Au'Ra

[attr="class","about_1"] Naming Conventions

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The Auri naming conventions (as a whole) are similar to those of the Hyur, in that, instead of creating a new language for the race (as was done with the Miqo'te) or taking and tweaking a rule set for an existing Earth language (as was done with the Elezen) or a doing a little bit of both (as was done with the Roegadyn), we decided to use existing Earth names (almost) as-is. I say (almost), because we have taken some liberties with spellings to ensure that some possibly offensive letter combinations are avoided.

So, which Earth languages are we borrowing names from? Well, as most of you have already figured out, the Raen (Yugiri’s clan) borrows their names from Japanese. The second clan—the Xaela—take theirs from Mongolian. However, as is the case with Hyuran names, we have chosen to use names/spellings that slightly different than their modern equivalents. We’ll touch more on that in the detailed descriptions of each clan’s rules.


The Raen
Auri creation myth tells of a Dawn Father and a Dusk Mother from whom all Au Ra are descended. The Raen believe their veins to run thick with the blood of the former─their brilliant white scales and iron wills serving as proof of this divine lineage.

Unlike their sister clan, the Xaela, who bloody the land with endless tribal conflict, the Raen have embraced a life of tranquility and solitude, long abandoning the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors to settle the deep valleys of Othard's mountainous eastern reaches. Only on rare occasions will one emerge from the valley mists to seek adventure in realms afar.
(From the Character Creation screen)

If Raen names are based on Japanese names, does this mean that you can name your Auri warrior after your favorite anime character? Of course! You’ve always been able to do that. Does this mean that you can name your Auri warrior after your favorite anime character and still be within the boundaries of Raen naming conventions? Prrrrrrobably not—the main reason being because the names used in a lot of modern manga/anime are just that: modern. The names that we’ve decided to go with for Final Fantasy XIV, are based off of ones that were prevalent between the 16th and 18th centuries. The Miku in Miku Hatsune? That wasn’t around in the 17th century, so (unfortunately), it isn’t name a Raen family would consider for their daughter, no matter how green/cyan her hair.

Old Japanese names had meaning, and because of that, so do Raen names. Hozan is from 宝山, meaning “treasure mountain.” Yugiri is from 夕霧, meaning “evening mist.” So, simply taking some Japanese phonemes and combining them is not an option.

So, what type of meanings do typical male Raen names have? Here are a few examples:

ウンザン（雲山） Unzan (lit. cloud mountain)
カイエン（海燕） Kaien (lit. sea swallow -> storm petrel)
イッセ（一畝） Isse (lit. an ancient distance measuring approx. 30 steps)
ギョウセイ（暁星） Gyosei (lit. the dawn star)
フウゲツ（風月） Fugetsu (lit. wind moon -> a beautiful scene in nature)
For the most part, they have a strong link to things in nature which are believed to be strong, agile, or even uncontrollable. Farmers and fishers will take the names one step further and implement some form of their profession as well, 荒海 Kokai (lit. rough seas) being an example of this.

Now on to female forenames. Many female names are based off of plants, weather, birds, or the seasons─words that represent beauty and kindness in the Doman society. Here a few examples:

アジサイ（紫陽花） Ajisai (lit. Hydrangea)
イザヨイ（十六夜） Izayoi (lit. 16th night -> the 16/17th night of the 8th moon)
クモキリ（雲切） Kumokiri (lit. cloud cutter -> a type of orchid)
コハル（小春） Koharu (lit. small spring -> an Indian summer)
It goes without saying that the rules stated above are not set in stone. While it is not common, it is not entirely unheard of for a female Raen to have a name that might represent a powerful storm, or for a male to have a name that means “beautiful rose.”

Just as is the case with most of the other races, the Raen also have surnames (family names). Unlike their Auri ancestors who employed clan names as surnames, the now-clanless Raen have adopted a more complex practice. Families of the warrior class (and generally the ruling class) are the only people “allowed” surnames in Doma, and they will often take surnames that displayed their battle prowess or position within an army.

