Male Viera Naming Conventions

[Rannie]

What I meant was he was the one that would tend to make it happen as he was a part of lore and localization. Ferne is Koji and he had always been the biggest one to make it happen. Like you said there were a lot of likes for they question. I was one of them. So I'm just wondering is if it's because it.

All of this is especially in consideration of the prompt releases of previous naming conventions 20 days after ShB release etc...

[Doopliss]

What I meant was he was the one that would tend to make it happen as he was a part of lore and localization. Ferne is Koji and he had always been the biggest one to make it happen. Like you said there were a lot of likes for they question. I was one of them. So I'm just wondering is if it's because it.

All of this is especially in consideration of the prompt releases of previous naming conventions 20 days after ShB release etc...

Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to sound antagonistic toward you--I've appreciated the suggestions in this thread more than anything. Just bummed about the general treatment of this issue from the team, as is everyone else here, lol.

I do miss Ferne/Koji's general enthusiasm for this kind of smaller, overworld lore being always present, too. You can really see the difference in care for the older naming convention posts...but at this point I would personally take ANYTHING, because I really hate the idea of ending up being accidentally lore-breaking due to literally not being allowed to know any better.

[InfiniteArticles]

It's so disappointing that they won't even acknowledge this... naming conventions for a playable race is pretty important lore. I hope they don't pull this with female Hrothgar, too.

[Nellen]

I doubt any of us would be as disappointed if it weren't so clear that someone had something in mind and we're just not having it explained to us, which is baffling.

Unless they really are saving it for the lore book, but... I don't think this particular lore element is going to increase sales, so they should probably use it as a teaser if anything.

[PaperMatt]

Since I'm waiting, does anyone have a general list of origins from their first names?

[Vallavia]

Since I'm waiting, does anyone have a general list of origins from their first names?

There are a few different origins:
The ones shared with the female list (Ljot, Shara, Bjel, Mjara, etc.) have the classic 4-6 letter Viera names, along with a few of the 'masculine' forest names (Loija, Covva, Eljart, Auvo, etc.). A lot of people say these sound Icelandic, but I haven't been able to find any clear Icelandic origins (or any, in most cases) for the selections that I've searched, so YMMV.

There are also a few forest names that deviate slightly from this pattern (Dagttor, Rassjan, Telzzel, maybe Betnulf?) that are longer and interestingly have repeating consonants that the female forest names don't tend to have.

The city names seem to be split between Distinctly Hyur (Dillan, Erenville, Laurenssen, Galvin, etc.) and Distinctly Elezen (Charmont, Seigroix, Daenne, etc.), which I'm currently speculating has something to do with the fact that all of the male Viera NPCs we've encountered so far have some connection to Sharlayan which is populated primarily by Midlanders and Elezen.

[Doopliss]

There are a few different origins:
The ones shared with the female list (Ljot, Shara, Bjel, Mjara, etc.) have the classic 4-6 letter Viera names, along with a few of the 'masculine' forest names (Loija, Covva, Eljart, Auvo, etc.). A lot of people say these sound Icelandic, but I haven't been able to find any clear Icelandic origins (or any, in most cases) for the selections that I've searched, so YMMV.

There are also a few forest names that deviate slightly from this pattern (Dagttor, Rassjan, Telzzel, maybe Betnulf?) that are longer and interestingly have repeating consonants that the female forest names don't tend to have.

The city names seem to be split between Distinctly Hyur (Dillan, Erenville, Laurenssen, Galvin, etc.) and Distinctly Elezen (Charmont, Seigroix, Daenne, etc.), which I'm currently speculating has something to do with the fact that all of the male Viera NPCs we've encountered so far have some connection to Sharlayan which is populated primarily by Midlanders and Elezen.

In reference to the 'masculine'/deviating set of forest names you mentioned, FFXIV's dev team loves making up names that look right but have no real-life equivalence. And since this happens with some female Viera names (albeit less), which never got an explanation...I'm sadly going to expect the same for the lads.

I assume it's kind of like how male Elezen names are all faux-french, but then we randomly have Aymeric, who gets a completely legitimate name. Even looking at Thavnairian npcs, all Raen & Hyuran characters have completely fantastical names that simply 'look right' with their own distinct patterns to follow, OR FFXI-reference names, lol.

Still...it is striking that they share a pool with female Viera at all. That still makes me believe they are born with feminine names, given what lore we have to go off of. The fantastical nature of the more masculine-sounding names could be so that people have more freedom with how their forest name sounds without 'breaking any rules', if that makes sense...?

[Vallavia]

In reference to the 'masculine'/deviating set of forest names you mentioned, FFXIV's dev team loves making up names that look right but have no real-life equivalence. And since this happens with some female Viera names (albeit less), which never got an explanation...I'm sadly going to expect the same for the lads.

I noticed this as well. I think the general goal in this specific case may have just been to strike a balance between Tactics Viera names which tend to just be generally feminine and XII Viera names which have a much more rigid structure (always four letters, usually ending in 'n'), which resulted in a few that are just wild cards.

Still...it is striking that they share a pool with female Viera at all. That still makes me believe they are born with feminine names, given what lore we have to go off of.

I'm almost certain that this is the case, though upon further mindless leafing it struck me that there's indeed a surprisingly large number of shared names compared to the proportions of other types. There was previous discussion about how perhaps they or their mentors choose a new name upon coming of age, which then leads me to wonder that since most/all Viera that we encounter have exiled themselves that the majority of males would have done so because they couldn't handle or didn't agree with the lifestyle that was chosen for them and left before they could get a grown-up name. Though the demonstrably untrue "it's very rare to see a Viera use their forest name outside the Wood" line is ostensibly still in effect, I still thought it was worth mentioning.

The fantastical nature of the more masculine-sounding names could be so that people have more freedom with how their forest name sounds without 'breaking any rules', if that makes sense...?

This does honestly seem somewhat likely to me; this is also how I felt about the inclusion of city names in the female Viera name document in the first place . I always got the impression that first and foremost it was an olive branch for people who didn't want to wait for it to be published to not be unduly punished for being 'lore-breaking', but of course this is all idle speculation.
In any event, another Live Letter soon? Take heart? Maybe? ������

[lycropath]

It's so disappointing that they won't even acknowledge this... naming conventions for a playable race is pretty important lore. I hope they don't pull this with female Hrothgar, too.

We kind of already know half of the female Hrothgar naming conventions since the family matriarch's name is part of the surname of a male Hrothgar with an A before it or an -sch afterwards. They use real world Slavic women's names.

[InfiniteArticles]

We kind of already know half of the female Hrothgar naming conventions since the family matriarch's name is part of the surname of a male Hrothgar with an A before it or an -sch afterwards. They use real world Slavic women's names.

True, and that's a relief, but I'd still be disappointed if they didn't tell us the conventions for female Hrothgar's surnames. What if the name generator for female Hrothgar ends up having surnames that imply some kind of lore, like male Viera's surnames do? It seems pretty likely that female Hrothgar won't have conventional surnames.

But yeah, they gave us short descriptions for 51 Xaela tribes, so I would hope they would also give us at least a vague explanation of whatever's happening in the male Viera name generator and the eventual female Hrothgar one...