#multiple cultures

Personal name ideas for you, your characters, pets, future kids, or just for the sake of the discussion! All free to use! 🤗

⚠️ Disclaimer: Genders mentioned below are only intended as guidance; not strict rules I’m ordering anyone to follow.

Feminine-leaning given names:

艾咏 Aiyong

Amanda

Anya

April

Brianne

Cherry

Demah

Elara

Essie

Farah

Feriyal

日桜 Hio

Iin

Kaia

和咲 Kazusa

Kirana

Laila

Lorelei

Mehelia

味蕾 Mirai

Pia

Rihanna

流実 Rumi

Sari

文麗 Wenli

Yanti

弓杏 Yua

Zoulah

Gender-neutral & unisex given names:

Aria

亜早 Asa

白赫 Baihe

Dara

Dewey

Efren

Emre

Foxy

芽生 Gao

Hallie

Harper

輝羽 Hwiu

Irama

Lucky

Mahaka

Morning

Noa

Ora

Ovie

Pom

Roya

Salewyn

Sherrel

Tinne

Venera

怡翎 Yiling

Zephyr

茲棋 Ziqi

Masculine-leaning given names:

André

Chaim

Diler

演二 Enji

Hapsara

Helio

Iago

Iriawan

Karim

Kindi

Kopong

Lev

丸応 Maruo

Neo

Nuwa

Owain

René

Riady

Soren

Tasafi

Thamin

Vier

Wayan

希明 Ximing

Yahya

Yansen

Ziko

Zulkifli

Okay, okay, okay... Explanation time!

🌬️ So, these names I’ve compiled sound or feel soft, light, and airy to me, regardless of what their respective etymologies mean.

🎐 It’s all about the vibes with this one! In my head, I’m taking a moment to feel the breeze in my face…

Who says we have to be so serious and formal and academic all the time? 🤷🏽

Let’s try to have some light-hearted fun with this name bank!

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🗺️ There’s a variety of cultures and languages featured here. The Sinitic ones in particular are:

🇨🇳 艾咏 Aiyong — “mugwort chanting; mugwort singing”

🇯🇵 日桜 Hio — “sunny cherry”

🇯🇵 和咲 Kazusa — “harmonious blooming”

🇯🇵 味蕾 Mirai — “taste bud”, lit. “flavour” + “flower bud”

🇯🇵 流実 Rumi — “flowing into reality”

🇨🇳 文麗 Wenli — “prettiness of culture and literature”

🇯🇵 弓杏 Yua — “bow and apricot”

🇯🇵 亜早 Asa — “inferior morning”

🇨🇳 白赫 Baihe — “white radiance; white eminence”

🇯🇵 芽生 Gao — “shooting forth sprouts”

🇰🇷 輝羽 (휘우) Hwiu — “bright splendour feather”

🇨🇳 怡翎 Yiling — “plumes of rejoice”

🇨🇳 茲棋 Ziqi — “this chess”

🇯🇵 演二 Enji — “performance two”

🇯🇵 丸応 Maruo — “round answer”

🇨🇳 希明 Ximing — “hopeful brightness”

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Curious about any other name’s meaning and origin? 🤔

Don’t worry! I had researched everything before putting them in the list. It’s a habit at this point. 👌🏼

Send me an ask or comment below any curiosity and I’ll respond! 👇🏼

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omeomahbromeo said:

hello, and thank you for this blog. i am writing a sci-fi story with an ensemble cast, and I’d like to code several of these characters as specific races. (i say code because this is set in a universe where humans have divested themselves from Earth, so characters would no longer be from certain countries etc.) However, all my characters have space themed names, which end up sounding very Greek/Roman. Am I allowed to code/write characters as non-white while giving them names such as Atlas and Pollux?

Trace Your Logic

I question your assumption that Greek/ Roman names are inherently space-like. Surely, the joy of sci-fi is that you can imagine at length how multiple cultures will represent themselves in space long after humanity has left Earth (If I’m not mistaken, this is a very prominent theme in Star Trek).  

Historical Context

Out of curiosity, have you read the wikipedia article on the history of astronomy? I invite you to do so and note that the vast majority of the world has participated in astronomical research. I direct you to pay particular attention to how many cultures had their own names for the same key stars and constellations. This is not an accident. Constellations were vital for the navigation needed to travel. Anyone participating in trade and sea routes that spanned many parts of the world would have to know these stars and be able to find them in the night sky. Thus, many key constellations and stars have a wide variety of names in many different languages.

Modern Astronomical Research

Secondly, I wonder if you’ve been paying attention to current news on space exploration and observatories. Americans and Russians are infamous for naming space/ astronomy things after boring words largely unrelated to mythology and culture (Looking at you, American observatories and Soviet Soyuz missions). However, what about others? Our main players are India, China, and Japan. Here is a brief sample of named observatories and space probes in different languages, including their meanings

Observatories:

Subaru (JP - Hawai’i, Seven Sisters/ Six Stars constellation)

Chandra (IN - X-Ray satellite, Moon/ God of the Moon)

Akebono (JP - satellite, Daybreak)

Suzaku (JP - X-ray satellite, Phoenix)

Space Probes/ Unmanned Missions:

Hayabusa (JP - Asteroid probe, Peregrine hawk)

Chandrayaan (IN - lunar probe, Chandra’s chariot/ vehicle)

Mangalyaan (IN - Mars probe, Mangala’s chariot/ vehicle)

Chang’e 1-3 (CN - Lunar mission, Goddess of the Moon)

If you intend to set a story in space, I encourage you to rethink why you are applying such a narrow cultural lens to a topic that has always been global.