I have some questions about naming ocs within the Pandora (Avatar) Universe
With Ikran it seems to be names with meanings derived from nature/appearance as "Seze" means "blue flower" so I have comfortably been able to name my Ikran ocs
But I'm struggling when it comes to Na'vi
Some film character names seem to have meanings derived/constructed from multiple Na'vi words, and other names like Lo'ak don't seem to have a specific meaning at all
So how are people going about naming their Na'vi ocs? And are there websites that help with meanings (besides reykunyu.lu)
some of the names may be used for either masculine, feminine, or androgynous characters, i just compiled them in the two categories. if you have any ideas to add, feel free to comment them and i'll do my best as to add them!
I am giving BIRTH (coming up with character arcs) I am naming my CHILD (naming my character from my book) I am MOURNING my children (just killed multiple of them in order for the plot)
It seems many people struggle with finding surnames for their characters. I know i do. I work at a library and live next to a cemetery, and therefore see a lot of unique surnames quite often. I've started writing them down, along with their origins, where they're used, and their meanings, if I can find them.
I'll admit, my criteria for where they're used (called usage) is pretty loosey-goosey. I suggest you check the forebears.io links I provide! I'm not entirely certain of their accuracy, but it's the best i can find without academic institution access or money, and lots of others seem to trust them.
I'm not sure yet if I'll update this list to only be As and Bs or just make As and Bs part two. I'll have to do only a couple of letters every post. I tried to do a lot more names, but Tumblr mobile didn't appreciate how long my draft was and how many links were in it, so this'll have to be split up into a lot of posts.
Languages in this list: German, English, Arabic, Yoruba, Swedish, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Welsh, Polish, Slovene, Scottish, Hungarian, Croatian, Italian, and kind of/maybe Basque, Akkadian, Yiddish
Usage in this list: All names appear in the USA, because that's where I live. I will probably miss some, because there's a lot, but I know I have at least one of: USA, England, Canada, India, Chile, Iran, Tanzania, Nigeria, Chad, Indonesia, Germany, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Sweden, the Philippines, Guatemala, Angola, Mexico, Mozambique, Peru, Bolivia, Portugal, Brazil, Russia, Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Romania, Poland, Australia, Jamaica, Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia, Jews (ethnic group), Italy
Aboff - Origin: English - Usage: USA - This game was likely derived from a centuries-long game of Telephone. It is most likely a variant of Acuff, which is itself a variant of Aculf, which in itself is an anglicized patronymic surname derived from the Old Norse forename Agúlfr, which means "terror wolf." - Forebears / Aboff FamilySearch (You can access the page for Acuff via this page, which I also used for reference)
Agosin - Origin: unknown - Usage: Chile, USA - Can't find much on this name. A Chilean-American writer and feminist by the name of Marjorie Agosin is likely the most notable person with the name, and her Wikipedia page was the only other site with useful info that I could find. - Forebears / Marjorie Agosin
Amos - Origin: Ancient Hebrew - Usage: Tanzania, Nigeria, Chad - Taken from the forename Amos, meaning "load," "burden," or "burden-bearer." The name derived from the Biblical figure Amos, who is one of the twelve minor prophets in the tanakh (or Old Testament, if you're Christian). - Forebears / Behind the Name
