(because at some point it does, he's 'Draco' in the epilogue.)

And I found some interesting stuff.

~ The book consistently uses 'Draco' during scenes that feature Lucius, or sentences that mention both Draco and Lucius together. This makes sense - up until Book 7 Lucius is "Mr. Malfoy" or "Lucius Malfoy" in the narration... and you don't want a "Malfoy" and a "Mr. Malfoy" in the same scene, that's just confusing.

(this is also probably why Voldemort calls all his Death Eaters by their last names during the graveyard scene... except Lucius. We're still firmly in Children's Lit, and if Voldemort had started addressing one of his Death Eaters as 'Malfoy' ... somebody would have gotten confused and thought that Draco was somehow there.)

~ The first scene that really commits to "Draco" in the narration is the opening of Book 7, where Voldemort is holding court in the Malfoy dining room. It's told in third person omniscient, and even though Lucius isn't doing much... it's a scene about Voldemort taking his wand (and his power) away from him. So there's a fun mis-match between the detached /objective narrator, who calls him "Malfoy" or "Lucius Malfoy," and Voldemort... who calls him "Lucius." The way the scene is written is telling us that he's being disrespected.

Draco is called "Draco" in this scene so we don't confuse him with his father... but maybe there's also a little implication that "Draco" is the most neutral thing to call him, and he's only "Malfoy" through Harry's eyes (ie the "Harry filter.") Still, using his first name like this during such an emotionally charged scene does have the side effect of bringing us a little emotionally closer to the character - especially during Charity Burbage's death, which is a beat that doesn't have anything to do with Lucius.

“And you, Draco?” asked Voldemort, stroking the snake’s snout with his wand-free hand. Draco shook his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken, he seemed unable to look at her anymore. (...) “Avada Kedavra.” The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his onto the floor.

~ The bit where Draco tortures Rowle is the first time when Harry's narration uses "Draco" (in a scene that has nothing to do with Lucius.) We actually watch the switch happen:

A log fell in the fire: Flames reared, their light darting across a terrified, pointed white face — with a sense of emerging from deep water, Harry drew heaving breaths and opened his eyes. (...) Malfoy’s gaunt, petrified face seemed branded on the inside of his eyes. Harry felt sickened by what he had seen, by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort.

~ He's "Draco" all through the scene in Malfoy Manor... and of course he is, Lucius Malfoy is massively important to that scene. But since by now we've had a little moment of "Draco" from Harry, and from the narration (and he's "Draco" during the whole bit with the prisoners in the cellar, which Lucius isn't there for...) I think that this writing choice (unintentionally?) implies... an emotional connection from Harry, that wouldn't be there if his narration stuck to "Malfoy." Like here are two sentences that I think would read very differently if Harry's narration used "Malfoy" instead of "Draco."

Harry did not dare look directly at Draco, but saw him obliquely: a figure slightly taller than he was, rising from an armchair, his face a pale and pointed blur beneath white-blond hair.

Harry saw Draco’s face up close now, right beside his father’s. They were extraordinarily alike, except that while his father looked beside himself with excitement, Draco’s expression was full of reluctance, even fear.

~ Harry calls the wand he uses to defeat Voldemort "the hawthorn wand" a couple of times... but MOSTLy he thinks of it as "Draco's Wand." Including at like, the moment he's actually defeating Voldemort:

Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: “Avada Kedavra!” “Expelliarmus!”

I think the Doylist reason for this is to help the reader understand the (pretty confusing) chain of events that leads to Harry being the master of the Elder Wand.... but in the moment, that's a ton of emotional weight for Harry to be giving the name "Draco."

~ There is this interesting little moment where Harry calls Draco "Malfoy" out loud... but "Draco" in his head:

“Not [your wand] anymore,” panted Harry, tightening his grip on the hawthorn wand. “Winners, keepers, Malfoy. Who’s lent you theirs?” “My mother,” said Draco.

So it seems we've got a little conflict going. Maybe Harry doesn't have the same relationship with Draco that he used too... but is a little uncomfortable letting Draco know that. Actually, the only time Harry just calls him "Draco" in dialogue is when... he's talking to Voldemort.

“I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago.”

(draco behind a pillar having an out-of-body experience because really potter? did you HAVE to phrase it like THAT?)

~ Interestingly, Harry's narration switches back to "Malfoy" during the Fiendfyre scene. This might be to make Draco more of an intentional pair with Crabbe and Goyle ('Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle' is a construction the books love.) Or maybe it's to reflect Ron and Hermione's perspective? Backpedal a bit on the implied Harry/Draco emotional closeness? Because... lemme just show you what this scene looks like if I swap out "Malfoy" with "Draco"

Draco saw him coming and raised one arm, but even as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no good. “Don’t kill him! DON’T KILL HIM!” Draco yelled at Crabbe and Goyle, who were both aiming at Harry [Ron] and Hermione dragged Goyle onto their broom and rose, rolling and pitching, into the air once more as Draco clambered up behind Harry. Draco was screaming and holding Harry so tightly it hurt.

