[LORE] Lore-Friendly Names For Dragon Age Characters

- Hawke

This is a guide for people who get to the above quote and think 'oh no, the game is calling me out' like I always do. If you don't want to use the defaults, naming your character can be as time-consuming as getting their make-up right in the terrible character creator lighting. Thedas is a setting with a lot of different naming traditions and the games give you little guidance about what might be appropriate, especially if you're brand new to the franchise.


Aeducan, Brosca and Cadash

Dwarves have names that are Norse, Germanic or Eastern European in feel. Lots of hard consonants, and names with more than two syllables are rare. I imagine that there are individual caste naming traditions, but we don't have anything like enough data to work out what the patterns are, if any. Many of their names are invented based on the patterns in the relevant languages rather than taken from them directly. Cadash is a surfacer, so depending on how you envision their family, they might not have a dwarf name at all. Surface dwarves seem to be a bit more inclined to be influenced by the human naming traditions around them than elves are. (In which case, see the next entry on this list.)

Prominent dwarf names: Bartrand, Bhelen, Bodahn, Branka, Dagna, Jarvia, Oghren, Shayle, Sigrun, Varric.

Amell and Trevelyan

While brought up in the Ferelden Circle, the human mage Warden is descended from nobles in the Free Marches, just like Inquisitor Trevelyan. This seems to be the region of Thedas with the most diverse collection of names, which makes sense given that it's a collection of city states rather than a united nation. There are Anglo-Saxon names as well as Celtic ones, and also Greek, Latin and Biblical influences.

Prominent Marcher names: Bethany, Carver, Leandra, Marlowe, Meredith, Sebastian, Thomas.

Cousland

Ferelden names are generally Celtic in origin, especially Scottish. (Even though it's the Starkhaven residents who have the accent.) There are also a number of Cornish names in the mix.


Lavellan, Mahariel and Tabris (and Surana)


Prominent elf names: Ameridan, Ariane, Briala, Katriel, Merrill, Tamlen, Velanna, Zevran.


Other Cultures

But what if you're trying to name a character other than one of the video game protagonists, perhaps for the purposes of fanfic or a tabletop or online roleplaying game? Don't worry, I have you covered there, too. At least as much as possible based on what little information we have about naming traditions in some of these places.

The Anderfels

The only person we have ever met in the games who is actually from here was imaginatively dubbed 'Anders' by his classmates in the Circle and we never find out what his birth name is. Good luck figuring out anything about names in the Anderfels based on that. There's not much of a pattern to Anders mentioned in the codex, but there seem to be more Germanic names than anything else.

Prominent Ander names: Baldewin, Wilhelm, Johann, Liese.

Antiva

Antivan humans generally have names with an Italian or Spanish origin. (Josephine and the rest of the Montilyets are actually outliers here - the family's Orlesian connections are reflected in their French names.)

Prominent Antivan names: Castillon, Cesar, Claudio, Ignacio, Isabela, Luis, Nuncio, Oriana, Velasco, Vincento.

The Avvar

Avvar names are mostly Norse or Germanic in inspiration. Note also that they use patronymics and legend marks, not surnames.

Prominent Avvar names: Amund, Gurd, Movran, Ruadan, Svarah, Tyrdda.

The Chasind

The only named Chasind we've ever encountered directly has an Irish name. The condex names a couple of others that seem to be more Russian in inspiration, but Irish makes more sense to me given their Scottish neighbours to the north.

Prominent Chasind names: Cahir. Congratulations on being the only Chasind with a name, Cahir!

Nevarra

Based on limited information, Nevarran names have a sort of Austrian feel by way of Greece. Or a Greek feel by way of Austria? With some Latin thrown in? It's a little confusing without more characters to go on. Much like the Nevarran accent, in fact.

Prominent Nevarran names: Anthony, Amalia, Cassandra, Ginnis, Markus, Tessa, Vestalus, Viuus.

Orlais

Orlais is fantasy France, and most of their character names are French. There are a handful of exceptions, but you cannot go wrong giving an Orlesian character a French name.

Prominent Orlesian names: Aveline, Celene, Gaspard, Florianne, Michel, Marjolaine, Vivienne.

The Qunari

Qunari don't have names as most people understand them, and refer to each other by the roll they play in society. A Qunari's designation therefore changes if they get a promotion - the Sten we travel with during Origins is the Arishok by the time of Inquisition.

Qunari rolls we've heard of include: Arvaarad, Rasaan, Saarebas, Salit, Sten, Tallis, Viddasala.

Rivain

We have met very few Rivaini in game, none of whom were actually living in Rivain or going by Rivani names. (Duncan is almost certainly Ferelden given its real world Scottish origins, and Isabela does not use her birth name. Aditionally, Vivienne's ancestors were Rivani, but she was born in the Free Marches and raised in the Circle. She has French/Orelesian name.) Irritatingly, the tabletop RPG notes don't match at all with the few Rivanni characters we have got names for.

What we do know: Isabela's birth name is Naishe. This is of Zimbabwean Shona origin, as is the name of Duncan's mother Tayana. Other Rivani names like Hari and Asha are derived from Sanskrit. So in the absence of further information, choosing a Sanskrit or Shona name for your Rivani character is probably your best bet.

Prominent Rivani names: Asha, Cade, Hari, Naishe, Tayana.

Tevinter

Tevinter names reflect the inspiration their civilisation takes from the Roman Empire, with a few Greek names thrown in. Add an '-ius' to the end of your character's name if he's male or an '-ia' if she's female and you'll be about right.

Prominent Tevinter names: Aquinea, Caladrius, Calpernia, Cremisius, Danarius, Dorian, Eleni, Felix, Gereon, Hadriana, Hessarian, Livius, Maevaris, Radonis, Vasilia.