Angkasa - Origin: Chinese, Indonesian - Usage: Indonesia - A more Indonesian-sounding version of Chinese surname Hong. Indonesia has a pretty sizeable amount of ethnically Chinese residents. Hong means "flood, big, great." The forename Angkasa (also Indonesian) means "sky, space." - MyChinaRoots / Behind the Name / Forebears
Angleberger - Origin: German - Usage: USA - from Middle High German word "angel," meaning "angle" or "hook," and "berger," a topographical surname used by those who lived on or near mountains and hills. Despite its origin, it's pretty much only used in the USA. The spelling "Angelberger" is more common in German-speaking countries. - myheritage (name meaning) / forebears
Ansari - Origin: Arabic - Usage: largely India (Hindi, Marathi), Iran - term for people who recieve and help migrants. Derives from the name the Prophet Muhammad gave to the people of Medina, who helped when him and his companions had to flee Mecca. - forebears / Wikipedia (Ansari)
Appelt - Origin: Possibly Dutch - Usage: Germany - Likely a place name related to Apeldoorn, a city in Holland. - Forebears / House of Names
Arceneaux - Origin: French - Usage: USA (Louisiana) - Variant of Arsenault, a version of the name that remains much more common in Canada. Either means "one who was in charge of the arsenal," or a habitational name derived from someone who lived in Arcine, in Haute-Savoie, a department of France that resides in Normandy. - Forebears / Forebears (Arsenault) / House of Names
Ayoade - Origin: Yoruba - Usage: Nigeria - "the joy of the crown." Spelled Ayọ̀adé in Yoruba. - Forebears / Yoruba Names
Ayoub - Origin: Arabic - Usage: Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon - Form of Job, from the Bible. - Forebears / Behind the Name
Axelsson - Origin: Swedish - Usage: Sweden - means "Son of Axel" - Forebears / Behind the Name
Babbitt - Origin: English - Usage: USA - Likely a surname derived from a given name. Could be Babb/Babba, typically a diminuative of Barbara, or from Bobbitt, a variant of Middle English personal name Bobbe. - Forebears / Behind the Name
Badua - Origin: Philippines, likely Tagalog or Ilocano - Usage: Philippines - Likely a name originating from the Spanish colonial period, when usage of surnames became mandated. Used commonly in a region where Iloko/Iloco/Ilocano is spoken, so I would wager it's either that or Tagalog/Filipino. One site uses the explanation that it comes from badu, the Tagalog word for "bush, shrub, small tree," but that doesn't make sense, because there are several Tagalog words for bush and small tree and that is none of them. The closest I can find in Tagalog/Filipino at the present moment to badu is baduy/badoy, which means "lame, out of style, tacky, uncool." In Ilocano, the word for clothes is closest: baduan. - Forebears / MyHeritage / Tagalog.com / Ilocano Dictionary (only linking the dictionary sites I used because I will meet my link limit much faster if I link every single word I tried. For the record, I tried bush, shrub, small tree, and badua in both dictionaries).
Bagnold - Origin: English - Usage: England, Jamaica? - Likely a place name denoting someone from Bagnall, a township in Staffordshire. - House of Names / Forebears
Baltazar - Origin: Hebrew, Akkadian - Usage: Angola, Mexico, Philippines, Mozambique, Peru, Guatemala, Bolivia, Portugal - From given name Baltazar. Traditionally a name assigned to one of the three wise men who visited the newborn Jesus. A variant of Belshazzar, who, in the Old Testament's Book of Daniel, was the last king of Babylon. This variant means "Marduk protect the king," with Bal/Ba'al being a name for Babylonian god Marduk. Over time, it's become a more generic "God protect the king," or "God protects life." - Forebears / Behind the Name: Baltazar (if I were to individually link every page I used, I would run out of link space much quicker. Luckily, every page I've visited is able to be accessed from Baltazar. Starting on Baltazar, go to Balthazar, then to Belshazzar, then Bel. Bits and pieces were used from each page.)