Some examples of this are as follows:

ブヘン（武辺） Buhen (lit. fight valiantly in battle)
ユヅカ（弓束） Yuzuka (lit. bow bundle -> quiver)
グンジ（軍侍） Gunji (lit. army samurai/warrior -> soldier)
ヤツルギ（八剣） Yatsurugi (lit. eight blades)
オビナタ（帯刀） Obinata (lit. blades on waist -> carrying two blades meant one was a warrior)
Though the names are not recognized by the ruling class, families of the merchant and peasant classes will still give themselves surnames as to make their everyday lives easier─the names reflecting their professions.

Some examples are:
モトカワ（原皮） → 猟師や革細工職人など
Motokawa (lit. origin skin) Used by hunters and tanners
ヌシヤ（塗師屋） → 漆器職人や漆器商人など
Nushiya (lit. paint master store) Used by lacquer painters and sellers of lacquered goods
ナエウリ（苗売）→ 農民や苗を売る商人など
Naeuri (lit. seedling seller) Used by farmers and sellers of seedlings
カサヌイ（笠縫） → 笠を作る職人など
Kasanui (lit. umbrella weaver) Used by umbrella makers
トリオイ（鳥追） → 農民や猟師など
Torioi (lit. bird chaser) Used by farmers and hunters
Now for the kicker.
Many of you who are aware of Japanese names, know that the surname is usually written before the forename (think Watanabe Ken in Japan vs. Ken Watanabe in the U.S.). What then, is the case with the Raen? In Doma, name order is as follows:

ヤツルギ（八剣）家のユキ（雪）
Yatsurugi no Yuki -> Yuki of the Yatsurugi family
Surname X + no + Forename Y -> Y of the X family
(‘no’ being the Raen (and hey, also Japanese) word for ‘of’)

However. Domans, knowing that the majority of races in Eorzea place their given names before their surnames, will follow the Eorzean order while visiting the realm. So Yuki Yatsurugi would be the common rendition of the Doman name.

What about spellings!?

For FFXIV, we have decided to use the Hepburn method of Romanizing Japanese. The Auri names you see in the game, as well as any other words based on Japanese (ninja actions, items from the Far East, etc.) will be spelled using the Hepburn rules. What are those rules? You can find them easily on that fantabulous set of tubes known as the Internets. Just pop in “Hepburn Romaji” and let your browser of choice do the rest.

For those of you who want to go really hardcore, you can also follow our in-game rules for dealing with the ‘U’ following an ‘O’.

Let’s take 宝山 (Hozan) from before.
The Japanese can be broken down into 4 phonemes ほうざん or HO, U, ZA, and N.
Why not write the name Houzan, then?
While that is one acceptable way of Romanizing the word, it’s not the method we’ve chosen for XIV.
We’ve chosen to omit the ‘u’ so that someone without knowledge of the Japanese language can pronounce the word in a manner that is close to the original Japanese pronunciation. In English, the ‘ou’ vowel combination is most of the time pronounced like ‘OW’ (as in ‘out’ or ‘ouch’). The う (U) in Japanese, when following an ‘O’ sound, instead extends the long vowel. In this case the short HO, becomes a slightly longer HO (like ‘hoe’). Removing the ‘u’ from Houzan and making it simply ‘Hozan’ creates a spelling that, when read by someone who doesn’t know about that magical Japanese ‘u,’ will sound similar to the Japanese pronunciation (Hoe-zan, instead of How-zan). Yes, this method is not without its flaws (that slight difference between a long ‘O’ and an extended long ‘O’ is lost), but it’s the one we’ve maintained since XI days, and have found that (for the most part) it works well.

We also will not be using hyphens or apostrophes in Raen names. This (as always) does not mean that you cannot use them if you wish, but know that in-game NPC names will go without them. Neither will we be using macrons (vowels with horizontal lines over them), because they don’t exist in our in-game font set. Acute users will notice that some in-game items from the Far East will have hyphens in them. Hyphens are used very rarely and only when a compound word that consists the first word ending and the second word beginning in a vowel (for example 脛当 sune-ate = lit. shin-guard). However, as many of you may have already noticed, hyphens are unfortunately not allowed in player names.

