Some Thoughts on Selecting an SCA Registerable Name
In the SCA perhaps choosing a name is even more important than a
persona. That is for the simple reason that when you are first introduced
to someone, the name used is one that will likely stick. At least when formally
introduced and without the addition, "But I really haven't settled on a name."
For that reason it's good to give some thought to it. It is also
good to be careful of choosing a name straight from a fictional work, even
Shakespeare or because you heard it and it sounded neat and probably in period.
Knowing at least a direction for your persona development you can
start looking into a name. Of course some people come up with a name they
like and seek out a persona to fit it.
There is a huge contradiction for most people in choosing name and
persona. First as I have indicated, often the name you are first introduced
to people by will "stick" to you like a mustard stain on a white shirt. There'll
always be some people who will know you by that name no matter how short a
time you use it. Second, for most people finding a time and place for
their persona is a growing thing influenced by what you experience. So on
the one hand, you want to select a name soon, yet on the other, you want to
take your time growing a persona.
I have no great answer to that contradiction. I also know that a
number of folk come into the SCA with what they like full blown and practically
carved into granite; for instance a person who is obsessed in all things Viking.
For that person, they know approximately what time range and domain in the
world they will look at. The culture leads them directly to sources for really
neat SCA Proper names. This is unless of course they are completely stuck
on some movie, book, or comic that really is not a good historical piece.
Did you know that "Hagar" as in "Hagar the Horrible" is a woman's name?
Other people come in with simply a love of either medieval history,
or the idea of getting together with a like-minded group of people for a unique
social situation. Then often it is like being at a Chinese smorgasbord. There
are simply too many dishes to sample them all, at least on one plate. There
does seem to be a similarity between the cultural clash of "Chinese" and
"smorgasbord" and what happens in the SCA doesn't there?
Please note that in places I speak of “first name” and “last
name”. When I refer to a “first name I am speaking of a person’s “personal
name”. When I refer to a “last name” I am referring to the name or part of
a name that identifies you beyond your personal name, sometimes called a byname.
Bynames can be an actual family name as is passed on to children from their
parents which was passed on to them; a patronym which indicates who your
parent, or grandparent was; a locative which would say where you were from;
an occupation; a descriptive such as hair colour; a descriptive such as of
a trait; or perhaps even an insult. Not all of those byname types were used
by all cultures at all times. Not all cultures names were listed in the typical
English order of “Personal Name” “Second Name” and then “Family Name”. Some
names also used more than just two parts such as William Johnson the Innkeeper.
This could be someone named Sven by his parents whose Father’s name was John
and who is the Innkeeper. This differentiates him from William Johnson the
Fisherman.
Culture and Persona
Anyhow, perhaps the best thing might be to look and see if there
isn't some time, culture, or location you are interested in. Perhaps better
to look for a culture as the other things sort of fit in with that.
I’ll go into some suggestions and pitfalls to avoid in picking a
name after a few thoughts on directions to take for a persona hunt.
Choosing a culture is problem even broader in scope than even choosing
a heraldic device. It is very personal to most people. But I shall try taking
a stab at helping out.
Clothing
One of the first things, to my mind, for the situation of the SCA
where you are expected to dress in some attempt at period costume is to look
at yourself and decide: "Are there any types of clothing that I just won't
wear." and "Are there any types of clothing that I am just dying to wear."
Perhaps it is just the surface veneer, but it is a start. Of course I know
of many who may have a persona who would be swaddled in layer after layer
of heavy brocaded fabric, but who shed them like a winter coat for cooler
Middle Eastern fashions in the summer. But the point of this exercise is to
winnow out a few things that might guide you towards a persona. Clothing is
one thing that could guide you. Perhaps it is as simple as thinking back to
all the movies, paintings and other illustrations you have seen and realizing
there is one look that you love. Then you just have to find out when and where
they wore it. Of course if you take something like the relatively recent "Much
Ado About Nothing" you will find the costume have little to do with any real
time or place. More to do with what parts of the cast would look best in
what bodice or pair of tight pants. :-)
So that might guide you in a direction.
Time Period
Another very analytical method might be to take our time period.
(Forgetting the "anything before 1600 definition formally used) Take the time
period of 600 to 1600. That is a thousand years to look at. Well chop that
in half at 1100. From what you know right now. Would you be happier fitting
your self in the first half, 600 to 1100, or into the second half, 1100 to
1600?