Balcarcel - Origin: Spanish - Usage: Guatemala - Variant of Valcarcel, which is a habitational name coming from any of the places in modern day Spain named Valcarcel. The place name stems from val (valley) and cárcel (prison), in this case "prison" meaning a narrow or confined space, like a narrow gorge - Forebears / Ancestry
Barinova - Origin: Russian - Usage: Russia - means "descendant of a boyar," which was a person that was in the highest rank of feudal aristocracy in many Eastern European countries, including places that would later become Russia. (Note: the only source I can find for the meaning of this surname is a user-submitted reference on Forebears. I don't know how accurate it is). - Forebears / Wikipedia (Boyar)
Baum - Origin: German - Usage: Germany, USA, Jewish people - means "tree" in German, although one source claims it actually comes from a shortened form of "Schlagbaum," a tollgate. - Forebears / Behind the Name
Beckhorn - Origin: German? - Usage: USA and like 1 guy in Thailand - can't find much! It's a pretty rare surname. Could possibly be an Americanized version of Bockhorn, which is a place name for a hamlet in Northern Germany named Bokern, OR combination of "boken" (Low German for "birch tree") and "horn" (Low German for a steep hill). This is all conjecture, though. I have nothing to go off of except that they're similar sounding names from Germanic languages. Fun variants: Beckhorne, Bieckhorn, Beckorn, Bockhorn - Forebears (Beckhorn) / Forebears (Bockhorn)
Beltz - Origin: German - Usage: USA - Occupational name for a tanner of hides - Forebears / Behind the Name
Benedis - Origin: Latin? - Usage: USA - Likely from Latin "Benedict," meaning "blessed." Again, conjecture. - Forebears / Wikipedia (Benedict)
Benko - Origin: Hungarian, Croatian, and/or Slovene - Usage: USA, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary - a user on forebears.io states that it comes from the given name Ben, with the diminuative suffix -ko added later on. From there, it went on to become a surname. They say the Hungarian name "Ben" can come from Benjamin (son of my right hand) or Latin Benedict/Benedek (blessed, or "be good"). Note: in Hungary, it's more likely to be spelled Benkó. - Forebears / Behind the Name
Benoist - Origin: French/Languedoc - Usage: France - May derive from the family of Saint Benoît d'Aniane, which is a name with a lot of regional variants, including Benoit, Benois, Benoie, Benoyte, etc. - House of Names / Forebears
Bertman - Origin: ? - Usage: USA - The USA has the most people with this surname by far, but countries with high amounts of/historical Jewish and Orthodox Christian communities also use it. I can't find many good statistics on the name, though, or a meaning. - Forebears
Betancourt - Origin: Spanish, Portuguese, technically French - Usage: Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico - Used throughout Latin America, with those three being the highest. A Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the French "Bethencourt," a place-based surname derived from the Norman (Northern France) feudal holding of the same name. - Forebears / Behind the Name
Biberdorf - Origin: German, Yiddish? - Usage: USA, Canada - Means "beaver village," from "biber," which is beaver, and "dorf," which translates to village or hamlet. Interestingly, the majority of Biberdorfs in the USA are Republican (72.55%) while nearly that same percentage of Bieberdorfs in the USA are Democrat (74.19%). Conclusion: woke is stored in the E - Forebears / MyHeritage
Bigelow - Origin: English - Usage: USA - Means "dweller on or near the barley hill" or "one who came from Baguely," which is the name of several places in England. It seems that the vast majority of Bigelows came to America, as there are 15,578 with the surname in the USA and only 34 in England. Canada is the only other place with Bigelow numbers in the thousands, at 1,603. - Forebears
Billingsley - Origin: English - Usage: USA, England - Likely a place name, denoting someone from Billingsley, a parish in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, in England, bordering Wales. - Forebears
Binks - Origin: Northern England and Scotland - Usage: all English-speaking countries, but mostly England - There are plenty of theories, all of which conclude that it came from the Scottish/Geordie dialect of a different surname. Ideas of what that different surname would be varies from Bank(s), Bilk(s), and Bing(e)(s). Although it came from England and most of its usage is there, the name appears quite a bit in the USA and Canada and has incidences everywhere in the Core Anglosphere (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), USA) - Forebears / Behind the Name
