Jazyky: Osobné mená a rodinné mená v dejisku (a pár slov ohľadom zemepisných názvov)

Časť poznámok ohľadom osobných mien a rodinných mien (priezvisk), ktoré sa vyskytujú vo fantazijnom svete Orbis Fūrum.

Prvá časť článku pokrýva osobné, krstné mená. Druhá časť sa venuje rodinným a rodovým menám, priezviskám a prímeniam. Tretia časť poskytuje pohľad do zákulisia tvorby, poskytuje viac kontextu pre pozadie toho, ako boli v priebehu rokov koncipované mená (alebo aspoň niektoré z nich) pre tento fiktívny svet.

 

Krstné mená (Osobné mená)​

Pokiaľ nie je uvedené inak, osoby konkrétneho druhu mysliacej bytostí zvyknú mať osobné mená typické pre ich konkrétny druh.

Jednotlivé druhy (a kultúry) zveroľudí sa spravidla držia vlastných konvencií osobných mien a pomenovaní (a tie sa navzájom líšia, v závislosti od druhu), ake niekedy dávajú svojmu potomstvu osobné mená ľudského pôvodu. Rodinné, rodové mená, priezviská zveroľudí sú takmer univerzálne unikátne pre zveroľudí. Neprekrývajú sa s ľudskými rodinnými a rodovými menami, priezviskami, pretože roly čestných príbuzných z rôznych druhov mysliacich bytostí sú veľmi, veľmi zriedkavou záležitosťou.

Ľudské mená sa týkajú všetkých ľudí, všeobecne, s celou škálou krstných mien a rodinných mien, ktoré sú výlučne alebo veľmi blízko spájané s ľudskými bytosťami. Avšak, určité ľudské jazyky, nárečia a tradície obsahujú krstné mená a rodinné mená, ktoré sú bližšie spájané s konkrétnou varietou ľudí, či už ide o ľudí z radov Veľkoľudu alebo o Maloľudu (druhá menovaná pokrýva Rarachov a Permonov).

 

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Ľudia z veľkoľudu (a strednoľudu)