Perhaps not a good way to divide things considering that 1066 is
the battle of Hastings and most people seem to gather everything from 600
to 1066 (or 1100) into one segment of our Period. That's sort of the whole
Anglo-Saxon, Celt, Viking thing. It would not be very easy to divide that
500-year section up date wise, though culture wise... Anglo-Saxon, Celt, and
Viking are pretty broad areas. Then you can also look at other areas and
just what was up then and there.
There was a lot of change in the period from 1100 to 1600. You start
off with the beginning of Norman England where Robin Hood would be familiar.
This is followed by the times where you find the early crusades. Fighting
with full armour and a heavy sword are in its heyday here. Over dresses, under
dresses, over tunics, under tunics, funny pointed hats, funny pointed shoes
and all fit in here. It gradually melts into the period of Henry the VIII’s
period with the Tudors in the 1400’s to 1500. Then you start getting into
the reformation and cavalier times with less armour and flashier sword styles
an all.
Broadly you could almost chunk the period from 1100 to 1600 into
those three hunks, 1100 to 1400, 1400 to 1500, and 1500 to 1600. Of course
the chunks are pretty Anglo centric, but I chose that because though the SCA
covers a much broader area culturally, we have the common ground of speaking
English ourselves and thus have easiest access to history from an English
perspective.
Occupation
It is also possible to look at an occupation. Perhaps it might not
lead you directly to an idea for a name, but it might lead you on a search
through various times and places that lead you to a specific time and culture
and thus to a name. This is not to mention a byname. If you want to be a black
smith for instance there are bynames that can go nicely with it like: Smith,
Black, or such. You might also look at careers like merchant, and explorer.
A merchant persona might explain why you have a Dutch name, but are always
in Middle Eastern garb. That would be a case where your interests might have
migrated but you are very fixed with your name.
Culture
You might also look at cultures. You can define cultures in many
ways such as geographically, linguistically, politically, or religiously.
Geographically
Geographically you could look at a place like the British Isles.
Take that multifaceted grouping and say you want to be from the British Isles.
Of course that doesn’t narrow down the time frame at all. But if you were
to choose a name common in the British Isles from a fairly early time, chances
are that name would still be around later, though perhaps evolved to something
slightly different. It might not specifically be a single culture, but there
are many relationships. A Welshman might easily live in London, or York, or
even Dublin. You could find something that might be half way suitable for
the area until you solidify your desires to one date and place.
Linguistically
Linguistically you could look at a specific language, even a modern
one and follow its roots back. You could take a language like Norwegian. Starting
with the Old Norse of the Viking Norseman and slowly evolving to the Scandinavian
Languages. You might not at first know what time period you want, but there
would be a flavour there that runs through it that will give you a handle.
Also there will be naming practices that flow through there that could give
you a base for a name that you could start with and eventually define as
to time period.
Politically
Politically perhaps you are interested in a ruler or ruling dynasty.
You might look at a conquering people or a conquered people. Perhaps you might
even look at a people who kept apart from the politics. People who live someplace
but were not a part of the general people there.
You might discover an interest in the Mongols or Huns and their interaction
in medieval Europe or perhaps the clashes between the English and Irish or
the Scottish and the English or the Welsh and the English. You might find
an interest in the English Civil War or other political diversions in other
parts of Europe.
Just grabbing hold of an issue and where you would have stood can
provide the roots for an interesting persona.
Religiously
There is much in religion to look at when coming up with a persona
or name. You can look at cultures that centre on a specific religion, for
instance the Jews or Moslems. You can look at the religious conflicts such
as the Crusades or the Saracen invasion of Spain.
Obscurity
Obscurity might be of interest to you. For instance the SCA is meant
to involve peoples who were from 600 to 1600 and either living in Europe or
were from cultures directly involved with it. There are the fringes that might
seem interesting. For instance what connections were there to Europe from
peoples of the Indian Sub continent during the crusades? For instance what
sorts of interactions were there in the 16th century with the Orient?
Over time there have been people from far distant cultures who visited
Period Europe. What of the life of a Huron or Iroquois in Europe, what was
the fate of the very first that travelled back with one of Columbus’ ships?
You might have an interest in creating a persona who went through this. Perhaps
dressed in the finery of the French Court, but a citizen of the wilds of pre-Columbian
America at heart.
You might have travelled the Silk Route in either direction and found
yourself in a very strange culture.
There are people from Europe also that I bet many even in the SCA
have not heard much about. It might be a challenge to find information on
them. For instance the Sami from the North of Scandinavia, Finland, and Russia
were around during the middle Ages. You might look into a people such as the
Basque and find out about their origins and what lead to the current situation
in Andorra.