Birchall - Origin: English - Usage: English, Australian - It's agreed upon that this is a location name. Not much else is agreed upon. One source says it's from Birtles, in Cheshire, England. Another says it's from Birchill (birch-hill), a place in both Derbyshire and Staffordshire. A third says it's from Birch Hall, as in a hall of birch trees, and a fourth says it's from Bircholt in Kent. - Forebears / Behind the Name
Binns - Origin: Northern England and Scotland- Usage: England, USA - Although it is mostly used in England (5,933) and the USA (5,702), it is also used in Australia (1,564), Jamaica (1,417), and other places in the Core Anglosphere and Central America & Caribbean to a lesser extent. The name is thought to come from southern Scotland (Roxburgh/Linlithgow/West Lothian) and Northern England (Yorkshire/Lincolnshire) as a place name (as in, a town called Binns) or a patronym, from Anglo-Saxon names similar to it (Bynna, Binna), or a patronym derived from the Dutch (Flemish) Bins or German Binas. One source claims the Scottish name and the English name are unrelated. - Forebears
Bird - Origin: English - Usage: Anglosphere - The animal. Usually derived from being nicknamed "bird" for having birdlike qualities (i.e. good at singing, big nose, etc). Another source is likely an occupational surname for one who raised or hunted birds. One guy named Henry Barber claimed that it's derived from words in other languages, which, like, I guess? - Forebears / Behind the Name
Birdsall - Origin: English - Usage: USA - Either "of Birstall," a village parish in Yorkshire, or-- wait. Wait what. Someone's created an entire website for this last name. Okay. Well. In the Domesday Book, which is a record of the Great Survey done at the request of William the Conqueror, the town was called Briteshala, which is anglo-saxon for "Brid's sloping land." The land was then gifted and leased to a series of owners, and along the way it slowly became called Birdsall. Those from Birdsall took the surname "de Bridshalle" and later de Birdsall, which then became just "Birdsall." - birdsall.ca / Forebears
Birney - Origin: Scottish - Usage: USA - There's also a good amount of people with the surname in Ireland, England, Canada, and Scotland (not much in Northern Ireland), but by far it's the most used in the USA. It's not a super common surname, with forebears.io recording just 3,040 people with this surname worldwide. It is a place name and comes from a parish in Moray, Scotland. It was first Brennath, then Bienach, then Branach, then Byrneth, the Birne, then Byrny. The Gaelic form is recorded as Mac Biorna. The more Irish version is Bierney, but it only has 44 bearers. Beirney is the variant most used in Canada - Forebears / Behind the Name
Blakemore - Origin: English - Usage: USA, English - either from "Blackmore/Blackmoor" (black + moor) or "Blakemore/Blakemeer" (white + moor). Either way, it's a location name. - Forebears
Bledsoe - English or Slovene - Usage: USA - Either from a town in Bedfordshire or a lake in Slovenia. - Forebears
Blejwas - Origin: Polish - Usage: Poland - Also used in the USA, although the incidence is less than half of that in Poland (236) at 112. I can't find any listed meaning. - Forebears
Bloor - Origin: English - Usage: English - Either from a parish/township in Staffordshire or an occupational surname for a blower. I'm going to assume glass blower. - Forebears
Blevins - Origin: Welsh - Usage: USA - Despite being derived from the Welsh word for "wolf," this surname gets the majority of its usage in the USA. In fact, 98% of all Blevins worldwide (recorded on forebears.io) are in the USA. I suppose it makes sense, since theoretically Welsh people would be much more likely to have the Welsh version of the name, Bleddyn. - Forebears / Behind the Name
Bolivar/Bolívar - Origin: Basque, Spanish - Usage: Venezuela, Colombia, the Philippines, Spanish-speaking nations - from Bolíbar, the name of a small village in the Basque region, which lies in northern Spain and southwest France. It was then picked up by Spaniards, which they spread to their colonies. It remains more popular in their former colonies, with 1 in 10k Spaniards carrying the name today. - Forebears (the page for Bolívar is similar to that for Bolivar, except with less incidence, so I'm just sharing the one) / Behind the Name