~ And then, in their last real interaction, the names are all over the place:

Draco was on the upper landing, pleading with another masked Death Eater. Harry Stunned the Death Eater as they passed: Malfoy looked around, beaming, for his savior, and Ron punched him from under the Cloak. Malfoy fell backward on top of the Death Eater, his mouth bleeding, utterly bemused. “And that’s the second time we’ve saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!” Ron yelled.

Idfk man. Yeah. Btw none of this is bad, even if it sounds like it.

@knickknat - Knat: You're first because yeah. Your name comes like a snap. It's not exactly pointy, but if it were a weapon it could do some damage. Like uhh throwin a brick at someone.

@poetaster-crow and @jaykaythe1st - Jay: Woahh two Jays. Anyway y'alls name is like splashing (not stepping, splashing) in a puddle. This puddle ain't clear, it's a bit murky, but what puddle isn't? The name's a bit twisty, but not exactly like a spring, more like a wave kinda.

@what-the-actualhell - Zero: Hold on there buckaroo, that name got some WHIMSY to it. It's prolly just cuz these both start with Z, but it's got a zing to it. Very fast and wobbly. Like people fighting in a cartoon. I could see it being spring-like.

and then it occurred to me. i have…never actually heard anyone SAY his last name (it’s never said in the vld series). so i looked it up just to make sure *i’m* pronouncing it correctly, and I WAS NOT???

APPARENTLY, it’s pronounced koh-gah-neh, not ko-gain.

not only is that how the japanese word is pronounced, but here’s the official voltron force facebook post that explains why this is the correct pronunciation for keith specifically.

maybe this is old news but color me SURPRISED. (sorry keith, didn’t mean to butcher your last name!!)

Again this is subject to change a little bit and I’ll write a better thing about it later, but EEE I’m really excited about my name stuff it’s so convoluted and fun.

I love really long stupid ceremonial names, titles, etc, so my main goal is to just make as many of those as possible.

Let’s start with the basics. Every cat has a two-part name, Prefixsuffix, we know it. Each Oath has their own themed kit and apprentice suffixes: -dawn and -squall for Winged, -drop and -rill for Riparian, and -grain and -foot for Cliff-to-be-renamed. I’m debating on -foot, actually, but I’m really attached to the idea of evoking sure-footedness on the mountain and in life. Kingdom cats in the old days had much less organized naming systems, especially outside the nobility, and often took their parent’s or teacher’s (if they had one) suffix for part or all of their life.

But okay. You have your basic name. I’ll use my girl Clearfang (modern leader of Riparian) as an example. If a cat has a high-status position, they will also get a title in front of their name, for leaders, regents, heirs, and seers, these are Star, Moon, Prince(ss), and Overseer/Seer/Underseer.

(Notes: Gender neutral terms for heirs exist but depend on the cat’s preference. Princet, Heir, and Crown (as short for crown prince etc) are common. Overseer is the highest ranking Seer, usually the oldest, and Underseers are in training. Regents are similar to deputies but do not succeed the leader, acting more as advisors; basically all the work and none of the reward :3.)

So now we have Star Clearfang. Even within one’s own Oath it is usually considered disrespectful to omit the title, so cats might create nicknames like Clearstar, Seerbat, or Princeclaw. Depending on the cat, they may allow others to use their standard name, especially family and close friends.

Every cat also has a sort of “house” or lineage they belong to. This is called one’s “root” (like family tree, get it…) and denotes some social status. Roots trace back to the prefixes of particularly influential figures, mostly famous cats from the Three Heirs’ war, but also before and after that period. Examples of root names include Rain, Warbler, Fang, Hill, Sky, Aster, and Echo, but there are at least a few dozen. Back in the Kingdom days these were reserved for actual nobility, but in large part thanks to Hailheart’s push for eliminating class divides (which didn’t really work as planned), everyone has them now.

The royal lineages of each Oath trace back to their founders, so from good old Hailheart we now have Hail’s Star Clearfang.

(Note: Outsider-born cats are given the root “Border” until/unless they join an Oathsworn family. Cats can only formally choose to change their root when they take (or leave) a mate, deciding to keep their own or take their partner’s. Otherwise they can request or insist on it, but compliance depends on the cat and the current culture.)

Now we move to the back of the name, where I shamelessly steal from @troutfur , but this is also the part I am most open to changing. One of Trout’s AUs involves cats listing their mother & grandmother after their name (among many other things, please look up pfurrs, it’s super cool). I like this, especially because over centuries a root can come to refer to dozens of cats and not signify as much about social status. I have dubbed it the branch, because again, tree. This was more common among all Kingdom cats, but had a more casual connotation, and was usually just extra information common to give during a first meeting rather than part of the name, if that makes sense.

In this case, Clearfang’s full ceremonial name becomes Hail’s Star Clearfang of Icewhisker of Slatesong. Holy white/gray cat names, wow.

(Note: As before, cats can’t formally change their own branch names to their father or any other relatives, and they also can’t opt to omit it. They can make that choice, but it’s up to their leader or whoever is speaking to/announcing them to stick to it.)

Luckily, the full mouthful is only really broken out for, you guessed it, ceremonies and important events, but cats might invoke all or part of it to pull rank, to intimidate, to insult, to introduce themselves to outsiders, etc.