The rules for Raen names are pretty much guaranteed to confound anyone who hasn’t a very deep grasp of the Japanese language. It will be easy for most players to find words that might work, but the problem that will plague most will ultimately be “does it have that “olde” feeling.” This will take some work. Using the Net to find both forenames and surnames that were definitely used in the 16th to 18th centuries is a good start.

The Xaela
Auri creation myth tells of a Dawn Father and a Dusk Mother from whom all Au Ra are descended. The Xaela believe their veins to run thick with the blood of the latter─their lustrous black scales and fiery wills serving as proof of this divine lineage.

Unlike their sister clan, the Raen, who lead solitary lives hidden behind the savage peaks of Othard's eastern reaches, the Xaela are free spirits who roam the vast western steppe in close-knit tribes hunting, gathering, and warring as their ancestors have for countless generations.
(From the Character Creation screen)

As was mentioned earlier, Xaela names are based on Mongolian names/words used in the 15th century (give or take a few centuries). Lists of ancient Mongolian names can also be found on the Internet for those not versed in ancient Mongolian history (I’m guessing that’s a lot). To give you an idea of what we mean, here are a few male and female forenames already added to the FFXIV name database:

Male:
Ambagai
Chiledu
Tagadhur
Khudus
Ozbeg
Female:
Khojin
Mide
Alun
Dagasi
Ogul

Unlike Raen names, where the spellings are pretty much fixed, and there are no real variations for a single name, individual Xaela names come with multiple spellings, all of them acceptable. The Xaela, being nomadic, live lives that are one part solitary (when traveling as a clan) and one part community (when they interact with other clans they come across in their migrations). Because of this, similar names are used throughout the Othardian steppe, but they often feature slightly different spellings due to evolving separately in isolated clans. Also a factor is that, until recently, writing was almost non-existent amongst the tribes─written language simply not a necessity in the nomadic lifestyle.

The male names Jagadai, Chaghadai, and Tsagaday are all, essentially, the same name. However, in Othard (and FFXIV) they are considered unique.

While the Raen abandoned the method of using clan names as their surnames when they abandoned the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors, the Xaela continue the tradition. This means that, for the most part, Xaela surnames are the names of one of 51 existing clans. The following is a list of the clan names and a quick blurb describing the clan. The words used in tribe names are, for the most part, original words based loosely on 15th to 17th century Mongolian spellings.

Adarkim The largest of the Xaela tribes. While not the most skilled at battle, they overwhelm with numbers, taking losses in stride, knowing that a future victory over a weaker tribe will replenish their ranks.

Angura A small tribe which keeps mainly to the mountainous region of northeastern Othard. The glare reflected by the everlasting glaciers upon which they travel has rendered this tribe's skin color a deep rusty tone.

Arulaq A tribe thought lost 200 years ago, only recently discovered once again living in a secluded valley in the mountainous north.

Avagnar Though defeated and absorbed by the Adarkim, several of the proud tribe's members still secretly use its ancestral name, knowing that it could mean death if they are discovered.

Bairon A middle-sized tribe of the southern deserts and masters of survival in the driest of climes, the Bairon are all trained from a very young age to collect and drink their own bodily fluids, allowing them the ability to venture deep into places no other tribe will.

Bayaqud A tribe of the steppe’s western edges. Women from the Bayaqud tribe will traditionally take several husbands, as did the tribe's founding matron 2000 years ago.

Bolir A small tribe that earns its living by collecting the dung of the beastkin herds which roam the steppes. The dung is dried, turned into charcoal in temporary kilns, and sold to other tribes.

Borlaaq A tribe of all women. While breeding with men from other tribes is allowed, if a male is born into the tribe, he is given up within a year of birth.

Buduga An all-male tribe which only increases its ranks through battle and kidnapping.

Dalamiq One of only a few Xaela tribes which has abandoned the nomadic lifestyle and built a small village on an islet in the middle of a two-malm-wide span of the great inner river. It is said they once worshipped the now-fallen lesser moon.