Meno	Výslovnosť	Rod	Miesto pôvodu	Poznámky
Álak	Álak	Mužské
Anrik	Anrik	Mužské	Aporue / Aethelia-Dumnonia
Arbogast	Arbogast	Mužské	Aporue / Nobrana / Lokytia	Zdá sa byť nobrenského a lokytského pôvodu, možno s vplyvom archontčiny.
Árkárt	Aarkaart	Mužské	Aporue / Ďamara	Zdá sa byť ďamarským menom, s určitým archontským vplyvom. Niektorí z minulých barónov Melzy boli nositeľmi tohto mena.
Bimir	Bimir	Mužské	Aporue / Rvača, atď.
Borek	Bore-eck	Mužské	Aporuea / Lengelia	Časté lengelské meno a zriedkavejšie aj markanské meno. Niektorí z minulých barónov Melzy boli nositeľmi tohto mena.
Bosvak	Boss-whack	Mužské	Aporue / Rvača, atď.
Chavotar	Khavotar	Mužské	Aporue
Denin	Denin	Mužské	Aporue / Nobrana / equivalents of Romance-speaking nations	Pomerne časté nobrenské meno, možného elladského a archontského pôvodu.
Dekseriux	Dexseriux, Dekseriuks	Mužské	Aporue / Trinitia / equivalents of Romance-speaking nations	Obzvlášť bežné v Trinitii. Skrátene Dekseriu alebo Deks.
Dortan	Dortan	Mužské	Aporue / Montoverdi / equivalents of Romance-speaking nations	Niektorí z minulých barónov Melzy boli nositeľmi tohto mena.
Dyap	Dyap	Mužské	Bharatia
Eraf	Eraf	Mužské	Aporue / Aisa
Háván	Háván	Mužské	Aporue / Ďamara
Hervil	Hervill	Mužské	Aporue	Primárne lokytského, karantského, atď. pôvodu.
Jaq	D-džak	Mužské	Aporue / Nobrana
Jussi	Jussi	Mužské	Aporue / Metsämaa
Kazmir	Kuzmir	Mužské	Aporue / Lengelia
Kratan	Kratan	Mužské	Aporue / Lokytia / Karantia
Kiril	Kiril	Mužské	Aporue / Ursania	Najmä Ursania.
Kľus	Kľus	Mužské	Aporue / Melza / Lesana
Laternin	Laternin	Mužské	Aporue	Pôvodne iba meno u Rarachov alebo Permonov, no stalo sa populárnym aj  u veľkoľudu.
Lonaj	Lonaj	Mužské	Aporue
Lúz	Lúz	Mužské	Aporue / Lokytia ? / Lengelia ?	Pravdepodobne zmiešaného pôvodu, z lokytského jazyka a obdoby "slovanských" jazykov, s určitým vplyvom archontčiny.
Maibám	Majbám	Mužské	Aisan or Akirfan
Mátes / Máteš	Mátes / Máteš	Mužské	Aisa / Aporue
Nikelós	Nikelós	Mužské	Aporue
Norir	Norir	Mužské	Aporue	Viac či menej pseudonym, ktorý si vymyslel Jussi Savru, jeho jediný bežný používateľ.
Orolaj	Orolaj	Mužské	Aporue / obdoby románsko-jazyčných národov	Mužská forma mena Oroliana.
Papirat	Papirat	Mužské	Aporue	Seems to be Archontian in origin, occurs in the equivalents of Romance-speaking nations
Pisbav	Pisbav	Mužské
Pôvo	Pôvo	Mužské	Aporue / Lesana / Melza	Seems to be Lesanian and Melzan in terms of origin and spread.
Púrebrú	Púrebrú	Mužské	Aporue / Melza	Might be uniquely Melzan. Abbreviated colloquially to Púr.
Réligran	Réligran	Mužské	Aporue
Rubor	Roo-bore	Mužské	Aporue / Lokytia	Seems to be of old Lokytian origin, but is popular in many places in Aporue.
Rumlaaž	Room-laazh	Mužské	Aporue / Segalimia	Used primarily in Segalimia.
Skakle	Skuck-leh	Mužské	Aporue / Aisa	Aporuean, but with major Aisan influence.
Soki	Soki, Socky	Mužské	Aporue / Aisa	Aporuean, possibly with some Aisan influences.
Srnial	Srnyal	Mužské	Aporue / Lesana / Melza	Seems to be Lesanian and Melzan.
Šruta	Shruta, Shroota	Mužské
Temav	Temav, Tem-awe	Mužské	Aporue	Bežné mužské meno na kontinente Aporue.
Torantutea	To-ran-tu-te-a	Mužské	Greatbird Island	Non-Aporuean and non-Akirfan name, from the natives of Greatbird Island near Akirfa.
Unis	Unis	Mužské	Aporue	Bežné mužské meno na kontinente Aporue.
Utahurki	Utahurki	Mužské	Aporue / wolverfolk	Unusual human name, of mostly wolverfolk origin, seems to be derived from the Lokytian name Uter (Utahurki grew up among the wolverfolk).
Uter	Uter	Mužské	Aporue / Lokytia	Lokytian male name, quite frequent. Utahurki seems to be derived/mangled from it, as its original bearer is actually named Uter Hurker.
Vono	Vono	Mužské	Aporue
Zunu	Zunu	Mužské	Aporue / Aisa / Sillamia	Meno v niektorých krajinách Aisy a v Sillamskom sevaranáte.
Žorvé	Žorvé	Mužské	Aporue / Nobrana	Mužské meno nobrenského pôvodu, tu ho  vidíte v melzanskej fonetickej transkripcii.
Alsia	Alsia	Ženské	Aporue / equivalents of Romance-speaking nations
Anva	Anva, Anvuh	Ženské	Aporue / Aisa
Denira	Denira	Ženské	Aporue / Nobrana	Ženská forma mena Denin.
Disirea	Disire-ah	Ženské	Aporue / Nobrana	Najmä nobrenské meno.
Elária/Elára	Elaaria, Elaara	Ženské
Enkla	Enkla, Encluh	Ženské
Fuôla	Fu-uo-la	Ženské
Geleska	Geleska	Ženské	Aporue / Hajtmanát, Ursania	Meno najmä v Hajtmanáte a Ursanii.
Granža	Granzha	Ženské
Háva	Haava	Ženské
Iléna	Iléna, Ilénuh	Ženské
Leljani	Lelyani	Ženské	Aporue / ?
Lonaja / Lonaji	Lo-nigh-uh, Lo-nigh-i	Ženské
Makéla	Makéla, Makéluh	Ženské
Mátenja	Maatenya	Ženské
Mildala	Milldala, Milldaluh	Ženské	Aporue	Jedna z dvoch vládnucich baróniek  Melzy sa volala Mildala.
Morna (Morni)	Morna, Morni	Ženské
Nikelóa	Nikeh-low-uh	Ženské	Aporue	Ženská verzia mena Nikelós, môže  pochádzať z éry Starého impéria (t.j. Archontie).
Oroliana	Oroliana	Ženské	Aporue / equivalents of Romance-speaking nations
Paidrkoa	Paj-dr-ko-a	Ženské	Aporue / Markania ?
Pôva (Pôvka)	Pôva, Pôvka	Ženské
Réka	Rejka, Réjka	Ženské	Aporue / Ďamara
Réligra/Réligre	Réligra, Réligre	Ženské
Remena	Remena	Ženské	Aporue	Pôvodne výlučne meno u Rarachov alebo Permonov, no stalo sa populárnym aj u Veľkoľudu. Jedna z dvoch vládnucich baróniek Melzy sa volala Remena.
Srnila (Srnilka)	Sr-ni-la, Sr-nil-ka	Ženské
Temova	Temova	Ženské
Theka, Théka	Teka, Téka	Ženské	Aporue	Možné archontské korene tohto mena.
Tóla	Tóla	Ženské	Aporue / Hrímland	Meno z hrímlandčiny, pravdepodobne znamená čosi ako "vysoká" alebo "hrdá".
Una / Unia	Una, Unija	Ženské
Varda	Varda	Ženské	Aporue / Lokytia ?	Starý a nejasný pôvod, ale pravdepodobne lokytský, s určitým archontským vplyvom.

