Hi everyone,
I've been trying to think of a name for the sky goddess in my world, but with no success. I'm pretty picky about the names of my deities, because they're important to the world and and the setting. I'm hoping to get some names that I might be able to use for her, or even just some inspiration. I'm looking for something easy to pronounce, maybe not too long, and possibly windy/airy sounding.
I've looked at several names that mean sky, heavens, bird, etc. and found a few good ones, but those have been used fairly heavily in popular culture, and I'd like something a bit more original/obscure. I won't mention any of the names I've considered, so as not to taint your minds and ideas about it.
To get you thinking, I'll tell you a bit about the goddess. She's the creator deity and chief of the pantheon. She made the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the birds. Haven't decided yet, but it's likely that she's also the mother of the god who created everything else. There's a gliding (not flying) bird race in my world, and she's their patron goddess too. She's the goddess of weather and basically anything to do with the sky. Finally, she is also the goddess of prophecies, divinations and so on. In this world, any future telling is related to the sky or weather and needs her blessing.
In my world, the sun, moon, stars, and ocean are great ancient "things". They aren't gods, are not alive, and are not prayed to. There is no sun god or ocean god. They are more like natural forces (like fire) or features (like mountains). When on a stormy sea, you would pray to the weather goddess to calm it, instead of the sea god or the sea itself.
Therefore, as the goddess who created the heavens (and more), is the patron of the bird people, controls the weather and can tell the future, she's extremely influential and popular (even more reason to have a good name). I'll paste in the description I've got so far. It's the first draft and I haven't thought heaps about the details yet, and the domains may change slightly. Oh, as a side note, if you've got any ideas about possible titles for here, I'd be interested in those too. I've got a few below, but they're all a bit samey. WHere the goddess' name would normally appear, I've used She and Her as place holders.
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Titles: Goddess of the Stars and Sky, Divine Augur, Goddess of Weather and Warning, Goddess of Forecasts
Portfolio: Astrology, prophecy, divination, weather, navigation, birds
Domains: Air, Animal, Knowledge, Water, WeatherShe is the goddess of the sky and everything in it: the sun, the moon, the stars, the birds and the weather. She teaches that the events of the world are mirrored in the sky above, and that by watching the movement and relative positions of the celestial bodies you can predict and foresee worldly events. In addition to astrology, She teaches other forms of divination, always related to the sky or weather, such as interpreting lightning strikes or driftwood washed up after a storm, reading the flight of birds and reading the entrails of birds sacrificed to Her. Astrologers, sages, diviners, prophets, augurs and haruspices, all worship Her, devoting themselves to gleaning wisdom and insight from the sky.
As a weather goddess, She has many worshippers outside of diviners, such as fishers, sailors, farmers, druids and most common people. On the seas and small islands, people rely heavily on the weather, where a monsoon can capsize a ship or flood a village, and a drought can deplete an island’s water supply and destroy a good harvest. Because of this, She is one of the most widely worshipped gods in the Archipelago. Common people routinely look to Her priests for advice about when to plant and harvest their crops, when to plan a sea voyage, and all sorts of other matters relating to life on the islands.
Her priests are often prominent figures or even leaders of communities, where they are deeply involved with the people, searching the skies for signs telling the potential of newborns, warning of trouble or war brewing in neighbouring villages, and early notice of harsh weather conditions. Most towns have at least one priest of Her, who they consult on major decisions affecting the town. Indeed, even when everything seems perfect, such as finding a good place to build a village or finding a faster shipping route, Her priests are consulted and if their readings don’t bode well, the action is not taken.
Thanks in advance. I look forward to what people come up with :)
These are what popped into my head:
Aevora, Cielara, Avidya, Yeseral
I like Aevora most.
Thanks for the quick response :)
Those are some nice names. I'd have to agree: out of those, I like Aevora the most. It's very good, and clicks with me straight away.
My pleasure. I've always been good at naming stuff. :)
I can certainly believe that, when an idea off the top of your head trumps the ones I've been thinking about for a few days :)
Any ideas about possible titles for her? I like the Weather and Warning one. But calling her "Goddess of..." gets bland after one or two. Windmaiden or Sky Mother and things like that are more what I'm looking for, instead of basically just a description of her domains. Actually, those two aren't bad... I'll make a note of them.
Seeing as such a good name came up so quickly, I may as well hijack my own thread and ask if you've got any good earthy names for her son. While she created the heavens and controls the weather, he created islands in the endless sea, and sculpted humans and other beings to walk upon the earth. I don't have much written up about him, or much of an idea really, except that he's her son, god of craft and creation (nicknamed The Sculptor) with a earthen sounding name. Where she made things in the beginning and now tells the future, I'm thinking he's more constantly involved in creation and craft, maybe thought to be closer than she is. Not sure if these details really help or not. Anyway, thought I'd put it out there.
