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  1. The Elder Scrolls: Tamriel
  2. Lore

Naming Schemes of Tamriel

Skyrim (Nords)

Personal Names
Nordic names favor harsh consonants, single toponyms, and honorific surnames tied to deeds or lineage. Given names are often monosyllabic or compound-hard. Surnames may be patronymic, occupational, or earned.

  • Examples: Ulfric Stormcloak, Ragna Bear-Blood, Bjorn Icevein

  • Patronymics: -son, -dottir (regional)

  • Epithets earned through deeds are common.

Place Names
Geographic, descriptive, and austere. Often combine terrain + function.

  • Suffixes: -hold, -stead, -watch, -hall

  • Examples: Whiterun, Windhelm, Dawnstar

Titles
Practical and martial. Jarl, Thane, Shield-Brother, Skald.


Cyrodiil (Imperials)

Personal Names
Latinized, formal, and hierarchical. Given name + family name, with titles indicating rank.

  • Examples: Lucius Septimus, Aurelia Valeria

  • Noble Houses emphasize lineage continuity.

Place Names
Classical and monumental; often named after founders, saints, or geography.

  • Suffixes: -ium, -polis, -ford

  • Examples: Imperial City, Bravil, Cheydinhal

Titles
Bureaucratic and legal: Count, Primus, Legate, Magistrate.


High Rock (Bretons)

Personal Names
Romance-influenced with elven bleed-through. Flowing given names with hereditary surnames.

  • Examples: Alard Montclair, Yselle Dufort

  • Noble surnames often tied to estates.

Place Names
Feudal and poetic, frequently ancestral.

  • Suffixes: -mont, -court, -haven

  • Examples: Wayrest, Daggerfall

Titles
Feudal stratification: King, Duke, Baron, Castellan, Magister.


Morrowind (Dunmer)

Personal Names
Given name + House name, often sharp and sibilant. Ancestral reverence is explicit.

  • Examples: Nerevar Indoril, Almalexia

  • Ashlanders use clan-based identifiers.

Place Names
Ancient, ritualistic, and layered with meaning. Apostrophes and compound phonemes common.

  • Examples: Vivec, Ald’ruhn, Narsis

Titles
House and Temple-centric: Hortator, Councilor, Archcanon.


Valenwood (Bosmer)

Personal Names
Fluid and story-based. Names may change over a lifetime. Often melodic and natural.

  • Examples: Ereval Green-Whisper, Linwen Root-Singer

  • Surnames are earned narratives.

Place Names
Organic and living. Names describe relationships with the Green.

  • Examples: Elden Root, Silvenar

  • Less permanence; locations may rename themselves.

Titles
Spiritual and communal: Spinner, Treethane, Green Lady.


Summerset Isles (Altmer)

Personal Names
Formal, polysyllabic, and lineage-heavy. Given names reflect ancestral pride.

  • Examples: Calionwe Aurelion, Larethian

  • Titles often outrank surnames.

Place Names
Architectural and exalted, implying perfection.

  • Suffixes: -lor, -riel, -meris

  • Examples: Alinor, Lillandril

Titles
Scholarly and hierarchical: Kinlord, Sapiarch, Justiciar.


Hammerfell (Redguards)

Personal Names
Yokudan-derived, strong vowels and honorific chains. Lineage and deeds matter.

  • Examples: Azhar ibn Rihad, Saadia al-Hatu

  • Use of ibn/bint (son/daughter of) common.

Place Names
Descriptive and geographic, often ancient.

  • Examples: Sentinel, Rihad, Taneth

Titles
Martial and noble: Ansei, Sword-Saint, Vizier.


Black Marsh (Argonians)

Personal Names
Translational names in Tamrielic tongues; original Jel names are contextual.

  • Examples: He-Who-Watches, Walks-Through-Mud

  • Names can and do change with life events.

Place Names
Fluid and environmental. Often functional.

  • Examples: Stormhold, Thorn

  • Jel names rarely translate cleanly.

Titles
Spiritual-functionary: Sap-Speaker, Root-Walker.


Elsweyr (Khajiit)

Personal Names
Moon-phase dependent prefixes with flowing suffixes. Identity tied to lunar birth.

  • Examples: J’zargo, M’aiq

  • Prefixes: J’ (adult), S’ (youth), Ra’ (elder)

Place Names
Poetic and desert-inspired.

  • Examples: Rimmen, Senchal

Titles
Spiritual and societal: Mane, Moon-Bishop.


Orcs (Orsimer – Cross-Provincial)

Personal Names
Short, forceful, clan-based.

  • Examples: Ghorbash gro-Dushnikh

  • gro- (son of), gra- (daughter of)

Place Names
Fortified and utilitarian.

  • Examples: Orsinium

Titles
Strength-based: Chief, Wise-Woman.


General Naming Rules for Use In-Game

  • People: Reflect culture, lineage, and belief systems first.

  • Places: Describe function or myth before aesthetics.

  • Titles: Convey authority source (martial, divine, bureaucratic).

  • Change: Names may evolve with events, especially among Bosmer and Argonians.


Summary

Tamrielic naming is not cosmetic—it is identity, memory, and politics made audible. To name a person or place correctly is to anchor them within history, belief, and power. Use these conventions to ensure consistency, immersion, and narrative credibility across the world.