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Ľudia z maloľudu (Rarachovia a Permoni)

Meno	Výslovnosť	Rod	Miesto pôvodu	Poznámky
Dverg	Dverg	Mužské	Aporue
Gusjás	Gusjás	Mužské	Aporue
Kereloj	Kereloj	Mužské	Aporue
Laternin	Laternin	Mužské	Aporue	Taktiež prijaté aj veľkoľudom, stalo sa u jeho členov rovnako populárnym.
Loin	Loin	Mužské	Aporue / Hesperia ?	Bežné najmä v Hesperii.
Nagrin	Nagrin	Mužské	Aporue
Orimaps	Orimaps	Mužské	Aporue
Púrst	Púrst	Mužské	Aporue
Rekete	Rekete	Mužské	Aporue
Špuns	Špuns	Mužské	Aporue
Týko	Týko	Mužské	Aporue
Veter	Veter	Mužské	Aporue
Anaba	Anaba	Ženské	Aporue ? Montoverdi ?
Ésija / Ésja	Ésija, Ésja	Ženské	Aporue
Ileka	Ileka	Ženské	Aporue
Kúsirla	Kúsirla	Ženské	Aporue
Lémina	Lémina	Ženské	Aporue
Matirga	Matirga	Ženské	Aporue
Neta	Neta	Ženské	Aporue
Remena	Remena	Ženské	Aporue	Taktiež prijaté aj veľkoľudom, stalo sa u jeho členov rovnako populárnym.
Švira	Švira	Ženské	Aporue	Švirka is a common diminutive form.
Taravma	Taravma	Ženské	Aporue
Vilra	Vilra	Ženské	Aporue

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Ježoľud (Ježani)

Meno	Výslovnosť	Rod	Miesto pôvodu	Poznámky
Kero	Kero	Mužské	Aporue	Widespread in Aporue. Has direct female equivalents in Keraní and Keroné.
Mürtli	Mürtli	Mužské	Aporue
Tirno	Tirno	Mužské
Ülo	Ülo	Mužské
Itrelk	Itrelk	Mužské
Ronrül	Ronrül	Mužské
Lorik	Lorik	Mužské
Enirlo	Enirlo	Mužské
Bärkihi	Bärkihi	Mužské
Arükni	Arükni	Mužské
Geleska	Geleska	Ženské	Aporue / Hajtmanát, Ursania	Zapožičané od veľkoľudu v Hajtmanáte a v Ursanii, medzi ježankami zriedkavé.
Keraní, Keroné	Keraní, Keroné	Ženské	Aporue	Ženská obdoba mena Kero. Zdrobneniny sú Aní pre prvú formu, a Ané a Oné pre druhú formu.
Tirna / Tirné	Tirna, Tirné	Ženské
Itrelé	Itrelé	Ženské
Üliné	Üliné	Ženské
Lorina / Loriní	Lorina, Loriní	Ženské
Enirla	Enirla	Ženské
Arükné	Arükné	Ženské

