Naming conventions of the first (research/speculations)

[Arzalis]

Yeah, I think you're right. There is at least two "-na" Viis in Fannow too, so it's not really a different convention.

It seems like Viis names are basically 2-3 syllables with the last syllable being the tribe/clan/group ending (ille, et, na, etc.)

That said, there seems to be an usually high number of "-na" Viis outside of Rak'Tika compared to the others. Seems like the "-na" tribe might've left en masse for some reason, with a few electing to stay behind. Could be as simple as a big group of them opting to stick together when they left.

Maybe Lyna can give us more details on that later on. If there's even a major reason for it.

[Phel]

Main post edited with the information you gave and what I found since last time.

List of changes:

- Dwarves information from Stardrake and Eloah added (thank you both, I still haven't met them, but I think I'm really close to)

- Drahns/Galdjents section : Voeburt information from Daralii added + some additional stems. I think this section is complete, except if we somehow get something about potential surnames.

- Viis naming convention added, with Arzalis hypothesis about the signification of the last syllable

- Very small list of Ronsos names added



What is still needed:

- Anything about Humes and Elves. I've started lists, but they are very short since I started later. I don't think there is any specific gimmick like the Dwarves, Galdjents/Drahns and Mystels, but it's likely possible to find a real life inspiration for the names. I can give the lists when they're a bit longer, but I'm not sure I can find the real life inspiration myself.

- Mystel culture and/or families

- More names for the other races (mostly Dwarves, Ronsos and Viis outside of Fanow). I'm working on it.

Also I don't think clan separation is considered for the First. There just seems to be one naming pattern per race.

I agree too.

On the note of Viis

It's worth noting there are a couple Rak'Tika Viis who seem to defy the -et endings, some of which reside in Fanow itself. The three involved the ritual for the aether current quest come to mind; I can't remember their names offhand though. Maybe the ending of their names has to do with occupation? Ex: names with -et are hunters and the others are related to rituals? Could just be a tribe ending too though.

There's also a few who seem to have totally different conventions all-together: Carna in Eulmore and Bethana in the Crystarium. Lyna too, of course. The names are greek/latin, which stick out a bit. Though maybe the -a suffix are just Viis who left their tribes.

That's very interesting.
As you said later, there doesn't seem to be any living Viis with a different convention. And the "-na" and "-ille" aren't as uncommon in Fanow as it seems as first glance (we see about 5 "-met" before seeing the first "-na"/"-ille", but in fact "-met" are only about a half of Fanow, the other half being "-ille" or "-na").
I didn't think it had any meaning before reading your post, but now I think it is a real possibility.
From what I've quickly checked, confirmed guards/hunters are all "-met", and none of the confirmed non-guards/hunters (cook, shamans) are "-met".
The difference between "-na" and "-ille" would be more tricky. Ciuna and Phyna are both shamans, but their mentor (who is certainly a shaman too), is a "-ille". And the cook is a "-ille" too.
The tribe idea seems a bit more unlikely when you know that only a half of Fanow are "-met", but we know :

There where other villages before the Flood, and the surviving Viis from those villages likely came to Fanow. That would mean there was only three tribes though (or maybe the "tribes" are the original units of the Ronka guard their ancestors are from ?)

I assumed with the Chai's that she takes on his first name as her last during marriage as humans would do with last names

That's interesting too. We really need a Mystel family or an info-dumping Mystel npc, because we can only speculate for now.

So far the possibilities are :

- Men are Surname-Firstname and women Firstname-Surname. And we need to know if the surname is a family name or a tribe name, and how it works exactly (and, like Iscah said, there may be some discrepancies with how Chai-Nuzz is called by other npcs)

- Everyone has their first name first, and take their opposite gender parent's first name (and their spouse's first name for women) as a surname. It would explain the fact that every 'part A' has a male and a female version.

- The name in its entirety is a first name, and the Chais are merely a coincidence. And it's still very likely the names have some sort of meaning.

I forgot to update the Mystel section with this, I'll do it later.

[SerenityIsBae]

I don't think the ending of Viis names relates to occupation. The NPC that leads the FATE chain with her two companions (I think Myalna is her name) doesn't follow this convention and Taina who (from dialogue put together from various stages in the story) is a patrol mainly for the temple grounds. Also Ciulle seems to be a cook or kitchen hand while Korille references her patrols and Lanille is a senior shaman. I think the names have a language significance and the suffixes may actually mean something.

[Daralii]

Yeah, I think you're right. There is at least two "-na" Viis in Fannow too, so it's not really a different convention.

It seems like Viis names are basically 2-3 syllables with the last syllable being the tribe/clan/group ending (ille, et, na, etc.)

That said, there seems to be an usually high number of "-na" Viis outside of Rak'Tika compared to the others. Seems like the "-na" tribe might've left en masse for some reason, with a few electing to stay behind. Could be as simple as a big group of them opting to stick together when they left.

Maybe Lyna can give us more details on that later on. If there's even a major reason for it.

Almost every Viis we encounter(and all of the ones in Rak'tika as far as I could tell) use Veena customization options, while Lyna, insofar as I could tell, uses Rava options. While that's likely just a coincidence, it could be a clan split. We know that the Emperor split his servants between guardians in the east and the priesthood in the west, and that the priesthood was effectively destroyed during the invasion 3,000 years ago. If the priesthood were the Rava equivalent, it would explain the difference in naming and the near-absence of Viis without nearly invisible eyebrows.