I’ve toyed with the idea of a 16th Century Norwegian persona. In
part because of my interest in Norway and the Norsemen and what became of
them. It is not difficult to find stuff about personages from 16th century
England, Scotland, France, or possibly even Germany but what about the other
peoples of Europe at the time? Would the clothing of a 16th century Norwegian
signal him out from the rest of the Cavaliers?
Perhaps something as odd as looking into the origins of the Oriental
Martial Arts might trigger thoughts for a persona.
Research
Some people enjoy research, some hate it, and some fear it. Some
people like the challenge of a difficult topic where they almost have to do
the first hand research themselves and delve into ancient tomes and obscure
sources on languages they do not even know. Other people enjoy researching
the works that have gone before them and discovering what folk have already
found. They want to be able to hit the local library and pull out a few books
on a subject to find all they want to know. Others want to find something
they are already familiar with and perhaps learn a few new things about it
on the way to develop a start at a persona. Some people are more into education
and learning about a place and time than discovering information about it.
Learning more about what a Scottish Highlander’s wife was like in
1502 might be exactly what a person wants. They can seek out books fairly
easily from public libraries and in bookstores and there are many interesting
movies to look at and paintings from the time period as well. Probably you’ll
find plenty of books even if you don’t want to go into the Scots and Gaelic
languages.
Finding out about the life of a typical baker in Paris in 1417 might
be a bit more difficult involving some searching for sources in English. You
might have to dig a little and look at what was happening politically and
religiously at the time.
Finding out about the comings and goings of a Swedish tailor in 1357
might be a bit tough and require researching tailors from 1357 in England
first and looking for the differences. Or perhaps having to find translated
Swedish works.
Seeking information about the life of a Sami Reindeer Herder from
anywhere from 600 to 1600 might make for a research paper in and of itself.
But what a project it would turn out to be.
You might have to be careful to match the persona you are interested
in with the amount of research you are willing or wanting to do.
Persona Search Summary
There are many different directions to take in selecting the culture
a persona might be from and then the persona within that culture and a name
for that persona. You can delve into things at your own pace and to your own
depth as you wish. You might start off with the bare bones and knowing enough
to know you have an interest in it or you might have already looked a bit
into it and wade in neck deep right from the beginning.
A Name
Regardless of what direction you take in forming a persona, it is
important to come up with a name that you are comfortable with, hopefully
fits in with your eventual persona, and can be registered with the SCA College
of Heralds. The later might not seem too important to you now, but as you
grow in the SCA you will probably feel the desire to design your own unique
heraldic design to represent you and to mark your belongings with and perhaps
give something for possible followers to wear to indicate allegiance to you.
With this comes a desire to actually register and protect your heraldic
device and badges. It is a fact that in order to register a heraldic device
you must have register or register at the same time an SCA name.
The full rules behind registering a Name and Heraldic Device in the
SCA can be found on the Internet at this URL: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/rfs.html
Here are some
pitfalls for the unwary:
Pitfalls
- A name used in a movie that is supposed to be taking place in
the middle ages but in truth was made up by the author or wasn’t really researched
- A name that is in common usage today that that wasn’t actually
used in Period
- A name that while used in Period was used for the opposite gender
- A name actually coined by an author for a fictional character
in his actual Period work, but not used historically in Period. It might be
noted that names used in Shakespearian works were often coined by Shakespeare
and not used in period.
- A name actually used by a person of note in history
- A name actually used only for mythic beings in Period
- A name actually used only for pets or steeds in Period
- A name that is considered offensive in SCA or Mundane society
- A name that is a combination of language and naming traditions
of two cultures that would not have come into contact with each other for
chronological consideration, location, lack of communication, or with cultures
though close in all other ways culturally just did not mix. Note that in SCA
Heraldry there is a list of multicultural/linguistic combinations of names
that are acceptable, or unacceptable, or are borderline acceptable if everything
else is in order. They are a list of “Weirdness”. A weirdness is a term for
something acceptable, but not common or in other words, weird.
- A name based on modern tradition that was not used in period
for the time and place desired such as being named for a month (you might
find some cultures for whom it would be acceptable)
- Choosing for a personal name a name that was only used as a
byname or second name
- Choosing for a byname or second name a name that was only used
as a personal name
- A name that has bee registered in the past by someone in the
SCA. Rules and acceptability change. Something that might have been
thought as valid 5 years ago might have been discovered to not be suitable.