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Kunoľud (Kuňania)

Meno	Výslovnosť	Rod	Miesto pôvodu	Poznámky
Ravan	Ravan	Mužské	Aporue	Má priamu ženskú obdobu v mene Rava.
Relan	Relan	Mužské	Aporue	Má priamu ženskú obdobu v mene Ríla.
Navr	Navr	Mužské	Aporue	Má priamu ženskú obdobu v mene Navra.
Sivir	Sivir	Mužské	Aporue	Populárne najmä medzi odnožou Soboľcov. Má priamu ženskú obdobu v mene Siviré.
Rava	Rava	Ženské	Aporue
Ríla	Ríla	Ženské	Aporue
Navra	Navra	Ženské	Aporue	Ženská obdoba mena Navr.
Siviré	Siviré	Ženské	Aporue	Populárne najmä medzi odnožou Soboľcov. Má priamu ženskú obdobu v mene Sivir.

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Hraniľud (Hraníci)

Meno	Výslovnosť	Rod	Miesto pôvodu	Poznámky
Frárzo	Frárzo	Mužské	Aporue
Reívri	Reívri	Mužské	Aporue
Frizi	Frizy	Ženské	Aporue
Rhíko	Ríko	Ženské	Aporue

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Vydroľud (Vydrani)

Meno	Výslovnosť	Rod	Miesto pôvodu	Poznámky
Lotlo	Lotlo	Mužské
Tanal	Tanal	Ženské

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Rosomľud (Guloni)

Meno	Výslovnosť	Rod	Miesto pôvodu	Poznámky
Ruád	Ruád	Mužské	Aporue / sever kontinentu
Harve	Harve	Mužské	Aporue / Hrímland
Hurk	Hurk	Mužské	Aporue / sever kontinentu
Utar	Utar	Mužské	Aporue / sever kontinentu	Má priamu ženskú obdobu v mene Utara.
Gara	Gara	Ženské	Aporue / sever kontinentu
Rúvia	Rúvia	Ženské	Aporue / sever kontinentu
Utara	Utara	Ženské	Aporue / sever kontinentu	Ženská obdoba mena Utar.

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Mlokoľud (Mločniaci)

Meno	Výslovnosť	Rod	Miesto pôvodu	Poznámky
Mloš	Mlosh	Male	Aporue
Slúnša	Sloonsha	Ženské

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P. Molnár, vedúci Knight-Errant Studios:

"Mnohé z týchto mien boli pôvodne vynájdené mojou známou, no väčšina novších už bola navrhnuté mnou. Pozrite si sekciu o práci v zákulisí (nižšie), aby ste sa dozvedeli viac."

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Priezviská (Rodinné mená)​

Traditionally, many individual people only had a given name. At most, they usually had a patronymic (based on the name of their father), or even an equivalent moniker based on the name of their home settlement or their tribe (depending on the particular culture and its societal stratification). Over time, nicknames and monikers for noblemen and aristocrats started developing into true family names. With the ongoing development and advancement of society, many non-aristocratic townsmen and subsequently also rural people, have adopted the new traditions of using a stable family name, i.e. a surname, as a descriptor for one's particular family, as part of a particular family lineage. In cultures where patronymics were once very common or even the only equivalents of family names, the former patronyms have often evolved into inherited family names. Despite this general trend in more recent Aporuean history, some cultures still continue to use patronyms instead of true surnames, e.g. the people of Hrímland (both human and beastpeoples), some rural Dumnonians, or certain beastpeoples less influenced by humans on a daily basis (such as the wolverfolk of north Aporue).

