#naming system

So if there had been any naming traditions in the clan (such as -claw never being used for medicine cats but reversed with names that warriors can’t get, because medicine cats name their own apprentices) he wouldn’t have known.

And I’m sooo in for the sheer drama of a young Firestar, in the midst of all the other drama (Tigerstar, Tigerclan, hounds killing cats, Tawnypaw leaving, Feather Storm and Mistyfoot being around because of the purge in Tigerclan etc etc) offending the whole clan by giving a name that is considered a bad omen or inappropriate or something.

Then again if you can name a cat Lostface and the only thing that people seem to find weird in that is that the cat bearing that name didn’t like it, I can’t imagine what would be considered inappropriate.

But like, naming Brambleclaw after his blood-thirsty father could have made a few people frowning.

What if giving the “fall” suffix to someone who’s the sole survivor of their litter is considered a bad omen because the other “fell”? What if giving the suffix “flight” to someone with a prefix that isn’t a bird is considered arrogance/pointing the newly warriored arrogance? What if giving the same suffix to two siblings, even not littermates (like Darkstripe and Graystripe, or Lilyheart and Cinderheart, even if three of these four cats were named by other leaders) is considered insulting? What if using the same sets of suffixes multiple times is considered insulting too? (for example, if Berrynose had been named Berryfur, it would have been the same set of suffixes for the litter as for Sootfur, Rainwhisker and Sorreltail)

What if deciding the mentors without the parents’ approval (we saw Bluestar talk to the queens in the first arc about mentors at some point iirc) was considered the first step of a decadent area for the clan as the leader was starting not to take anyone’s opinion into consideration? Likewise, what if starting the apprentice ceremony without a warning was considered insulting to the parents, the mentors and the kits, because it didn’t let them any time to prepare?

The usual rule is that if the prefix already describes a pattern, the suffix also describing that pattern would be redundant. For example, Cherry- means "a brown tortoiseshell", so it's very unlikely for that cat to be named Cherrydapple or Cherryspeck because, well, you already know she's dappled/speckled just from her prefix. Same goes for bicolor cats - a lot of bicolor names are specific to that singular definition of (color) with white, so using -patch is more rare than you'd expect (RiverClan does often use names that don't imply white coloring for the sake of variety in their very-much-bi-or-tricolored community, but since everyone kind of expects that from them and knows to guess that Gingerpaw of RiverClan is actually ginger-and-white, -patch doesn't see a lot of use there either).

[name] song - leader

[name] leaf - healer

[name] pond - therapist

[name] twig - builder

[name] blade - crafter

[name] spider - gatherer

[name] claw - fighter primary skill

[name] tooth - hunter primary skill

[name] water - parent primary skill

[name] bird - training in a skill

[name] newt - being raised from birth to 6 months

EXAMPLES:

feather song - leader

autumn leaf - healer

cinder pond - therapist

bright twig - builder

brindle blade - crafter

honey spider - gatherer

tadpole claw - fighter

urchin tooth - hunter

osprey water - parent

yolk twig - trainee (hunter skill)

corn newt - kitten

special name cases are where a cat’s born name would conflict with their role, in which they are given a special species of leaf they must take to the temple in order to change their name. this also works if a cat wants to be named twig or newt after leaving the respective stages of those names.

(in order, from highest to lowest)

Firsts - leaders. Selected by the previous leader, and given a new suffix upon their selection, but they use their previous name until their leader dies. There are seven different leader suffixes (see end of post).

Seconds - the deputies, the seconds-in-command. They are selected by the leader once that leader is formally a First, and given their leader name in secret by the First.

Watchers - those who watch for signs from their gods. Like a warriors medicine cat, in how they are seen as very spiritual, and Watcher trainees have to be "accepted by the gods", or at least by the colony's god. Common Watcher suffixes are Sight, Whisper, Seeker, and Gaze.

Elders - the old cats of the colony. Usually 12+ years old. Respected for their experience and wisdom.

Hunters - the cats who hunt for the colony. Not much else to say.

Fighters - the cats who defend the colony, both from other colonies and other animals. At least one usually accompanies a hunting patrol, in case they run into something dangerous, and these cats are the ones who check the borders. Common Fighter suffixes are Strike, Fang(s), Claw(s), etc.

Healers - cats who use herbs, physical therapy, and any other natural remedies to heal their colony. They can wander freely, as well as gather herbs on other colonies' terrority, or ask them for herbs. (for instance, a Sandcat might ask a Junglecat for herbs that need a lot of moisture to grow.) Common Healer suffixes are to do with plants (Blossom, Mint, Sage, etc).