Iriq A tribe that follows the Borlaaq, taking on any male children given up by the female warriors and raising them as their own.

Jhungid The second largest Xaela tribe. Mortal enemies with the Kharlu, the Jungid will spend the greater part of the year subjugating smaller tribes to swell their own ranks in preparation for an annual battle with the Kharlu--the winner gaining control over a large part of the eastern coastlands.

Kharlu The third largest Xaela tribe. Mortal enemies with the Jungid, the Kharlu will spend the greater part of the year subjugating smaller tribes to swell their own ranks in preparation for an annual battle with the Jungid--the winner gaining control over a large part of the eastern coastlands.

Khatayin A tribe which largely remains unseen, hunting goats in the mountains for nine moons of the year. The remaining three are spent at the foot of the great north range, where they survive off the dried meat they stocked.

Malqir A western steppe tribe characterized by its unique leader-choosing ritual which, instead of the usual test of brawn, is a game of Kharaqiq--a chess-like game played on a circular board divided into three rings.

Mankhad A costal tribe which fights with blow-darts made from bones dipped in the poison of the pufferfish. So practiced with the pipes are the tribe, that they can disable a target from 200 paces.

Mierqid A desert tribe which, over the course of a year, travels between over a hundred secret buried caches of supplies restocked with each annual visit.

Noykin Master trainers of the wild horses which populate the majority of steppe. It is said that the horsewives of the Noykin can break any beast if given but a week.

Olkund Selective breeding has seen the average height of the central steppe-dwelling Olkund tribe males reach over two and a half yalms. The females, for whatever reason, remain of an average height.

Dazkar Household duties such as cooking, cleaning, and childrearing are handled by the males of the Dazkar who, other than when on the move, rarely ever leave their family's yurts. Female Dazkar are tasked with hunting, and are known across the steppe as being some of the most accurate archers in the realm.

Oronir All members of the Oronir tribe believe themselves to be direct descendants of Azim, the tribe's god of the sun.

Oroq The Oroq create sleds made of reeds dipped in horse fat to help move their possessions and young children about the inner grasslands.

Qerel The warriors of this tribe all wear complete suits of armor crafted from the bones of steppe tigers which they kill with their own hands upon their coming of age.

Torgud This desert tribe does not wear any clothes, choosing instead to cover their bodies almost entirely in a white paint created from mud, lime, and bone meal. The paint helps to reflect the relentless desert sun.

Tumet The children of the Tumet, upon seeing their tenth summer, are tied to a sacred tree while the remainder of the tribe packs up and moves to their next location. Those children who manage to break free from their bonds and catch up with the tribe at that next location, are given a name and allowed into the tribe.

Ugund When members of this tribe die, their heads are removed from their bodies and placed in a jar of fermented goat milk. Once the liquid has been drunk by the head (in other words, evaporated), the head is then buried under an anthill so that the tiny workers can carry the spirit to the afterlife. The journey is thought to be a terrible one, the road filled with ghosts of the damned, so ensuring the spirit is drunk helps ease the journey.

Uyagir One of a handful of Xaela tribes which have given up the nomadic lifestyle. The Uyagir reside in a system of limestone caves on the northern edge of the southern deserts which are believed to have been dug by a race of giant oliphant-like beetles which were placed on the land by the gods to punish the elder tribes that had grown too greedy.

Dhoro An elusive tribe that avoids contact with most other tribes. Lookouts are posted all about their camps with orders to flee given the moment an outsider is spotted.

Orben A tribe that rides up and down the great inner river on boats woven from reeds and reinforced with scales from their own skin.

Ejinn A river tribe that chooses to swim from place to place rather than walk or take boats. It is said that members of the Ejinn can hold their breaths for up to a quarter bell, and will often migrate while almost completely submerged in order to avoid contact with hostile tribes.

Dotharl An extremely violent tribe with members who revel in massacre and are taught from a young age not to fear death. While they are quick to attack other tribes, mortality rates are high, ensuring that their numbers never grow too high.

