[OB] Names in SA

[Diomedes]

Here is a short list on the significance of names in SA: 

 

Renar-in    Like one who was born unto himself; (OB p. 515)

Kalad-in     He who was born unto eternity; Kalad: eternity (OB, p.519) , in: to be born unto (OB p.515)

Shallan      likely a play on the name of the herald Shalash, patron of the Lightweavers, known for creativity (!) and honesty (?)  https://coppermind.net/wiki/Shalash   

Sylphrena  phren means "mind" in ancient greek ("phrenology"), that would fit since Syl is a creature of the cognitive realm, Syl does not have a meaning in greek though.    

Phendorana  (Tefts spren), she who gives the shine/ the shinegiving one; phen greek for shine ("phantom"), doron greek for gift/present ("Dorothee": the gift of god)  

Notum       spren on the ship in Shadesmar in OB, the famous one, the gender is neuter for this spren (!) http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/adjective:notus

Rua          (Lopens spren) probably from ruga latin for street (rue street in french), he likes to make rude gestures and all the other Honorsprens names are also greek/latin  

Jasnah      jasna means bright/plain/straightforward in polish and many slavic languages, could be just a coincidence. However, it would fit just too well.

These are the ones I came up with. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Diomedes

[+ElephantEarwax he/him]

Adol-in, I want to say was Born unto Light

[Alderant she/her]

1 hour ago, Diomedes said:

Here is a short list on the significance of names in SA: 

 

Renar-in    Like one who was born unto himself; (OB p. 515)

Kalad-in     He who was born unto eternity; Kalad: eternity (OB, p.519) , in: to be born unto (OB p.515)

Shallan      likely a play on the name of the herald Shalash, patron of the Lightweavers, known for creativity (!) and honesty (?)  https://coppermind.net/wiki/Shalash   

Sylphrena  phren means "mind" in ancient greek ("phrenology"), that would fit since Syl is a creature of the cognitive realm, Syl does not have a meaning in greek though.    

Phendorana  (Tefts spren), she who gives the shine/ the shinegiving one; phen greek for shine ("phantom"), doron greek for gift/present ("Dorothee": the gift of god)  

Notum       spren on the ship in Shadesmar in OB, the famous one, the gender is neuter for this spren (!) http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/adjective:notus

Rua          (Lopens spren) probably from ruga latin for street (rue street in french), he likes to make rude gestures and all the other Honorsprens names are also greek/latin  

Jasnah      jasna means bright/plain/straightforward in polish and many slavic languages, could be just a coincidence. However, it would fit just too well.

These are the ones I came up with. 

Neat analysis! I didn't know about some of those--I'm not versed in latin or greek at all, but it doesn't surprise me that the definition of jasna shares so much with Jasnah's characteristics. It's a common way to build character bases--pick a name, find something that sounds like it that means something interesting, and then use that as a foundation for the character, but the fact that it still occurs that way is interesting. Have a cookie!

Spoiler

 

[RShara she/her]

I seem to recall Syl coming from the word "sylph"? 

Quote

sylph

silf/

noun

noun: sylph; plural noun: sylphs

1. 1.

   an imaginary spirit of the air.

So Sylphrena could be a combination of Sylph and Phren.  A mental spirit of the air?

 

For Phenadora, woule "light" or "brightness" fit?  She who gives light, or She who grants brightness?

 

For Jasnah:

Quote

Questioner

Jasnah's name. What was the origin for it?

Brandon Sanderson

Jasnah's name predates most of the language work that I did. It comes from ancient, kind of Semetic languages-- playing around with those. And then her name became one of the ones that I built the language around. Because after I had named her, and written the whole book, I had named her and Dalinar. Kaladin's name changed once I had rebuilt the linguistics. Shallan's name changed once I rebuilt the linguistics. But Dalinar and Jasnah kind of became the origins. But it's ancient-- you know, a blend of Arabic and Hebrew. It's kind of-- yeah.

Questioner

Because I have an interesting tidbit--

Brandon Sanderson

Uh-huh

Questioner

"Jasna" in Polish actually means "bright."

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, I've been told that! Just-- I went to Poland, like, last-- like a couple of months ago, and they're like, "Did you know this?" I had no idea.

source

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by RShara

[hypatia she/her]

Rena can also be the shortform for Renata meaning 'reborn'

[Diomedes]

1 hour ago, RShara said:

So Sylphrena could be a combination of Sylph and Phren.  A mental spirit of the air?

yes! that would fit perfectly. 

 

1 hour ago, RShara said:

For Phenadora, woule "light" or "brightness" fit?  She who gives light, or She who grants brightness?

that is also possible.  I cause to appear, bring to light; I show, uncover, reveal; I shine, give light. those are all valid translations to the corresponding verb. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/φαίνω#Ancient_Greek   

1 hour ago, RShara said:

Yeah, I've been told that! Just-- I went to Poland, like, last-- like a couple of months ago, and they're like, "Did you know this?" I had no idea.

So this is a coincidence.

Concerning Kaladin, I think his name might be foreshadowing that he will have a very long life. 

The fact that all the Honorspren have these latin/greek names instead of normal understandable ones like all other spren (Ivory, Pattern..) could speak to their snobbish attitude. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Diomedes

[Song she/her]

13 hours ago, Diomedes said:

 

Renar-in    Like one who was born unto himself; (OB p. 515)

I did wonder about this. We get it from Dalinar's perspective, who sees the name as proof that Evi isn't great with language. But the name, as well as being part Evi and part Dalinar- could almost mean- one born to be themselves.