- A name that includes or is a title or rank
The following
are some things to keep in mind:
- Will you grow tired of constantly correcting people who have
problems pronouncing or remembering how to pronounce your name
- Will you grow tired of constantly correcting folk who have problems
spelling your name correctly
- Will you grow tired of people mistaking you for someone else
with a similar sounding or spelled name
- Will you grow tired of a name that is just too simple or plain
- Will you grow tired of a name that may cause you ridicule such
as Ivana Cook (You want a cookie? Yes, you are a real hot number.) Radar Gunnerson
(Not O’Rielly? You sure you’re not a sonar gunner?) Luckily you should be
warned about such a danger by consulting heralds
Of course you might not have a problem with this. Some names might
cause folk to ask you about your persona and name and you might like that
and of course some people thrive on being unique.
I suggest that if you are interested in finding a good and proper
name that you seek out accepted references and period listings of name for
a given culture and perusing it looking for something that sound right to
you. You can look into cultures that were close or interacted with the one
you are interested in as well. For instance though your persona might be from
London you might have a very French name. Do be wary of fiction unless you
are absolutely certain of the validity of the author’s research.
It is also possible to use part of your legal name as part of your
SCA name. You are entitled to do this even if it is not a name that would
be registerable otherwise. However you are not allowed to take your legal
last name to use as your SCA first name if that name is not legitimately useable
already within the SCA. Middle names can be tricky as a middle name might
be one that is normally used as a family name and might be normally used
as a personal name. You should also not take your whole name unchanged. The
powers that be believe that there should be some differentiation between your
SCA persona and your own legal mundane one.
Places to Look
Before I go further with Places to Look, I will recommend one thing.
Document your search. Take the time to record where you have found a name
or potential sources of names. When it comes time to register a name you may
need proof of where you found your information. Some books have been discovered
to be unreliably researched. For most references they want you to include
a photocopy of the passages that indicate the name you have chosen is valid
and a photocopy of the source’s information page which includes the Title,
Author, Publisher, Edition, Printing, Copyright date and such. Also regardless
of whether the photocopies are required or not this information should be
included as well as the chapter, page number, paragraph and similar such
material that will aid the user in investigating the name.
I am not going to list every possible place you can look for registerable
name parts. I will be including ones that I am told are reliable and useful.
Most of these I will be giving here are on the Internet. Some will be books
recommended by the heralds, though normally for the heralds to use to help
someone to come up with a suitable name, or more importantly to determine
if the name is suitable.
SCA Internet Sources
and Resources
- SCA College of Arms - Rules and Regulations: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/regs.html
- Articles to help you construct medieval names. These Articles
start about a third way down the page. Many of the links mentioned below come
from this very page: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/education.html
- SCA Heraldry Web Site: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/welcome.html
(very useful for links and where most of the links on this page came from)
- RULES FOR SUBMISSIONS of the College of Arms of the Society
for Creative Anachronism, Inc. July 20, 2001: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/rfs.html
- Administrative Handbook of the College of Arms of the Society
for Creative Anachronism, Inc. January 20, 2002: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/admin.html
Names Sources to
Be Avoided in Documentation
Some sources should be avoided or used with suspicion. A list of
these sources can be found on the web page at this URL: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/admin.html#APPENDIX_F
Remember Baby Name Books are not good sources of information for
names. They are intended to give parents inspiration in naming their children
Name Books That
Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel
Some sources are so commonly used by SCA heralds in name documentation
that most good name heralds will have, or have access to them. A list of these
sources can be found on the web page at this URL:
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/admin.html#APPENDIX_H
General Advice
- What is an SCA Name?: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/whatis/name.html
- A Brief Introduction to the History of Names: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/namehist.html
- Given Names that are Not Suitable for SCA Usage (also available
in RTF): http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/returned-names.html
- Annotated Name Book List: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/Annotatedname.html
Non-SCA Internet Sources
Medieval Names Archive a collection of articles on medieval and renaissance
names: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/
Academy of Saint Gabriel a private heraldic consultation service,
assisting members of the SCA in finding historically authentic medieval names
and coats of arms for use in SCA activities: http://www.s-gabriel.org/
One More Place
One more place to look if you are really keen on it or would like
perhaps to get some inspiration and see why some names have passed, have passed
in the past but no longer will, and will not pass is the collection of Precedents
of the SCA College of Arms: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/precedents.html
Start off with the most recent tenures, I suggest looking at the
“Single HTML Documents” if there is a choice. Also look for listings in these
pages for “Name Precedents”. You will find many rulings on the Coats of Arms
that have been submitted, but also there are rulings on names that were submitted.
Just browsing through it might give you warning or inspiration when choosing
a name.
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