Bondor - Origin: ? - Usage - Romania - There are many different versions of Bondor, making it hard to pin down an origin and meaning. It's used the most Romania, followed by Hungary then the USA. - Forebears
Booraem - Origin: ? - Usage: USA - a rare surname with an incidence of only 77, all seeming to be in the USA. - Forebears
Borba - Origin: Portuguese - Usage: Brazil - likely a location-based surname, deriving from either Borba, a municipality in Portugal; Borba DOC, a Portuguese wine region; or Borba, Amazonias, Brazil. - Places named Borba / Forebears / Behind the Name
Brallier - Origin: French - Usage: USA, one singular person in Canada - not used in France anymore. An occupational surname for one that made belts. - Ancestry / Forebears
Bramucci - Origin: Italian - Usage: Italy - Possibly an occupational surname coming from Italian "brama," one who yearns. - Name Census / Forebears
Brauner - Origin: German (Lower Saxony) - Usage: Germany - Patronymic form of Brun(o), Braun; Term denoting a follower of the Brunones, a dynasty of medieval Lower Saxony; habitational name for one in Brauna in Saxony or Braunau in Austria; Ashkenazic Jewish form of Brown. - FamilySearch / House of Names / Forebears
Briner - Origin: Swiss German - Usage: USA, Switzerland - Habitational surname related to Brin in the canton of Grison (Graubünden) or from the Brin valley. I would also go out on a limb and suggest that it could potentially be a occupational surname for one who brines, which is a form of preserving food. However, that may not be a specific thing and would potentially fall under Fisher or Cook. Could also be an American form of the German Breiner. - Behind the Name / FamilySearch / Forebears
Bruchac - Origin: Slovak - Usage: USA, kind of Slovakia - The form Brucháč is more common in Slovakia. Likely means "one who growls like a bear," or bru- (meaning brown, bear, or bruin) plus -chac, meaning person. - Joe Bruchac Blog / Forebears (Bruchac) / Forebears (Brucháč)
Brumbach - Origin: German - Usage: USA - habitational surname for any of the numerous places names Brombach in Germany. Also used in Germany but to a much lesser extent. - FamilySearch / Forebears
I have unfortunately run out of link space! The last two will be presented without direct links:
Budhos - Origin: ? - Usage: USA - likely a form of Budho, a surname found the most in Pakistan and India. One theory is that Budho(s) originates from Punjabi, a language spoken in the Punjab region of India, which is in the northern/slightly west part of the country. I have found no recorded meaning for either Budho or Budhos (besides "probably occupational"), and the relationship between the names remains just speculation. - https://forebears.io/surnames/budhos / https://lastnames.myheritage.com/last-name/budhos / https://forebears.io/surnames/budho
Bunzl - Origin: Austrian German or Slovak - Usage: Austria, USA - This one is interesting. It's probably one of those that shows where language borders lie in relation to country borders (which themselves were different when this surname started appearing). According to forebears.io, Bunzl, in that form, is mostly used in Austria (80), then USA (39), then England (22), and all the way down to multiple countries with just one. Nowhere is Slovakia mentioned. But there is a company called Bunzl that claim they originated in what is now Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. However, at the time, it was a part of Hapsburg Monarchy of Austria (the city was called Pozsony). There is also an author (who I believe I got this name from) that says it is from the Slovak side of his family. His grandfather was Jewish and went from Vienna, Austria, to England, but his family was Slovak. It's possible that it's an Austrian spelling of Bundzel, which has incidences in Slovakia. Either way, I can't find a meaning for it. - https://school.teachingbooks.net/pronounce.cgi?pid=2538# / https://forebears.io/surnames/bunzl / https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunzl
I've said that I'm HORRIBLE naming ocs, ao I think it's funny how you can clearly see if I named one oc or if he was named by my friends by how silly is their name, like
Gisell, Rosen, Tristan: all cool and beautiful names, all given by my friends
Pandemonium/Pande and Peine: both extremely stupid and both given by me 💔
Me: I'm just trying to name a background character. You can give me a name, right?
Behind the Name Generator: Sure
Me: And you'll avoid rare names, right? Like, I want something just kinda common. I'm just seeing what sparks joy. Just some common everyday sorta name.
