee)
J: Jackal (short Jah)
K: Hipparion (short Koo)
L: Viper (short Lee)
M: Marmot (short Meh)
N: Aldgoat (short N)
O: Mole (short Oh)
P: Basilisk (short Peh)
Q: Puk (short Key)
R: Raptor (short Ruh)
S: Zu (short Soo)
T: Condor (short Tuh)
U: Drake (Ooh)
V: Vulture (short Vah)
W: Wolf (whort Wah)
X: Lynx (short She)
Y: Jaguar (short Yah)
Z: Ziz (short Zoh)

Males do not take family names, as they are each considered the ‘origins’ of new families. In place of a family name, they are given a title that denotes their tribe, and their position within it. For a male Seeker of the Sun, there are only two positions available—breeding males (nunh – pronounced ‘noon’) and all others (tia – pronounced ‘tea-ah’). All males are born as tia. At any time in their lives, a tia can challenge the tribe nunh to battle. If the tia is victorious, he takes the nunh’s place as tribe breeding male (until he is challenged and defeated), and the nunh becomes a tia once again (if he survives the ordeal). This is done to ensure that the tribe’s offspring are of the finest stock. Depending on its size, a tribe may have multiple nunh (a ratio of one nunh per ten to fifty females is average).

There is only one other way a tia can become a nunh, and that is to leave his tribe, and start his own. This, of course, requires several females to accomplish, and most female Seekers of the Sun are rarely impressed by a male who cannot defeat a nunh.

Nunh status does not equate to leadership within a tribe, and in fact, very few nunh ever become leaders.

Pronunciation-wise, other than the tribe pronunciations listed above, names follow common English phonics. Though followed by an apostrophe, the tribe sound is usually flows into the name.

O’raha would be pronounced “o-RA-ha” not “OH. raha”

- O’raha Tia
- O’bhen Tia
- U’odh Nunh
- K’tyaka Nunh

Female

A female first name will always begin with the letter representing her tribe, followed by an apostrophe, and then her given name. Her last name is the first name of the tribe’s breeding male who sired her.

R'Sushmo Rhiki

Sushmo of the Raptors, sired by R’rhiki Nunh (breeding male of the Raptors)

The apostrophe pronunciation rule applies here, as well.
The first name Y’shtola would be pronounced “yash-TOE-lah” not “ya. shtoe-lah”

- N’bolata Raha
- A’zumyn Bhen
- H’amneko Odh
- J’nangho Tyaka

In colloquial speech amongst close friends and companions, sometimes the tribe letter will be dropped from the first name.

F’lhammin -> Lhammin

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Miqo’te – Keepers of the Moon
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Female

Unlike the Seekers of the Sun, the Keepers of the Moon is a highly matriarchal society, with family names passed down from the mother, not the father. It is said that some of these surnames have survived since the First Astral Era.

The Keepers of the Moon lead more solitary lives, rarely forming communities of more than two or three families. Therefore, a tribal letter is not assigned to the names.

The matriarchal strength is further displayed by the fact that female first names are short, one/two syllable constructions that closely resemble names used by male Seekers of the Sun.

Unpronounced aitches are also present in the names.

- Okhi Nbolo
- Cemi Jinjahl
- Gota Jaab
- Sizha Epocan

Male

More evidence of how important the mother is to the Keepers of the Moon can be seen when looking at the names given to males. In addition to taking the mother’s surname, males also take the mother’s forename, adding a suffix (separated by an apostrophe) to the end to designate the order in which they were born.

First son: 'a
Second son: 'to
Third son: 'li
Fourth son: 'sae
Fifth son: 'ra
Sixth son: 'ir
Seventh son: 'wo
Eighth son: 'ya
Ninth son: 'zi
Tenth son: 'tan

- Okhi’a Nbolo
- Cemi’to Jinjahl
- Gota’li Jaab
- Sizha’sae Epocan

Though there are ten suffixes listed above, rarely do even the largest Keeper of the Moon families have more than two or three sons. This is not by choice. Nature merely sees to it that more females are born to this race.