Male Viera Naming Conventions

[KageTokage]

Well, that's one little detail sorted out that I hadn't been aware of for whatever reason.

Was expecting something a little fancier given that "Sui" literally just means "water", but them all sharing the surname makes sense given it's implied their tribe migrated straight from the steppe to the seas with the aid of the Kojin, and thus they may not have shed some of their original customs, such as using their tribe name as the surname.

[YianKutku]

Well, that's one little detail sorted out that I hadn't been aware of for whatever reason.

Was expecting something a little fancier given that "Sui" literally just means "water", but them all sharing the surname makes sense given it's implied their tribe migrated straight from the steppe to the seas with the aid of the Kojin, and thus they may not have shed some of their original customs, such as using their tribe name as the surname.

It does make sense based on some RL traditions, although I don't know if it also applies to the cultural region of the Ruby Sea and its surroundings.

For example, for Chinese surnames, one of the common historical origins was simply to take the name of the state or regional administrative area they were in. Others include the name of their lord (hence "of the clan of/led by Wu"), occupation or title (usually for high ranks like "Hou" for "marquis" or "Shi" for "historian"), and so on.

So for the case of the Sui, it makes sense for them to all have the surname "Sui", since they live in Sui-no-Sato (ie "Village of (the) Sui"). Anyone who immigrates (which is unlikely in the case of Sui-no-Sato, but speaking hypothetically) would then change their surname to "Sui" if they so choose, and it's entirely normal and standard.

[Doopliss]

Oh my god...I can finally name my Rava boy and stop being annoying on the official forums until female Hrothgar's release probably. Thank you all for helping me cope for three months.

[Liamont]

I think I may be stupid, but can someone explain to me how "Phiitehwesfv (“Seagull”)" relates to snowflakes?

In the mountainous region inhabited by the Veena, villages are frequently enveloped by heavy snows. A male Veena’s surname marks him an integral, albeit small, part of this landscape, combining references to snow crystals with the word “wesfv”─“guardian.” However, as the snowflake-based themes employed and the number of surnames in use differ from village to village, the examples below should be considered only a small sampling of the possibilities.

[SaintAjora]

I think I may be stupid, but can someone explain to me how "Phiitehwesfv (“Seagull”)" relates to snowflakes?

With no real knowledge of Japanese, using Google translate from the JP forum version of the post, it seems to be related to the shapes of snow crystals. For that name in particular, Google translated it as "Feather-shaped crystals".
Again, this is just Google translate. Maybe someone who can read Japanese can say if this is true. I may be asking a lot of Google translate.

edit: I guess this confirms it just as well. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post5870170

[NaohaLanbatal]

For the pronunciation of the names, we can look at the Japanese version of the post here: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...83%A9%E7%B7%A8

It has a katakana transliteration for each name. If you can't read Japanese, you can just copy/paste it into Google Translate and have the text-to-speech engine read it aloud for you.

And yeah, the veena names are tied to snow crystal shapes. This tweet has diagrams that have most of them (cross-reference with the Japanese forum post above): https://twitter.com/arakencloud/stat...62991369736192

edit: Okay, I think I mapped most of them here:

Sjadarwesfv (diagram 1, top row, far left – “needle”)
Jgnewesfv (diagram 1, top row, second from left – “scabbard”)
Monnawesfv (diagram 1, top row, third from left – “prism”)
Huorlwesfv (diagram 1, second row, far left – “shield”)
Ornedwesfv (diagram 1, second row, second from left – “fan”)
Qufiswesfv (diagram 1, top row, far right – “bullet”)
Foixewesfv (diagram 2, third row, middle – “spearhead”) [the diagram uses a different name that also means “spearhead”]
Ubmuawesfv (diagram 2, third row, far left – “wand”)
Copihwesfv (diagram 2, top row, far left – “drum”)
Rawbewesfv (see instead http://www.snowcrystals.com/guide/snowtypes4.jpg - fourth row, fourth column – “skeletal”)
Phiitehwesfv (diagram 2, third row, far right – “feather”)
Gahjewesfv (diagram 1, bottom row, far left – “rime”) [this seems to refer to rimed crystals, which can occur with various shapes?]

[RoroCookies]

The Rava names are so cool. Thank you for posting them!

[ProstheticSoul]

While this elaboration was desperately needed, and while I appreciate the effort on the lore master's part (whomever that may be), I am a bit disappointed that there isn't further explanation as it pertains to City Viera--both male and female. There are only two examples given with forenames--"Cherry" and "Morning Glory." And the latter is kind of obtuse with the way Square-Enix is utilizing it here. How is that "a thing that a Viera is fond of?" Doesn't sound like an object, a concept, an ideal, etc.

Additionally, I fear this elaboration does not go far enough is explaining the City Vieras' surnames. Yes, they discard or replace their village surname upon venturing out. But do they also follow the same emulation when it comes to choosing their forenames? Square-Enix does not say for some inexplicable reason.

Lastly, considering the fact that many Viera outright DISCARD their surname upon abandoning their village I find it disheartening that there is no option to simply forego a surname altogether in the character creation menu or in the name change menu when purchasing that option in the Mog Station website. There is a bit of a disconnect here between the Viera lore and what is allowed of the player in terms of game mechanics. It is a tad frustrating to say the least.

[WhiteArchmage]

I understand your frustration, and it's something that Plainsfolk and Sunseekers and Hellsguard have to deal with, since their names are supposed to be full Forename and Surname all the time, but game mechanics doesn't let you do that. It'd seem like city names would push you to create a 2 word name, but you run into that problem where you'd be "Blade Glory" or "Lieutenant Tia" most of the time, with no option to do as Fran and just be "Captain First-name"

Until we get an option to go by our full names or just first or last in all cutscenes (which sounds like a huge undertaking), there'll be some disconnect between naming conventions and game.

[ProstheticSoul]

Has the development team not given a thought to patching in an option to swap out the surname of any given player name with that of a title one has earned throughout gameplay? Obviously, this would be somewhat tricky to implement, and it would be extremely optional considering brand new players wouldn't have the option. But I've always seen this as a golden opportunity for certain races. Instead of using some randomly designated, lore-appropriate (yet not appropriate for Viera) surname for instance, replace my ninja Viera's last name with "The Darkest Shadow."

If this would be too much for cutscenes and NPCs I doubt it would be too much trouble to simply roll out an overhaul patch to replace all instances of NPC's mentioning my last name with merely my first name. Barring that, simply make only certain titles compatible with the "surname replacement" system.

Barring THAT, I just have a meager, humble request of Square-Enix and the lore master(s). Please stop coming up with new races in the lore that have to forego their entire culture along with their NAME just to become the WoL. That would make things much easier for those who like to really dive-deep into the role-playing experience. That would be greeaaat. Have the patch on my desk by Monday. Mmkay Peter?