Abaúj / Abaúja - stredoaporuejské priezvisko ďamarského pôvodu
Alkumak – Aisan surname, possibly of Sillamian and more western origin
Aľman – a family name that originates in western Aporue, most likely Ursania or the Hetmanate
Arpols – a family name that occurs mainly in central Aporue, and is particularly associated with Rarach dialects of human languages
Avakala – martenfolk family name
Baltabols – Semigallian family name
Bakre – a surname of western Aporuean origin, likely from one of the Sillamian languages or their Aisan relatives
Beič –a surname of southwestern Aporuean origin
Benosk – a surname of Nobrenian origin
Blésot – a surname of eastern and central Aporuean countries, of likely Nobrenian origin
Bosoža – a surname of Ďamaran and Lesanian origin, also appears among some families in Melza
Budelva – the name of a noble family from Melza, possibly of Lesanian origin
Comwol – Dumnonian-Aethelian surname, means "of the valley", "from the valley"
Čelerni / Čelerna – fairly common family name in the Hetmanate and in Ursania
Čöpör – the name of a noble family from Melza, of Ďamaran origins
Čúľko – Rarach family from Melza, Čúľko is a fairly common name in parts of Melza and neighbouring Lesana
Drdlý – a Lesanian surname from central Aporue
Dudé – the name of a noble family from Melza, of Markanian origins
Ehera – a southern Aporuean family name, of Elladic origins
Enemárpi (of Enemarp) – the name of a noble family from Melza
Gucíňa – the name of a noble family from Melza, of Melzan and Lesanian origins
Gürtli – a hedgefolk family, frequent in central Aporue
Harevín – the name of a noble family from Melza, possibly of Markanian and Lokytian origins
Harelah – occurs in Melza and other parts of central Aporue,
Harvenarf / Harvenúar – a wolverfolk patronymic family name, in male and female variants
Herituín – unclear origin, possibly an Aisan family name, not necessarily of Bharatian origin
Horšan – noble family, became the second dynasty of Melza
Hrámer – martenfolk family name
Hurlant – Nobranian family name, from eastern Aporue
Husnjak – a southwestern and central Aporuean family name
Inger – a central Aporuean family name of Lokytian origin
Inšak – the name of a wealthy family from Melza, landowners in Ňolbaj
Jáhi (of Jáh) - the name of a noble family from Melza
Kalmatz - noble family, became the first dynasty of Melza
Klužič-Sibius – a Trinitian noble family and Melza noble family, family name of Trinitian origin
Konolo – the name of a wealthy family from Melza, mining enterpreneurs
Křilžic – Markanian family name, from central Aporue
Kterepiv – the name of a noble family from Melza
Langedor – a family name of Nobrenian origin, name of a noble family in Melza
Lina-a – a surname of mixed origin
Mažko – the name of a noble family from Melza, of Melzan and Lesanian origins
Nefas – a family name of central Aporuean origin
Nelela – otterfolk family name
Oktimk – a family name of eastern and central Aporuean origin
Pertenet – a family name of eastern and central Aporuean origin
Pukve – Aporuean surname, common mainly among the smallfolk
Raria – an Aporuean surname, of unclear origin, but occurs mainly in southern Aporue and is likely late-Archontic in its basis
Radirgioni – a Montoverdin surname, its most famous bearer being the inventor of the air gun ("Radirgioni Gun")
Rapelô – the name of a noble family from Melza
Rutač – newtfolk family from around Melza, possibly some influence from local human dialects
Salvr – Aporuean surname, one of many with a likely late-Archontic point of origin
Savru – a Metsämaan family name, from northern Aporue
Siksit – occurs in central Aporue, likely of east Aporuean origin, born by the current chief of the Melzan City Watch (Chieftain-o'-the-Watch)
Šaieg – a smallfolk (specifically Permon) surname, seems to be most common in Hesperia and southern Nobrenia, but also a few other places
Štorekna – the name of a noble family from Melza
Štuc – a Markanian, Lesanian and Lengelian family name, with Lokytian ancestry
Tarandar – a mainly southern and central Aporuean surname, likely late-Archontic in origin, frequent in Permon dialects of human languages
Terlo – Nobrenian-Montoverdin noble family, became the third dynasty of Melza
Tilaks (of Étilaks) – the name of a noble family from Melza
Titavháugssón / Titavháugsdautír – Hrímlandic patronymic family name, male and female variant
Udadin –a family name likely of southwestern or western Aporuean origin
Utniak - a family name that occurs in southwestern and central Aporue
Váma – a central Aporuean family name
Varchila – the name of a noble family from Melza, of Lesanian and Hetmanate origins
Zalaventa – Trinitian noble family, with some Ďamaran roots
Zarzara – seems to be a stoatfolk surname, but influenced by either Montoverdin or Hesperian surnames
Zosikan – a southern name, ancestors to industralist Bosvak Zosikan
Zunór – the name of a noble family from Melza, of mostly Ďamaran origins
Žarf - a rarer surname that occurs in cetral and southwestern Aporue

