what's in a name

[threebetrayals]

Sender: Anonymous
To: Everyone
Subject: Names

[Sorry, he's not going to put his "name" to something like this. It's awkward, and given that his "name" right now is just "Nameless Wanderer", he's pretty sure attaching it to this post would get people asking questions that aren't any of their business.]

Do you like your name? What does it mean? Who gave it to you? Would you change it if you could, and if you would what would it be?

I'm doing some research on names and why humans get so attached to them or don't.

Comments

Sender: General Nuadha (when you open a tab right before going on a trip and then FORGET TO TAG IT)

[burnttoashes]

Mine is a name I chose for myself. It comes from the god of the sea, one of the three founding deities of my world.

It suits me well enough.

[More than his original name does, because that man is long dead... quite literally.]

OH NO

[threebetrayals]

[This guy again.]

Just well enough?

[burnttoashes]

[Hi Wanderer, it's your best friend!]

It has no ties to my past. That is all I desire from it.

[A nice, easy delineation between who he used to be and who he is now, in other words.]

[threebetrayals]

[Oh.

Well.

He's not sure how he feels about relating to that.]

I see. Does it simply mean "god of the sea"?

[burnttoashes]

It has taken on that meaning over time due to its association with the god. Originally it was just a name.

[There is, in fact, more to it than that, but it's not something he's going to divulge in public.]

Dana, Nuadha, and Balor-- the three gods of Tir Na Nog. They're names that everyone in my world is at least familiar with.

[threebetrayals]

I see. Why pick the name of a god? Are you fond of the sea?

[burnttoashes]

My country was bordered by the sea... you could say it was a part of our identity. Though it may be gone now, the memories are still dear to me. The name is a way of honoring that much.

[threebetrayals]

[Ah. That explains some of it.

Not how much of a jerk this guy is, but some of the rest of this conversation.]

I see. [...Maybe he could do similar, for a name.] And the other two gods?

[burnttoashes]

Dana is the sun goddess that Bifrost follows. Naming myself after her would have been presumptuous.

And Balor... we do not worship him. I have no connection to him, nor does anyone else in Bifrost.

[threebetrayals]

God of death?

[burnttoashes]

In a sense. It is prophesied that powers derived from him will bring about the world's destruction.

[threebetrayals]

Oh, is that all? How old are these prophecies?

[burnttoashes]

["Is that all?" Sir pls. Do you know how much trouble has happened in his world as a result of Balor...]

Thousands of years old. Why?

[threebetrayals]

Those sorts of prophecies rarely hold any water, that's all.