Anyone noticed Renarin's name is significant?

[RandomCable he/him]

Hear me out

Renarin's name written out in the woman's script is:
(apologies for the awful representation, please forgive me)

 <|>l<+->
 

< = r

> = n

| = e

l = a

+- = i

 

it looks better in the actual script, give it a try.

Similar to an echoing waveform, dying off over time?
Welp
Ima leave it to the theorists to glean the meaning from this.

[Verdance he/him]

What did his name mean? I forget, but Alethi names are composited from prefixes and suffixes of other words or something. Might be significant.

[PanLin they/he]

7 hours ago, Verdance said:

What did his name mean? I forget, but Alethi names are composited from prefixes and suffixes of other words or something. Might be significant.

From the wiki:

Spoiler

Evi asked Dalinar via spanreed request for a name, but received no reply, and so she named her son herself. Renarin was a combination of the Riran name Re, and the Alethi words Nar ("like unto," final syllable in "Dalinar") and In ("to be born unto"), which she intended to mean "Re, born unto Dalinar."^[50] When Dalinar learned of this, he disliked the name, interpreting it as Like one who was born unto himself.^[50] Curiously, Evi's translation proved similar to Sja-anat's later title for him, "Son of Thorns."^[2]

Sounds like Evi wanted him to basically be named Re Dalinarson. Son of Thorns is interesting, though.

 

7 hours ago, RandomCable said:

it looks better in the actual script, give it a try.

Just grabbed the glyphs from the wiki:

 

The consonants are nice and symmetrical, but not sure if the vowels are intentional—a better match for the pattern would be 'Renaron'.

[Verdance he/him]

1 hour ago, PanLin said:

From the wiki:

  Hide contents

Evi asked Dalinar via spanreed request for a name, but received no reply, and so she named her son herself. Renarin was a combination of the Riran name Re, and the Alethi words Nar ("like unto," final syllable in "Dalinar") and In ("to be born unto"), which she intended to mean "Re, born unto Dalinar."^[50] When Dalinar learned of this, he disliked the name, interpreting it as Like one who was born unto himself.^[50] Curiously, Evi's translation proved similar to Sja-anat's later title for him, "Son of Thorns."^[2]

Sounds like Evi wanted him to basically be named Re Dalinarson. Son of Thorns is interesting, though.

 

Just grabbed the glyphs from the wiki:

 

The consonants are nice and symmetrical, but not sure if the vowels are intentional—a better match for the pattern would be 'Renaron'.

Hmmm… super cool. 
maybe my theory isn’t related at all. Oh well. 
maybe this is my weird first impression talking, but while ‘Renaron’ would make sense, I think Brandon chose ‘Renarin’ as the former sounds slightly too masculine for his character. Or maybe I’m just crazy.

[Frustration]

3 hours ago, PanLin said:

From the wiki:

  Hide contents

Evi asked Dalinar via spanreed request for a name, but received no reply, and so she named her son herself. Renarin was a combination of the Riran name Re, and the Alethi words Nar ("like unto," final syllable in "Dalinar") and In ("to be born unto"), which she intended to mean "Re, born unto Dalinar."^[50] When Dalinar learned of this, he disliked the name, interpreting it as Like one who was born unto himself.^[50] Curiously, Evi's translation proved similar to Sja-anat's later title for him, "Son of Thorns."^[2]

Sounds like Evi wanted him to basically be named Re Dalinarson. Son of Thorns is interesting, though.

 

Just grabbed the glyphs from the wiki:

 

The consonants are nice and symmetrical, but not sure if the vowels are intentional—a better match for the pattern would be 'Renaron'.

The interpretation in the wiki is given by fans, Oathbringer doesn't say that.

 

On Renarin meaning Like one who is born unto himself reminds me of the Hebrew name for God, which is sometimes translated as the Self Existant One.

[Verdance he/him]

2 hours ago, Frustration said:

The interpretation in the wiki is given by fans, Oathbringer doesn't say that.

 

On Renarin meaning Like one who is born unto himself reminds me of the Hebrew name for God, which is sometimes translated as the Self Existant One.

“I Am Who I Am” (exodus 3:14)

[Frustration]

49 minutes ago, Verdance said:

“I Am Who I Am” (exodus 3:14)

I'm not sure I understand

[Verdance he/him]

5 minutes ago, Frustration said:

I'm not sure I understand

Oh, just giving you the exact quote you were referencing 

[Nitpicking]

Also translated into English as "I am I am". Or by Popeye the Sailor-Man as "I yam what I yam."

[earthexile]

On 4/24/2026 at 2:30 PM, Frustration said:

I'm not sure I understand

It's a concept from the Abrahamic religions, when God declares himself to Moses he says his name is "I Am That I Am," or "I am Who I am," I've seen both a lot of times. Ancient languages can be funny like that. It's usually interpreted to imply that God is a sort of absolute prerequisite to existence in the first place, the baseline for Reality, which is why his identity can be summed up as Existence.

I read Renarin's name a little differently. Dalinar translates the name Evi's come up with as "Like one who was born unto himself," which on the surface is crazy. People aren't born "to" themselves, right? But proper Alethi names often seem to be references to honored family members, historical figures, the Heralds of course, or religious concepts. Shallan was named for Shalash, with the idea being that she'd embody the divine traits of a feminine Herald. Sadeas is named for Sadees the Sunmaker, a great Alethi conquistador he seeks to emulate in uniting the nation. These names are assignations of purpose, intentional choices to propel a child along a chosen path. Ialai's parents knew that proper Vorin folks would find her name a little naughty, and they did it anyway. This is a culture where you're born belonging to something and you'd better have a good attitude about doing it.

Renarin isn't given someone to follow or live up to. He is "one born unto himself," which in this context could mean "One Who Makes His Own Path."

Edited April 27 by earthexile

[RandomCable he/him]

On 4/28/2026 at 2:07 AM, earthexile said:

Renarin isn't given someone to follow or live up to. He is "one born unto himself," which in this context could mean "One Who Makes His Own Path."

I really like this interpretation!