Nursery Queens - adult cats who cannot hunt, fight, or heal their colony, OR, pregnant queens who feel safer in camp than the rest of their territory.

Trainees - young-ish cats in training for a job. They don't have their job ranks. They're anywhere between three months to one year old, and only have the first half of their name, chosen by themself upon declaring their job (Bird, Maple, Wind, etc).

Kittens - lil baby kittens. Between from zero months to three months. They're confined to camp, and named after something about their appearance (Spots, Brown, Patch, etc).

Name Examples:

Oak Sky, Coyote Claws, Dusty Mint, Canyon Feather, Sorrel Storm.

Leader Suffixes (and their meanings):

Pool - a First who is peaceful, or who the previous First wishes to have a peaceful reign. Often given by Blaze or Storm leaders.

Heart - a compassionate or kind First, or one who puts their colony first an exceptional amount/even before they were a First or Second.

Ice - a First who is cold or ruthless, or who can do what needs to be done without emotions getting in the way. There's a bit of stigma about Ice leaders, because they tend to historically have contained some fucked up cats in their ranks.

Call - a First who has a spiritual aspect to their leadership, such as an Islandcat who almost drowned, or a First whos predecessor was given a sign by their god of who to pick for Second.

Blaze - a First who is a changemaker, who burns bright and quick. From the phrase "go out in a blaze of glory".

Storm - similar to Blaze, but not the same. A first who is a changemaker, who has a great impact on their colony or the colonies as a whole. From the phrase "to take the world by storm".

How would you prefer that I list the characters?

All by their first names (like now)? -> David, Jock, Pat, Dave, Augustin, …

All by their last name? -> Stirling, Lewes, Almonds, Bergé, …

According to the character? ->Paddy, Sadler, Johnny, Kershaw, … (If you have any preferences tell me, I'll see what I can do)

As the Warriors series continues, more names get “crazier” with each book. Do you like these names or do you want to go back to basics?

I read your rewrite from start to finish a few weeks ago, and kept forgetting to give you the compliments due to such great work! You tied up so many loose ends so wonderfully (especially Shadowclan! And Tall's actions at that climax really set up his future leadership beautifully), and your depiction of abuse was so astute and raw it really stuck with me. I love how fleshed out Windclan is, from politics to relationships (platonic and not) and anything in between. I recommended this to a friend frustrated with the latest book release, I hope they enjoy it as much as I did! <3

One tiny tidbit that's stayed in mind - if I recall (can't go back and check right now oop), Talltail was given the nane Tallkit with the specific understanding he would likely be named Talltail as a Warrior, with this being an old tradition. Are any other cats named similarly, or similar traditions in other Clans? It's a really cool idea and justification for some of the weirder canon names (who names a mostly-white kitten with black toes Blackkit unless it's definitely being named Blackfoot later?), and if it's alright with you I'd love to borrow the idea for my own writing! <3

Thank you!! I'm very glad you enjoyed reading!

For starters, yes you are definitely free to take inspiration from the idea that these predetermined prefix/suffix combos come from an old tradition, but I admit I only did it with a fairly negative reasoning in mind--that being since the suffix is the part of the name a cat typically earns themselves based on their own skills/personality/merits, Sandstone choosing a name that would predetermine the suffix was just another extension of him projecting his own ideals onto his kit at the expense of Talltail’s individuality, etc... I’ve actually never been a fan of names like this where the prefix is clearly predetermining the suffix (such as with Blackfoot, like you mentioned). I always felt it was really unfair to the apprentice to take away their opportunity to earn their own name. Talltail is the only cat in the allegiances with a name like this, as in my world this style of naming has fallen out of favor for that reason. With the exception I suppose of Clawface and Brokentail, but that’s a slightly different circumstance, although it stems from the same tradition. Injury-related names are chosen by the cat themselves upon reaching warriorhood rather then chosen for them by parents, hence why those characters have normal names, Buzzardpaw and Darkpaw, while apprentices. They at least had an opportunity to earn a normal name.

For where the tradition started across the clans, I hope you don't mind I'm taking this ask as an excuse to ramble a little about how I imagined the naming system origins because it's something I have fun thinking about! I never fully worked out every detail but I have had the rough shape of it floating around my head for a while

So, I don't envision the old style of names as a WindClan specific tradition, but a relic from the early early days of the clans, before they were officially clans as we know them, and were only just starting to organize themselves into small groups. I think the two-part naming style first began as nicknames, and were pretty much always referencing some literal visual aspect of the cat for a couple reasons:

1: these were rough times where no one had agreed upon codes, little medical training, and there were a lot of desperate cats with a kill-or-be-killed mindset. Ironically, many started referring to each other by blunt simplistic nicknames to avoid growing too personal with cats who you could reasonably expect to be dead any day, to spare themselves grief. You'd know a handful of cats by their scent and appearance and had short-lived tentative alliances with them. It was a courtesy then to not ask for real names. If you needed to address someone, or more likely if you needed to warn your allies about a potential dangerous cat who hunted nearby, it was better to just refer to them as “the white cat with the black tail” or “the pale cat with the dark stripes” (eventually short handed to things like “Black Tailed” and “Dark Striped” for simplicity.)

