When/if you give your characters full names, how do you order them? First, Middle, Last? Last, Middle, First? First, Last? Do people normally have two middle names? Where do you put titles in their name? Do they even have last names? Are their last names their father's/mother's name? Do you call them Henry I, Henry II, Henry III or do you have another method?



In my world (Ashta) people's names go; last, first, middle, title (ex. Y'rota-Sanah'Atel-Hybernia). The symbols between names are important too. A (-) goes between the last and first names. A (') goes between a first and middle name. And another (-) goes between their middle name and title.
Sometimes the names mean something too. Occasionally in the nation's language, but most of the time it's just "what the name means". The example above means: High-Held Star of El-Rosa's Glory, The Heavens on Earth, the Future in Hand. Sanah (her first/given name) is Ashtain and this is how all Ashtain names are structured. The meaning of the last name normally ends with an "of", the first/given name finishes the "of", and the middle name is normally a separate meaning all together.
If I was to dissect her name:
Y'rota = High-Held Star (of) --- the "of" is added when it's a last/family name
Sanah = El-Rosa's Glory
Atel - The Heavens on Earth
Hybernia - The Future in Hand


Duvat names are almost the same, they go title, last, first, middle. (ex. KirAgaragAzavaeAmeare). The Duvat have no symbols between words in a name. They treat it like one long word.
The meanings of Duvat names are; one-for-one. A one-word meaning for one word. So, KirAgaragAzavaeAmeare is Eternal Silver (Stream) Ruler. Here you can see a change when the name is translated. The word "Kir" (king/ruler) is placed at the beginning of the Duvat name, but at the end when written in English. The reason the middle name is in parentheses is because, for the Duvat, a middle name is optional. Most people have a middle name, but its not used very often.
Dissecting his name will give us this:
Kir = King/Ruler (put at end of name when translated)
Agarag = Eternal
Azavae = Silver
Ameare - Stream



I find that if people have their last name first, when they tell you their name you can immediately know who their family is and begin connecting them to people you know. This also demonstrates how family is put before self/put first.








All right! Thanks for letting me ramble, now it's your turn How do you put your names together?

I think the concept of having last names first makes more sense. It's like a form of classification down to the individual if if goes last first middle. that being said, I use them first middle last and the title goes first or last depending on who uses it. I like the first method I'm just not used to it so it never feels natural.

That was incredibly detailed. You put a solid amount of thought into that, and I think, if you can explain it clearly in the narration, it will add a level of dimension to your story.

Currently, my NaNo novel uses only first names, preceded by a title if applicable. There just aren't that many characters right now, but I may develop that further when I do revisions.

For Alaidia, which is theoretically set in "this world," I use the typical first/middle/last arrangement, preceded by a title and followed by a numeral as necessary. All members of royalty have a last name, but they typically don't use it; it is standard for them to write their numeral instead, even if they are "the first."

In one of my other hibernating novels, however, I and my co-author have a created system. Male names follow this format: title/first/middle/rank/locality Female names are in this style: title/first/middle, followed by their relation to their male authority and their male authority's title/first/rank/locality.

The "title" indicates their social status. For every social rung there is a title for the adult man and a matching title for a married woman: Duke/Duchess, Master/Mistress, etc. In every social rung except the highest, minor men have the title "young master" and unmarried women are "miss." In the highest social rung (members of the supreme government), the titles for minor men and unmarried women are different for respect.

"Ranks," on the other hand, are family divisions like the 12 Tribes of Israel. Rank is an extremely important social bond, so Rank designation is used in place of last name.

The "locality" is simply the city of one's permanent residence. It can change if someone thoroughly relocates to another city, but it often doesn't out of emotional attachment.

So, for example, one character's name is: Young Master Eryn Joseph Longsway of D'Marr.

On the other hand, his sister's name is: Miss Leah Loraine III, daughter of Duke Nathaniel Longsway of D'Marr.

When Leah comes under the care of her uncle, who is a Governor (a member of the supreme gov't and the highest social rank), her name becomes: Lady Leah Loraine III, niece of Governor Edward Longsway of D'Marr.

In everyday usage, the first/middle/rank is used like first/middle/last, with titles and numbers added as necessary for formality. So most often, Leah would probably sign her name as "Leah Loraine Longsway III"; while with her uncle, she's frequently "Lady Leah." (And, yes, the alliteration was intentional...) Her entire full name, however, is used in official settings and as necessary to distinguish her from anyone else in the Longsway Rank who might be named Leah.


As a side note, I believe some other cultures also put the last name first (I think because they value family relationships above personal identity). Asian countries, IIRC.