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P. Molnár, vedúci Knight-Errant Studios:

"Mnohé z týchto mien boli pôvodne vynájdené mojou známou, no väčšina novších už bola navrhnuté mnou. Pozrite si sekciu o práci v zákulisí (nižšie), aby ste sa dozvedeli viac."

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Zo zákulisia​

We'll conduct the look-behind-the-scenes section of this names overview in the manner of a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). P. Molnár, head of Knight-Errant Studios, will provide each of the answers.

Otázka: When you render something in a particular familiar language, is it identical to what it really sounds like in the setting ?

Odpoveď: No, it is not identical at all. For example, though the explosive chemical powder used in the flashbomb gadgets is often popularly referred to as "blitzpulver" (real world German for "lightning-powder"), its in-universe name in Lokytian (the closest equivalent language to German) sounds differently. It's not literally in German, or any of our other recognisable real world languages. The only reason I use a German term as a stand-in for the Lokytian term is due to the overall analogy, not any literal congruence, given that Lokytians speak Lokytian, not German (and I merely present Lokytian as roughly akin to German). When Lokytians use this technical term for the powder, the meaning "lightning-powder" is the same, it's just the word that is clearly different. Same with "gunpowder" and virtually every other technical term, and every other term you can imagine.

Similarly, whenever characters mention other terms from real world languages, including historical terms, e.g. a "coat of arms", a "rapier", etc., they are not using the real world terms, but the equivalents in their fictional languages. Even things like recipe names, various cultural terms, and so on and so forth, are intended as equivalent translations from my setting's fictional languages. At the same time, I do take care to avoid too overt references to the real world, so I won't be throwing around terms like "Damascus steel" or "Toledo steel", but whatever this world's equivalents of Damascus and Toledo are. As a writer, I figure that it's more intuitive if I use real world terms in presenting the setting, including real world terms from non-English languages, than if I flooded the stories with one unintelligible fictional term after another. Readers don't need or want to keep track of things like that, they want understandable, easily decipherable terms, even if they are invented terms for fictional or semi-fictional things.

Otázka: And what about character names and the various placenames ?

Odpoveď: About the only words in the fictional languages of this world that I do not translate are the personal names of the characters and most if not all geographic placenames (aside from companies and institutions, those are presented as translated). Some of the names, though fantasy, have a vaguely Latin-esque, Greek-esque, Hebrew-esque, etc., sound to them, such as:

Unis - used in the setting roughly as we'd use John; a city official of Melza bears this name, and many, many other men too

Temav - a common name, seen as a fairly "peasant" name, roughly equivalent to Thomas in popularity; the name of the boss of one of the city's thief guilds

Oroliana - roughly equivalent to our world's Aurelia, it even has a similar word root (aurum and or both mean "gold", though one in Latin and one in French); Oroliana is the name of the wife in the husband-and-wife duo that currently co-rule Melza as its monarchs

Varda - a rather simple variation on the rarer female name Vanda/Wanda; I realised too late Varda was also a name used for a supernatural character by Tolkien in his Middle-earth works... but oh well, some could count it as an accidental reference...
Théka - inspired by the once-popular, but now rare female name Thekla (or Tekla)

Otherwise, a lot of the names are just strange, but have a certain European twang to them, such as: Kereloj (male name, sort of Slavic/Germanic), Utahurki (male name, I later reasoned this is a mangling of a Germanic-style name), Rumlaaž (male name, quasi-Lithuanian), Paidrkoa (female name, sort of quasi-Slavic :-) ), Zunu Alkumak (male name and vaguely Turkish or Arabic surname, I made him a quasi-Ottoman character), and plenty more.