Ariel comes to mind. I know it's a male spirit in Shakespeare, but it always felt like female name to me. The Wind Warden, the Fourfold Mother (as in the compass).
Ariel comes to mind. I know it's a male spirit in Shakespeare, but it always felt like female name to me. The Wind Warden, the Fourfold Mother (as in the compass).
Hmm... cool. I like that too. Yes, please note, that while I did like the name Fatespinner came up with, I'm still open to suggestions.
As she's a creator deity, I've actually been looking at names that sound (or are) both male and female, because both are needed for creation.
Wind Warden. Fourfold Mother. Awesome! I like them. Thanks.
Ásatru, as in the ancient scandinavian paganic religion.
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Seeing as such a good name came up so quickly, I may as well hijack my own thread and ask if you've got any good earthy names for her son. While she created the heavens and controls the weather, he created islands in the endless sea, and sculpted humans and other beings to walk upon the earth.
Hmmm, earth god eh? Lord of the Terrestrial...
Thuridane, Hazumel, Erokk, Shaloth
Thuridane's my favorite, but if you want him to be more robust and powerful, Erokk has a lot of weight to it.
Earth? Kraakor. Branjorch. Keldmar. I like the last one best.
Edit: Actually, Keldmar sounds familiar. I may have used it in something, or stole it. Meh. Still cool.
Galateal, the Skyseer.
'Alvion' or 'Avion', The Life-breath of Ages.
Seeing as such a good name came up so quickly, I may as well hijack my own thread and ask if you've got any good earthy names for her son. While she created the heavens and controls the weather, he created islands in the endless sea, and sculpted humans and other beings to walk upon the earth. I don't have much written up about him, or much of an idea really, except that he's her son, god of craft and creation (nicknamed The Sculptor) with a earthen sounding name. Where she made things in the beginning and now tells the future, I'm thinking he's more constantly involved in creation and craft, maybe thought to be closer than she is. Not sure if these details really help or not. Anyway, thought I'd put it out there.
Garioch just popped into my head for the son.
Pronounced, Gare like bear I like eye ick like sICK.
Aw man! I suck! :(
I use Google Reader to watch threads for me, and I guess it (or I) stuffed up for this one, because I only just came back to it now and there's heaps of responses I didn't see before!
My thanks and apologies to everyone who suggested names. Sorry I didn't reply. I'm gonna try and fix it up in Google Reader now and check it myself too, to make sure I don't miss any posts.
These are all great names. I'm thinking that even for the ones I don't use, there's some good ones here for lesser gods or aspects/avatars.
I really like Skyseer and Lifebreath. Garioch sounds cool too, but maybe for another god. Erokk and Thuridane are great for the earth god, too. The earth god is meant to be kinda an artist (sculptor) so Thuridane probably fits better. Dragonmann's combination of the two makes me think about why he'd have a surname, and gets my mind going about all sorts of demi-god stuff. Good food for thought :)
If you'll forgive me for not responding for so long, then I'd like to present another challenge. I've got some good names for this next god, but there's some great ideas here, so you guys might come up with something better. Also, I don't have any titles for him, so that's open too.
He is the God of power, politics, diplomacy, nobility, magic.
His domains are Community, Knowledge, Law, Magic, Nobility, Protection.
His alignment is Lawful Neutral.
I wanted to make him kinda Machiavellian, but then I changed my mind, because he's meant to be the god of all politics and nobles, and Machiavellian stuff is pretty LN or LE from what I've read of it. His faith will definitely have some Machiavellian followers though. Anyway, as I said, I've got a few ideas for him, but if anyone can come up with any cool (sorta noble) sounding names, that'd be great :)
hehe how much do you want to mess with your players? Are you looking for a name that will allude to mystery or just want something that sounds cool or do you have a particular theme; I would suggest several names; name each of her aspects for sky; storm, blistering sun, gentle rain, breath of life ect. I names a good many of my significant npc women with names all starting with the letter A; hehe, drives my players crazy. Every time they meet a female npc they alway really want to know her name; hehe and the translations into other languages and if it is a nickname, they are bit paranoid about it; rightly so I guess, as we have had a great deal of fun with it.
hehe you might want to invest in a book I saw in Dragon 341 called Peoples Names (pretend it is underlined for me) by Holly Ingraham which reportedly has like 40k names collected throughout history. I have several such books that I use as well as several naming databases online.
hehe how much do you want to mess with your players? Are you looking for a name that will allude to mystery or just want something that sounds cool or do you have a particular theme; I would suggest several names; name each of her aspects for sky; storm, blistering sun, gentle rain, breath of life ect. I names a good many of my significant npc women with names all starting with the letter A; hehe, drives my players crazy. Every time they meet a female npc they alway really want to know her name; hehe and the translations into other languages and if it is a nickname, they are bit paranoid about it; rightly so I guess, as we have had a great deal of fun with it.
hehe you might want to invest in a book I saw in Dragon 341 called Peoples Names (pretend it is underlined for me) by Holly Ingraham which reportedly has like 40k names collected throughout history. I have several such books that I use as well as several naming databases online.
