Argonian Names

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I am surprised that this topic hasn't been raised before but I was writing the lines for a character in a quest I'm writing for the Dark Brotherhood mod and I suddenly stopped to think...is there a reason why some Argonians are named in their 'descriptive phrase' format such as 'Hauls-Ropes-Faster' and others bear a sort of Far Eastern flavour, such as 'Weebum-Na'?

If not, would it be worth including such lore in a quest? And would the lore monkeys start howling like they've lost their bananas because we'd taken liberties with an unexplained 'hole'?

The obvious ways of sub-dividing the names would be by either class, region or tribe.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of tribal differences, not only because it seems authentic but because there is likely to be a concrete, event-based reason for the distinction...which would make the source of an interesting quest into past tribal history.

However, the others have their advantages too. I'm planning to have my own Argonian (for the quest I'm doing) as an ambassador from the Black Marsh to the Valga dynasty of Cyrodiil. As a noble, I was going to give him the 'Weebum-Na' style of name. Then again, the deeper you get into the Black Marsh, the more likely you're going to get involved with the supernatural and superstition so the 'American Indian' flavour of the 'Hauls-Ropes-Faster' style looks more feasible. However, you could always blend this last idea with the other two i.e. all high class, 'Imperialised' Argonians live in the Northern and outer regions, or all the traditional tribes come from deepest Argonia.

Other reasons might include loyalty to the Hist or familial connections or having once been on a particular side during a civil war. Of course, even these are compatible (and can blended) with the options above. What do others think?

[MarcusAurelio]

I might have misunderstood your point, but a quest in MW seemed to imply that in most cases the "Weebam-Na" type name can be translated into an Indian-style name and vice versa, you might remember that one.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I haven't a clue about MW. I've never played it!

[Deeza]

Yeah, I remember that now MarcusAurelio mentioned it.

In MW someone says quite explicitly that the "descriptive phrase" names are a literal translation into Imperial (ie. english) of the Argonian name.

For example, there's an Argonian character in Morrowind who people know as "Hides-His-Eyes", which is what his name literally means, but someone tells you that his actual name in Argonian is "Hai-Ej", which is what the NPC is called when you meet him in-game.

These descriptive names are given to them (presumably according to their personality) on "naming day", when young Argonians first commune with the Hist and (possibly) become sentient. So the ones that live in Imperial-controlled areas will probably have adopted Imperial naming conventions, and the ones living deeper into the swamps use their real, descriptive names, as you suggested.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Does that mean that some might actually be lacking an actual 'Argonian' name in the sense of the 'Weebum-Na' style? And the others would, theoretically at least, have both?

[MarcusAurelio]

Originally posted by Ibsen's Ghost
Does that mean that some might actually be lacking an actual 'Argonian' name in the sense of the 'Weebum-Na' style? And the others would, theoretically at least, have both?

I'd say yes.

[Deeza]

So do I.

The ones born outside the deep marsh, who have never seen a Hist, wouldn't have that kind of name. And a lot of Argonians who were born there but later moved abroad would have both.