Very rarely, I used actual real world names, such as Jussi (the Finnish diminutive of John, i.e. Jonnie, but it sounds almost like a native Finnish name), or Arbogast (a very old-fashioned Germanic/French male name, it survives nowadays as a rare surname).

Often, the avoidance of any real world names is also rooted in simple logic. The same logic that avoids too overt references to real world places and geography. For example, the name Francis or Francesca cannot exist in this setting, as there were no Franks and there was no France to inspire them as names. Yet, the equivalent fo Christianity in this setting has a "medieval" saint that was very similar to our St Francis in his life and work. So what's his name, then ? The saint in question is St Nobri. And why Nobri ? Within the continent of Aporue, Nobrenia is the equivalent of France. Our real world St Francis had a name based on France - Francesco, i.e. "little Frenchman" in Italian. So similarly, there's Nobri, which means the "little Nobrenian".

Non-human character names in the setting tend to have certain grammar and phonetic patterns, but are otherwise fairly distinguishable from human names. To keep things more realistic, some of the non-human species occassionally adopt human names for their children (e.g. one lady of my hedgehogmen species is named Geleska, a name otherwise used by the quasi-Slavic human nations of my fantasy setting). Because many of the non-humans share their homelands with the human-majority nations, and they all mostly get along with each other, I felt this sort of cross-pollination of names would be entirely natural.

Believe it or not, I consider many of the characters to be co-created with a female acquaintance of mine. It was over ten years ago (how time flies !) when she wrote a funny article on her blog, about "finding names for fictional characters in crossword puzzles". An unorthodox method, but it yielded plenty of names, and she even thought of very basic and amusing backstories for them. Me and her other friends had a good laugh at the article and we all still fondly remember it. A bit later, I asked that friend whether she would want to use them for a story, but as she's a reader and reviewer and never felt like a writer, she told me: "Hey, Peter, you can adopt them. I've imagined them all, broadly, as fun fantasy characters, so maybe you could find them a good setting and story to inhabit.". I was really happy about the suggestion, agreed and promised that I'll chime back if I ever do anything with the characters.

By 2014, some three years later, I had a pretty good idea about a fantasy setting I could develop, and I remembered her list of fictional names at that point, and that I pondered I'd include them in a story. So, it did eventually happen, and they became inhabitants of the setting I started to develop. At this point, some six years later, the Orbis Furum setting of Thick as Thieves has grown considerably in its worldbuilding and details, and it's truly a whole well-defined world now. But it all started with that impetus consisting of little more than a list of characters and brief humorous descriptions. :-)

My friend even had some leftover names in the original article, and asked us about figuring out backstories for these. I was one of the commenters who proposed a few funny backstories I found fitting. Now, years later, I still use those backstories I proposed back in 2011, though the characters' biographies and personalities have of course become much more detailed since then. One of the characters I proposed a backstory for has even become a point-of-view character in the background fiction, a young self-important alchemist who has just moved into Melza and the local situation is all very new to him. Another character is one of the city's private detectives.

I think it was in 2021 or 2020 that I wrote to my friend and sent her some of the extensive notes I have for the "TaT" setting. She was impressed it's grown so big, from what was originally just a list of jokey characters without a unified home. As I consider her the co-author of this founding roster of fictional characters, I asked her whether she found any new names in crossword puzzles. Actually, she did ! She sent me a shorter list with a few more names and I've since used it to further worldbuild the characters and the setting. While most of the newer characters and their names are invented by me, I actually took care to create some degree of consistency to what the fictional etymology of the names is, in which countries of my setting they originate, and I even thought about how they fit in into some imagined grammar used in the setting, in various languages and cultural contexts.

In hindsight, this process somewhat reminded me of a more playful version of what professional linguists like Marc Okrand did, when they were asked to develop a more coherent language for the Klingon or other alien cultures for the Star Trek universe in the 1980s. He only had a few words and phrases to work with, and those were basically just made up on the spot, when the writers of earlier series or films needed the Klingons or whoever to say something in their native tongue. So, it was tough to develop a whole language for these fictional cultures, but Okrand gave it a go, and created a whole basic grammar, ortography, phonetic rules, derived new vocabulary from the bits and pieces he was given.

