I'd like to yap about my characters. So I'm gonna explain the meaning behind their names because I put some good thought into it.
His first name(pronounced car-rin) is really simple and popular enough in the modern era that he has a coke bottle with his name in Ireland. But like that was the point. In his mind he was never supposed to be anything more than a Traveller. He was supposed to follow the set path God had given him; marry and have children. He'd had dreams as a child but he thought that they were just that, dreams. So an unassuming first name was my choice.
His middle name(Pronounced Ang-gus) has meaning a bit deeper. The way it's spelt is actually the spelling of the God of Love in old Irish mythology. His father was raised in the old religion and even though he wished for his children to assimilate into the era's religion and culture. He couldn't help but hope that one day his beliefs could be spoken about with clairity. So while he allowed his wife, who was raised under Christianity, name their children. He still tried to pass on a bit of his culture.
And his last is the anglicized version of the surname Ó Mocháin or decendant of Mochán and it's pretty simple, that's the name of Ciarán's grandfather who he never met. It's also a play on his mother's maiden name 'O Moon' cuz they both have ties to the moon and I reference the moon a lot in the story. It's another tale of assimilation for fear of persecution.
Avice Kelita Knightwine-McCourtney
His first name(Ah-Vis) is completely made up. The closest I can find to it is Avis(A-vis) which has an unknown meaning and a girl's name and that was the point. Originally Avice is from Nepal and how he ended up in Scotland is a story for later but he was around twelve years old when he was found so his English skills were non existent. So when his father helped him come up with a name he landed on that cuz he thought it sounded pretty.
Kelita is actually a biblical name and I like to think that his father gave him this one as well and Avice just thought it was pretty sounding. But it roughly means 'adopted one' and yeah it fits cuz he is adopted. But it can also mean 'disabled' which felt kinda of like foreshadowing so I thought that it fit him well.
His two last names are finicky. Knightwine is just as Ciarán describes it in the prologue, a literal surname, which was a common thing back then. Avice's occupation is a knight(not really) and one of his most notable features is his eyes which are described as the color of wine. McCourtney, I made up. As much as I would've loved to be able to give them a real life clan tartan, I loved the way it rolled off my tongue too much. There are surnames similar to it that could work as spellings change over the centuries.
When Avice finally tells Ciarán his full name cuz he dropped McCourtney after fleeing so he couldn't be traced back to his family. Ciarán remarks about how odd Avice's name is cuz obvi the dude's read the Bible and knows vaguely what his middle name means but his first name is one of a kind. He stands out wherever he goes even though all he wants to do is live his life unnoticed. Ciarán has a simple common name and he never thought he'd be anything more than common until he bucked up and left that common, and safe place and met Avice.
Iris Loveday Knightwine-McCourtney
Originally her name was Cosetta after Coletta(Who we haven't met yet) but I couldn't commit to it. It wasn't unique enough for someone like Avice to have named her. A fact about Avice is that he smells similar to Iris flowers, or specifically the 'If You Musk' body mist scent from B&BW(which I just looked and it's been discontinued) that and an itty bitty hint of fresh cream and it was kind of an evil play on the fact that she still physically "haunted" him even after death cuz babies smell like milk and her name is how he smells. But he gave her the name cuz while decorating a cradle he was painting flowers on it and the name kind of stuck with him and Iris flowers represents faith and hope. A dream of a brighter future for him and his daughter.
Her middle name is also quite literal as it's definition is from the old english word 'Leofdæg' or literally 'beloved day'. Which obvi the birth of your child is typically seen as a beloved day. Avice gave it to her cuz her birth was traumatic and that is a pile of medical slop to be explored later. But he still wanted her to know that no matter what he'd gone through he still cherished the fact that she was born to begin with. He loved that baby girl with all of his heart and he made sure her names reflected that.
Originally he just gave her the last name Knightwine cuz he didn't want to be found but after she died he decided to give her his second last name as well as kind of a hope that his father would be able to find her in the afterlife.
Avice's birth name is Tarapati Sikari
Tarapati - Lord of the Stars