Hotgo A tribe recently massacred by the Dotharl. The only members surviving are those who left the tribe to travel on their own and were not present during the killing. The Hotgo were known for their vibrant face paints which members would constantly change depending on their current mood.

Sagahl A tribe which sees all beastkin as equals with man, therefore refuses to eat or use them as beasts of burden. As a result, the diet of the Sagahl mainly consists of steppe shrubs and vilekin.

Kahkol A tribe made up of orphans and refugees from tribes defeated or destroyed. Many choose to combine the name of their old tribe with Kahkol.

Kha Unlike most of the Xaela, the Kha live on the fringes of the Xaela lands, actively seeking contact with non Auri peoples, introducing many aspects of those cultures into their own.

Mol A small tribe of devout worshippers of the elder gods, the Mol will consult with their deities (via a shaman conduit) before making any tribe-related decisions, from the direction of their next migration, to the beasts they will hunt each day for food.

Gesi The Gesi are masters of the slingspear, a mid-sized javelin carved from mammoth bone which, instead of being thrown by hand, is flung with a leather sling to improve range, speed, and killing power.

Kagon The Kagon are a nocturnal desert tribe who worship Nhaama, goddess of the moon and mortal enemy of Azim, god of the sun. Instructed by their goddess that to step into the sun is to succumb to the evil of Azim, they spend the daylight hours in their tents, only emerging to hunt and migrate at night. The result is an uncharacteristically pale skin for a group of people living in an almost eternally fair-weather locale.

Goro The Goro believe horses to be perfect beings, and each male and female, upon their coming of age, is married to a horse of the opposite sex. Reproductive mates are chosen by lots.

Gharl Before each migration, the Gharl will fill a sacred urn with the soil of the place they just camped. This soil is then dumped upon arriving at the next location. This tradition has been carried out for thousands of years, leading people to believe that most the steppe is now all of one soil.

Dataq The Dataq cover quite possibly the most area in their migrations, for they rarely stop in one area for longer than a few bells. Sleeping is all done in the saddle, and tents are only used when the rains are heavy and unbearable.

Haragin The legends of this coastal tribe tell of a group of their ancestors who crafted a giant ship and sailed out across the endless eastern ocean. The explorers are said to have returned with tales of a terrible island covered in massive grey monoliths and inhabited by fire-breathing steel demons.

Ura This mountain-dwelling tribe is one of the few which instead of hunting, mine the precious ores of the peaks and trade them with the steppe tribes for food.

Moks A tribe invisible for the fact that its members are spread out across many different tribes (unbeknownst to those tribes). Communication between its members is done on the rare occasion when two tribes meet, through an ancient set of hand signals only recognizable by those who know what they are looking for.

Geneq In addition to the standard language used by most of the Xaela in cross-tribe communication, the Geneq employ a complex system of whistles and clicks which resemble the cloud- and wavekin of the steppe.

Horo To those who live the meager lifestyles of the steppedwellers, being overweight is a symbol of affluence and power. To appear heavier than one in their station, the members of Horo will drink copious amounts of water to bloat their bellies.

Himaa For reasons unknown, one out of every three pregnancies amongst the Himaa result in twins. As a result, over half the tribe's members have a doppelganger. This can prove an advantage during attacks, as it confuses the enemy into believing the dead have risen.
Malaguld One of the only tribes that accepts people of the Raen--those that have been exiled, or those who have fled persecution--into their circle.

Urumet This desert tribe has the queer custom of travelling with their elders carried upon their shoulders. It is believed that in the flat desert, this gives the tribe the advantage of being able to see farther.

Qalli Also known as the songbirds of the steppe, the Qalli communicate through song, attaching a melody to their words to further add emotion to the meaning.

Qestir This tribe refuses to speak, believing that all words are lies, and that a man's actions are the purest form of communication.

The Othardian steppe is a vast region, therefore, every so often, one may come across a Xaela with a surname that is not found on the list of 51. This may mean that they are from a clan that was recently destroyed or absorbed. It may mean that they are of a new tribe that was formed by members leaving another. It may mean they are of a tribe that remained hidden in the northern mountains.