Why could our!Ciel's real name be Astre?
Ok, I know that we are all in shock, Kuro tag is full of theories, hints, observations… And many of us have started calling our!Ciel with the second name Yana-san had initially thought as option for our Earl: Astre. In Idk what reblog/comment, I wrote that I hope his real name to be as epic as Ciel (but let me add one thing: no matter what his names is, he is and will always be our precious sinnamon roll Ciel Phantomhive) and a “standard” name would not give the idea of this. After all… A traditional British Victorian name like Henry (total random) would not sort the same effect of a French unusual name like Ciel or Astre. Now, being a writer myself, I know that for an author, naming their own characters is like naming their children. You must think of every single detail in order to make your characters unforgettable and especially when we are talking about protagonists, the choice of the name is something that you can be able to explain, in particular when you are very focussed on details and hints, and Yana-san is this wonderful kind of author. Preface apart, there are lots of theories about the name. Until now, we only know that “Ciel Phantomhive” is not the Earl’s real name. Although I was for Cedric initially (because of the reference to Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hogdson Burnett (Frances/Burnett) and Cedric is also the name of Vincent’s father -also giving for good the idea that Vincent knew who his real father was -), the idea of Astre/Aster seems to me more plausible. First of all: the star theme. Yana-san uses this pattern in lots of scenes. The whole Blue Sect arc talks about stars. The Four Lords are named after stars and Sirius, who is a binary system is the brightest star in the night sky. No wonder Lord Sirius is actually Ciel. Then, Blavat and his words. Sebastian is a black hole who is sucking the brighness of our!Ciel. Guess how this scene is portrayed? Sebastian with a star in his hand. I am on my mobile but please, check that star, I am curious to know how many points it has. Also: the eight pointed star. Some moments before writing this post I was searching for the name meaning of Astre. I found mythology, Greek goddesses, planets and similar, so I tried with Aster. The results were.. Uuuuh wow!! Aster is a name associated with the goddess Ishtar, who is also known as the morning star, whose other name is Light-Bringer and whose symbol is an eight-pointed-star.
https://www.google.it/amp/s/mysteryoftheiniquity.com/2014/01/14/the-8-pointed-star-symbol/amp/
http://www.marcovuyet.com/ALARMA%20LA%20STELLA%20DI%20ISHTAR.htm (edit: this was the link, even if it’s in Italian)
What I’ve found interesting is that the eight-pointed-star has some references to Great Britain and the Royal Family, but another detail that caught my attention is not only that in this way we have Sirius (Star of the Evening) - real Ciel and Ishtar/Aster (Star of the Morning) - our Ciel, but also that Ishtar is linked to Easter (the origin of the cult seems to be linked to the cult of this goddess) and the Easter chapter was a plot twist because Elizabeth started questioning herself about what happened during the fatal month. Coincidence? I think not. With love. Adam Kadmon. Ok, just joking right now! XD Now, take the names Aster, translate it in French and you’ll have Astre, coincidentally, the second name that Yana-san had thought. Also, from a practical point of view: when you have several names and you like them, why choosing something completely different? So, considering hints so far and the fact that Yana-san hides things en pleine vue… I really believe that our Ciel’s real name is Astre Phantomhive. And after all… Ishtar is a goddess associated with maternity too, and the “Mother” is a quite important framework in this story~ Anyway, we shall see next time, hopefully!!
I know Astre has gained a lot of support lately, and it *could* end up being canon, thanks mostly to what’s listed in the Character Guide.
However, Ishtar, the “morning star” or “light-bringer”, is also tied up with Lucifer (exact same meaning), since both are actually references to Venus. It’s technically a planet. People just thought for a very long time that it was a star because they didn’t think there were other planets. They didn’t know what else in the night sky could be shining, other than a star. But in the early morning, the last “starlight” to fade away as the dawn breaks is actually the reflection off of Venus. In this way, Ishtar/Lucifer/Attar/Astre – it is a *false* star…. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer Actually, I have to admit these old myths tie in very well with our earl - desiring the highest power but then thrown into the depths of the underworld….
And a couple names I prefer, Luce and Luke (both also French), would fit the bill just fine. Luce is a near-anagram to Ciel (the “i” becomes a “u”). Luke is farther off, letter-wise, but it’s a male name. Luce is traditionally a girl’s name, but considering how: our earl takes after Rachel, Rachel has dressed him as a girl (“With Father”), Madam Red wanted a daughter and helped deliver these twins, Madam Red and Sebastian dressed him as a girl (first time in manga canon) for Druitt’s party, Vincent says he sometimes wishes they’d had a daughter (“With Father”), the earl ends up dressed as a girl in the second drama cd, and he is dressed as a girl (second time in manga canon) in the Green Witch arc…. Our earl could have indeed been given a “girl” name.
Of course, we could still end up with a true anagram, like Elic… or it could get a more Japanese-friendly pronunciation: Eric.
**Any which way this goes**, I’m really excited to eventually find out our earl’s true given name!
I must clarify, though, that Elic and Eric have different meanings.
Elic - protection Eric - ruler
