Ti'varnan Naming

## The -nan suffix added to a name roughly means ‘dwellers of’.

Ti’varnan means "Dwellers of Ti’var".

This rule applies mostly to surnames, in which some families give themselves a family name from the name of the town in which their tribe takes residence or the name of the tribe itself. The name of a location of residence is more common, as the practice of naming one’s family after a tribe is more recent. Family names in a tribe will likely still vary, though it is not entirely unknown for a whole tribe to name themselves after the tribe or the place that they live.

#### *Examples:*

* Jurgen Ar’elnan is a member of the Ar’el tribe of Ti’var. He arrived in Othel with the rest of the tribe and participated in the clearing of the town.
* Klyden Ythe is also a member of the Ar’el tribe. His family uses a surname that they can trace back to before the civil war. Klyden fought alongside Jurgen and other members of the tribe to find a home in Othel.
* Anara Othelnan is another member of the tribe. Her family lived in Othel under the thumb of one of the gangs and joined the Ar’el tribe once the town was cleared out. She and her family know Othel well and are often called upon to assist with matters concerning the town.

## Male names generally begin with consonants and female names generally begin with vowels, though there are often exceptions.

This rule is not set in stone. There are some males whose names begin with vowels, and some females whose names begin with consonants, more so in the case of the latter since there are far more consonants than vowels to be found in the alphabet. However, this is generally the case with many Ti’varnans that one may meet.

#### *Examples:*

* Vharek Ar’elnan is a priest of the Ar’el. He concerns himself with the faith of other tribe members and is the go-to individual to ask after the quantities of items that belong to the Ar’el, as he is in charge of their logistics.
* Enla Ythe is the wife of Klyden Ythe. She spends her time hunting waterfowl and turtles outside the crumbled walls of Othel, to contribute to the communal cooking pots of the tribe.
* Kyla Fyranan is a magic caster kept as a slave by the tribe. While her name starts with a consonant, she is female. Her slavery to the tribe came about when she stumbled into Othel and foolishly displayed magic to the Ar’el. She is kept in a separate building from others and is tasked with performing magic for the tribe in exchange for meals, a roof, and continued life.

## The name of a place, family, or tribe is sometimes split into two parts, based on a merging of two bodies to become one.

Such mergings of names are surprisingly common in Ti’var, as there are often times that such a thing is the practical thing to do. This is not always the case with names, as some places and tribes spring up on their own, and some family names are left over from the civil war or newly created.

#### *Examples:*

* The twin cities of Askatan and Taranir were built from scratch during the height of Ti’var, not from the convenient merging of towns or villages. As such, their names are not split.

* The settlement Nelarn is a new settlement created by traders from a gathering of camps. As a result, it does not have a split name.

* The name of Ti’var suggests that it was formed through a merger of two governing bodies. While this may be the case, there are few who claim that they know the identities of the contributors, and these assertions are often lacking in evidence. To most, Ti’var is a single nation, and few bother to question beyond that. Whatever individual national identities there may have been appear to have long since dissolved (If ever there were any).
* The Ar’el tribe was formed by the merger of two tribes that followed the Path - the Arthet and Elmarth tribes, who chose to band together to overcome a marauding tribe that worshipped the Shattered One.

* Garan Bar’tarel and his wife Iara Bar’tarel are newlyweds in the Ar'el tribe. They chose to merge their family names of Barshel and Tarelnan as part of their marriage.

* Jhem Mharl is the Speaker of the Ar’el tribe. His role is that of key decision maker, and he is often the first to interact with outsiders from the tribe. His surname is its own creation, inherited from his family before him.