2: This reason is a little more silly but everyone is a former loner who isn't used to having to keep track of so many neighbors, and no one can remember all these new names, so it helps if their name is a literal visual part of them.

but mostly, I think the reason these names stuck around and became important is when they turned into something of a status symbol. You didn't choose the name yourself, it was made up by someone (often your enemies actually) and passed around by others, and that would only happen if you made yourself notable. like “having a visual-signifier nickname like this is a sign that you’ve become a cat that allies and rivals alike need to remember on sight, for their own sake” and you know, that's a very attractive concept to a bunch of cats who pride themselves on being tough. Battle scar nicknames were very common, as you can imagine, and were probably the most desirable as it made a cat look battle-hardened (those sorts of names are the most common way for old traditional names to carry on in modern day.) Thus what started as simple unofficial nicknames for the sake of easier communication eventually carried this...sort of romanticized sentiment with them. The better hunter/fighter you are, the more cats will have to take note of you and pass a name along to warn about you. The worst thing to be was a cat of so little consequence that nobody ever had cause to recognize you, you were effectively invisible, and that meant you probably weren't very impressive and no one would ally with you. These cats all desperately wanted to be remembered (a sentiment that persists in clan culture today what with how StarClan works, running mostly on the power of remembrance) if only so they could justify that all the suffering they were going through with trying to survive wasn’t for nothing. Thus being “named” by your peers, assuring you were recognized by appearance, was like...demanding that your face be remembered in the world, even if it wasn’t for good reasons. Eventually these simple nicknames became more important to the cats in the forest then their birth names (provided they had birth names in the first place. If they did, no one remembered them because nobody shared them)

When the clans officially formed and everyone started promising to kill each other less and value the lives of every cat in their group, the tradition was more cemented. The association of “this sort of name=importance” was firm in everyone’s mind, and so the leaders made sure that all their members had a nickname, as a symbol that they were all important and remembered already by merit of being part of a clan, and their names(/worth) shouldn’t be determined by their rivals. For a while those given nicknames may have been secondary names alongside a birth name, sort of like a last name (So, if Firestar had come into a clan in those times he probably would have been called something like "Rusty Flame-Furred"). At some point I suppose the nicknames became the only names

When -kit and -paw later became a tradition to separate kittens apart, the prefix that the parents give carries the memory of this--a word they feel is fitting to describe their kit appearance-wise (even if in a more colorful or metaphorical way), and the suffix represents the skills/personality/etc you develop and become known for on your own terms. Of course, there aren’t any hard rules about naming so no one is forced to follow that exactly

The second Clan we’re doing in our names series is ThunderClan, so here they are!

Bluefur was named by Pinestar for her distinctive blue-grey fur. Redtail was named by Sunstar for his distinctive ginger tail and the balance with which he made all his decisions. Featherwhisker decided to name Spottedleaf for her dedication to learning herbs to treat her Clanmates with, as well as her soft and healing nature.

Rosetail was named by Pinestar for her light tail, and for being a well-rounded warrior. Lionheart's name was suggested by Pinestar, for being loyal to ThunderClan despite his moral struggles keeping the leader's secret, and Sunstar later named him so. Sunstar named Tigerclaw for his fierce energy and use of his claws in battle. For his fierce battle moves and intense personality, Whitestorm was named by Sunstar. Willowpelt was named by Sunstar for her personality being as gentle as her soft fur. Sunstar named Mousefur for her skills as a warrior. Runningwind was named by Sunstar by the speed with which his paws carry him - the leader commented that he "lived up to his name" from kithood. Darkstripe was named by Sunstar for his striped pelt, so similar to his mentor, which helped him blend in. Named for his long tail, Longtail was named by Bluestar and wasn't particularly thrilled either (he'd hoped for a new name entirely) but has since gotten used to it.

Speckletail was named by Pinestar for her keen sense of balance both physically and in her duties. Goldenflower was named by Sunstar for for her soft and mothering personality. Named by Sunstar, Frostfur earned her name for her chilly exterior, despite her ability to warm her Clanmates. Brindleface was named by Sunstar for her face, which is the only place she was never wounded as an apprentice and thus has no scars.