We know Evi didn't love her husbands culture, and was brighter than people supposed. I wonder if she hoped Renarin would be different from those around him, and liked the name for that reason.

 

[digitalbusker he/him]

I think we're taking Evi's description too literally. I don't think they have a sound in her language that is literally understood to mean "himself" (or I do, but I don't think it's "renar"). I think she picked it because she liked the sound of it, and when her husband asked what it means, she pointed at Renarin and said "it means him".

If I had named my son some random sounds that I liked, say "Burbo", when somebody inevitably asked me what that means I wouldn't have an answer except to point to my son and say "Burbo means him, that child right there, the one whose name is Burbo."

Now later somebody might Google it and decide that it's a reference to an offshore wind farm in the UK. They might decide that his name means some combination of remote, powerful, and windy. But that's all after the fact analysis, because I wasn't aware when I picked it. That's how most modern American naming works, frankly. Parents pick names for their kids based on lots of factors, but "this name has a literal meaning that people are expected to understand" is rarely one of them. (Prudence, Charity, et al are relics of a time when this was more common.)

[CrazyRioter she/her]

With regard to Pattern, his actual name is numbers, Pattern is a nickname for convenience. And Ivory renamed himself after bonding Jasnah to deliver one rude gesture to his people who objected to his choices so his name can't be taken as evidence of the naming conventions of his kind of spren.

[Willshaping Crasher]

On 2/22/2018 at 0:17 PM, Diomedes said:

Sylphrena  phren means "mind" in ancient greek ("phrenology"), that would fit since Syl is a creature of the cognitive realm, Syl does not have a meaning in greek though.  

 

On 2/22/2018 at 2:08 PM, RShara said:

I seem to recall Syl coming from the word "sylph"? 

Quote

sylph

silf/

noun

noun: sylph; plural noun: sylphs

1. 1.

   an imaginary spirit of the air.

So Sylphrena could be a combination of Sylph and Phren.  A mental spirit of the air?

I think mental spirit of the air works perfectly.  Possibly a bit of serendipity, but syl is a variation of the greek syn (as used in syllable and syllogism) meaning "together" or "with". So Sylphrena, the mental spirit of air, kept her mind together in spite of the loss of her previous Radiant and Kaladin's struggle with his hatred of lighteyes.

 

[Yata he/him]

There is also:

Oroden: Child of peace

[Solant he/him]

Questioner

Did Kaladin’s name come from anywhere in particular?

Brandon Sanderson

No. I'm sure the word paladin was in the back of my head, but it's not like he shares much with like an actual paladin. His name was Merin in the initial version and it was-- it didn't work, he wasn't a Merin and all the fans-- all the readers were like "this name just doesn't work" so I spent years hunting for the right name for him, and that's the one I ended up with. It's really based-- it's Kalak, which is the Storm-- not really the Stormfather but people y'know. Most of the names you'll find are based off one of the Heralds in some way. So he's KALA + DIN, Kalak and din is a suffix.

Isaac Stewart

We do have a meaning for it though. Can I tell them the meaning?

Brandon Sanderson

Ehhh, have we canonized it?

Isaac Stewart

We have canonized it, and we have told people before.

Brandon Sanderson

Then yeah.

Isaac Stewart

It means "Born unto Eternity".

Brandon Sanderson

...I mean, it means that in the same way that names mean something, like my name means-- But when they're naming him that they aren't thinking that. What they are doing is picking one of the Heralds and making a name out of it. But my name technically means "Dweller by the Beacon", but really what it means is "He was the son of Alexander".

source

[Willow]

Another interesting thing about Sylphrena's name is that back when the Way of Kings was first being written, she used to have a different name:

Quote

Brandon Sanderson
At first, I was thinking of only a small number of important spren. So Syl started as simply "the East Wind".

These winds, in Greek lore, have specific names. The east wind is usually called Eurus. Of the three other names, the west wind is Zephyrus. But more interestingly, the North and South winds are called Boreas and Notus, respectively. I think it's very likely that Borea (the first mate) and Notum (the captain of Honor's Path) are named for those two winds.

Also, I'm still not quite convinced Phendorana is Teft's spren. Spren don't usually travel that far from their Radiant, and it would mean she went to the other side of Roshar to look at Bridge Four, while Teft stayed behind in Urithiru. (Of course, none of that matters when we're just discussing her name. )

 

[Strifelover]

On 3/4/2018 at 0:27 AM, Solant said:

Isaac Stewart

It means "Born unto Eternity".

Brandon Sanderson

...I mean, it means that in the same way that names mean something, like my name means-- But when they're naming him that they aren't thinking that. What they are doing is picking one of the Heralds and making a name out of it. But my name technically means "Dweller by the Beacon", but really what it means is "He was the son of Alexander".

source

It's interesting that Kaladin's name implies a long life, as mentioned in that WOB and in a previous comment, and a major part of his character development/arc is that he feels tremendous guilt that he always survives when his friends and companions die. Based on that WOB it doesn't seem that Brandon intended that connection, but it's a cool one nonetheless. Normally you'd think if a name meant long life it would be a positive thing, but in Kaladin's case it's very negative and associated with his depression.