While I'd never go that far - I'm just not a professional linguist - I do like this approach of "secondarily deriving" consistency or at least a semblance of it from what were originally just random fictional words and phrases. In my case, it was mostly with names. :-) Many of my friend's crossword names did sound like they could be distant cousins to real historical names, so I developed a certain pattern of what name was roughly equivalent to what, and when creating new characters and new fictional names, I followed that pattern as a basic idea. One female character found in the crossword was Tóla, and it sounded Icelandic to me, so I had her originate in the Iceland equivalent of my setting. The young alchemist character's family name was Savru, which sounded Finnish to me, so I assigned him origins in a country inspired by Finland and its history and ethnography. The private detective character was named Dekseriu, a name which sounded rather Romanian to me, so a Romania-inspired country as his homeland became a part of his overall backstory. I also reasoned that Dekseriu (or Deks for short) was actually a pet-name or nickname, and his full formal name was Dekseriux. :-p

One of the newer crossword puzzle derived names, provided by my friend, was "Rurup". I liked the sound of this name (there's also a surname involved, that I can't recall right now) and I decided this would be the name of a police chief character I've been thinking about adding to Melza. (The City Watch characters are some of those that I left off for later, when the setting will be better defined. At this point, I'm shifting my focus to them, as most of the commoner, patrician, scientist and cultural personality characters have already been covered.) I eventually concluded that Rurup is a loose equivalent of our world's "Rufus" and that it would be fitting for my idea of the police chief being rather pompous and a bit full of himself, because he comes from a family that recently became wealthy and rose through the social ranks of the city. So, while not a bad man, he's a little vain, and likes to think his name befits his recently gained "upper class" status and very powerful position. ;-)

Concerning placenames, in Melza specifically, all of the other settlements in that little statelet - aside from the city of Melza itself - are essentially in-jokes by me. They are all descriptive names, but originally in Slovak, and then flipped backwards, resulting in odd, fantasy-sounding names. The mining town of Atrav (or Árast Atrav, as its full name stands) is derived from "Stará Varta", or "Varta" for short, meaning "Old Watch" or "Old Sentinel" (a varta being any fortified place guarded by a vartáš, a watchman or guard). In-universe, Atrav was and is a strategically important mining city, so it has had some fortifications and a garrison ever since it was founded many centuries ago. The other town of the statelet, the smaller spa town Enemarp, is actually "Pramene", i.e. "Springs" in English. :-) The seven villages have the following in-joke names: Jáh comes from "Háj", "Grove", Rátoch is "Chotár", "Rural boundary, bourne". Ynivork is "Kroviny" backwards, which means "Shaws", "Shrub thickets", the wine and fruit growing upland village of Ňolbaj is "Jabloň", i.e. "Apple tree", "Appledore" (fairly fitting, given the orchards and vineyards), Étilaks is "Skalité", "Rockton", "Stone-ville" (as it's in the mountains and has a quarry), the agricultural village of Ones is "Seno", "Hay". The smallest village in the mountains, Koraj, is actually "Jarok", i.e. "Gully", "Little stream", after the small mountain stream flowing through it. That covers all the Melzan settlements. Small country, whimsical but apt placenames.


Q: How do you pronounce Melza ?
A: That depends... There are actually variant spellings, particularly two, that are commonly used even in-universe. The first is straightforward, you just read it as it's written, with a clear "z", i.e. "zee" or "zed". The "-za" as in "Zambia". The second pronunciation is more reminescent of real world German pronunciation of that particular letter. A "z" pronounced as a "ts", or West Slavic "c", if you will. So, in this second pronunciation variant, I hear "Melca", while an English speaker would hear "Meltsa". Which should you use ? Whichever you want. A made-up city, I doubt any of the fictional locals would object... ;-) They use both interchangeably, based on habit.


Q: What does the name of the city mean ?
A: No one actually knows ! Even in-universe, it's an old name, from more ancient times, and no one's quite sure about the exact etymology. I like to think the sound evokes the real world terms "meld", "melded", and by extension, things that meld and blend into each other. Fairly appropriate for a city that's such a cultural blender, and proud of it ! ;-)


Q: Was the city named after the great river that flows through it ?
A: I like to think of the Melza river as the Danube of central Aporue. Yes, the city is named after the river that flows through it. And the barony, the whole statelet, was in turn named after the city, its centre of power.

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