Naming Conventions on Linomnount
There is a common convention for naming children throughout most of Linomnount. Parents give the newborn a first name of their choosing. It is usually a noun describing something from nature (Pond, Lark, Raven, River, etc). The newborn takes their parent’s shared family name as their last name. Last names are typically two nature nouns compounded into a single word (Snowpine, Skybrand, Quickstream, Berryfig, etc). All names are genderless. It does not occur to people that one name is meant for boys or another name is meant for girls.
When a couple gets married, one spouse replaces their last name with their spouse’s last name. Again, gender is not taken into consideration when choosing last names, especially with same sex marriage being a normal occurrence. The person that proposes marriage to their partner is the person whose name is taken by their spouse.
This is a fun, game-like tradition for couples considering marriage. What name will the couple end up with? Older family members on both sides like to tease the couple. They will say such things as, “You better hurry up and propose or you will end up as a Brownstump!”
This tradition is all in good fun though. Common sense tells people not to rush into marriage, just to be the first to propose. Some folks rush and make mistakes. Others wait until the time is right. There is no stigma attached to who takes which name. One spouse is not lesser than the other.
Some people have less usual names, that is to say, names that fit the scheme but are not natural nouns. Take Shatterbone for example. A bone is natural. Shatter is not a noun, but an action occurring in nature. This sort of name is less common, yet accepted by all as normal.
A rarer option is taking one’s profession as their last name. Sometimes, people do not wish to use their family’s last name as their own. Their reasons can be many and varied. A rather famous man from The Demon Plague Verses is named Sunbeam Magister. He goes by Unbe for short.
This brings us to nicknames. People shorten first names as they please. One of the Unfated Wanderers, from The Demon Plague Verses is named Vilerend, but goes by Vil.