Namewright

Names that mean death

Death names are the hardest to get right: too heavy and they are parody, too light and they are decoration. Here is the word for death in each tongue, and names that handle it with a straight face.

death

Forged names

Sylthae (elves) ri death

  • Riene ree-EH-neh Death
  • Raelin RAY-lihn Death-dream
  • Rimil REE-mihl Death-wanderer

Dûrakh (dwarves) gag death

  • Gagak GAH-gahk Death
  • Gagabruk GAH-gah-brook Death-helm
  • Gagaur GAH-gowr Death-gold

Xarthic (dragonborn) grir death

  • Gririnn GREE-rihn Death
  • Grirdish GRIHR-dihsh Death-spring
  • Grirkrir GRIHR-krihr Death-owl

Ashmodri (tieflings) mainral death

  • Mainralyx meyen-RAH-lihks Death
  • Mainralia meyen-rah-LEE-ah Death
  • Mainralion meyen-rah-LEE-ohn Death

Aurethi (aasimar) von death

  • Vonva VOHN-vah Death-forge
  • Vonara voh-NAH-rah Death
  • Vonthe VOHN-theh Death-spear

Gruhk (orcs) nug death

  • Nug noog Death
  • Nugish NOO-gihsh Death
  • Nugnun NOOG-noon Death-hill

Vhaerzyn (drow) shyl death

  • Shylryl SHIHL-rihl Death
  • Shyl shihl Death
  • Shyldaunvir SHIHL-down-vihr Death-ember

Tinkletongue (gnomes) snalbos death

  • Snalbosnu SNAHL-boh-snoo Death-seed
  • Snalbosi SNAHL-boh-see Death
  • Snalbosip SNAHL-boh-sihp Death

Hearthen (halflings) ben death

  • Ben behn Death
  • Benella BEH-neh-lah Death
  • Benwo BEHN-woh Death-fox

Kaluthi (goliaths) na death

  • Nak nahk Death
  • Nagalmuk nah-GAHL-mook Death-owl
  • Namor NAH-mohr Death-ice

Snikkit (goblins) snuzgug death

  • Snuzgugok SNOOZ-goo-gohk Death
  • Snuzgugub SNOOZ-goo-goob Death
  • Snuzgugik SNOOZ-goo-gihk Death

Why a death name works

Cultures that live close to death rarely treat it as villainy. A dwarf with a death name may be a stonemason who carves grave markers; an orc, a shaman of the dying; a halfling, nothing at all, because the halflings in Namewright almost never use the root. The meaning matters less than who is carrying it.

The roots that rescue a death name are the ordinary ones. Death plus hearth is a hospice; death plus song is a funeral singer; death plus oath is a duty that does not end. Pair it with a villain word and it is merely a villain.

Character hooks

  • A gravedigger who has dug four hundred graves and knows every name by heart, including her own.
  • A tiefling whose parents chose a death name hoping to ward off the real thing.
  • A priest of a god of endings, whose name changes hands when she retires.

What to avoid

  • Death plus blood plus doom is the default grim name. Replace one of them with something warm.
  • Do not give every grim character a death root; it flattens them.

Pairings that work

Fuse death with a second meaning. One name each from three different peoples.

Death + bone

  • Rilith Sylthae (elves) · “Death-bone”
  • Grirkrirak Xarthic (dragonborn) · “Death-bone”
  • Vonmarval Aurethi (aasimar) · “Death-bone”

Death + oath

  • Rithian Sylthae (elves) · “Death-oath”
  • Gagvornak Dûrakh (dwarves) · “Death-oath”
  • Grirtharsha Xarthic (dragonborn) · “Death-oath”

Death + raven

  • Rivaitharis Sylthae (elves) · “Death-raven”
  • Gagobeg Dûrakh (dwarves) · “Death-raven”
  • Grirrhorsuk Xarthic (dragonborn) · “Death-raven”

Questions

What is a fantasy name that means death?

Riene (Sylthae (elves), “Death”), Gagak (Dûrakh (dwarves), “Death”), Gririnn (Xarthic (dragonborn), “Death”), and many more above. Use the forge to combine "death" with a second meaning.

What is the word for death in Sylthae?

In Sylthae, Namewright's own constructed elven language, death is ri, pronounced ree. It is not Tolkien's Sindarin or Quenya, and not a language from any published game.

Which peoples use death names?

Orcs, goblins, tieflings and drow use them most; elves, aasimar and halflings avoid them, so a death name from those peoples is a statement.