Hmmm... cool. I use a lot of name generators and baby name things too, but it's always interesting to hear other people's ideas as well. As for messing with the players, maybe that'll come later. For most of these names, I'm generally wanting something that when you hear it and hear what the god's domains are, it "sounds" like they match. So, using the example of Aevora, that's a good one because it sounds feminine and like "avian" and so on. So basically just names that sounds "right", and/or have a slightly deeper meaning. I dislike using names that are too common though, which is why I ditch the baby names things sometimes. If I like a name, I first search Google and Wikipedia to see if it means anything already and how common it is.
Earth? Kraakor. Branjorch. Keldmar. I like the last one best.
Edit: Actually, Keldmar sounds familiar. I may have used it in something, or stole it. Meh. Still cool.
Yes, you stole it from me.
As a title for her how about The Immanent One. The reason because she is in everything and is everywhere. Just like the Lady in wiccan religion, just a suggestion. For a name maybe Arianna.
Yes, you stole it from me.Earth? Kraakor. Branjorch. Keldmar. I like the last one best.
Edit: Actually, Keldmar sounds familiar. I may have used it in something, or stole it. Meh. Still cool.
Dirk how could you!!! XD
As a title for her how about The Immanent One. The reason because she is in everything and is everywhere. Just like the Lady in wiccan religion, just a suggestion. For a name maybe Arianna.
As a title for her how about The Immanent One. The reason because she is in everything and is everywhere. Just like the Lady in wiccan religion, just a suggestion. For a name maybe Arianna.
Hmm, I like both of those. Cool, thanks. I'll have to read about the Lady.
Dirk how could you!!! XDYes, you stole it from me.Earth? Kraakor. Branjorch. Keldmar. I like the last one best.
Edit: Actually, Keldmar sounds familiar. I may have used it in something, or stole it. Meh. Still cool.
Dirk's not here now. It's just me. Only me.
Okay, I'm pretty set on Aevora and Thuridane for the names of the Sky Goddess and her Earth God son. Thanks to everyone for your help :)
I'm still trying to work out a name for the god of power, politics, diplomacy, nobility and magic. I had one, but it is too much like Thuridane, so I need a new one.
I'm also trying to work out the name of the uber-evil ooga-booga mysterious unknown god of my world. He's so unknowable that he doesn't have a holy symbol or any statues or anything. I guess he's kinda like Cthulhu and other Lovecraftian beasties. He's the god of depths, madness, mystery, death and destruction. I want his name to be unpronounceable, to add to his mystery. For an example of what I mean, it'd be kinda like YHWH or some of the Lovecraftian names. The name I've got at the moment is Qxh’t but I'm very open to suggestions. However, I want to avoid really long names. I also need to come up with some "He Who Must Not Be Named" type titles for people to refer to him by, and some shorter ones, such as "That God" or the "Unspoken".
Thanks for all your efforts here, everyone. It really is very much appreciated, and as I mentioned, all the names I don't use are going onto my list of names for lesser gods and other things :)
EDIT: I've just come up with a suitable name for the god of politics, but if people want to throw more names out there, that's fine.
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I like grabbing names of old scientists and tweaking. Maybe the politics god could be Farad? (From Faraday) Simple yet oddly polite :)
An unpronouncable name? Maybe worshippers have to hollow out molars and then fill one with metal and the other with ceramic. Then they can make a fork-in-a-bowl noise ;)
I like grabbing names of old scientists and tweaking. Maybe the politics god could be Farad? (From Faraday) Simple yet oddly polite :)
An unpronounceable name? Maybe worshippers have to hollow out molars and then fill one with metal and the other with ceramic. Then they can make a fork-in-a-bowl noise ;)
Hey, those are cool ideas. Thanks! I like names being different but reminding you of something, so that scientist idea works well :)
Ha! Cool. I think with any "unpronounceable" name, people will quickly come up with a way to pronounce it (whether that be hollowing out their teeth, or 'guesstimating'). But that's okay. People say Cthulhu all the time, but are still not 100% certain how to say it. I like that worshippers would mutilate themselves in some way to say their gods name. Creepy.
Thanks for your ideas.