The Middle Earth Naming Guides for Beginners

by Minstrel of Ainur

Have you come across good fics but the names are terrible & not Tolkien enough? For anyone with little knowledge of naming, this guide will be your starting point. Men/Elves/Dwarves/Hobbits COMPLETE! Source for Elvish study included or use google

1. Chapter 1

The Middle-Earth Naming Guides for Beginners

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The naming of your fanfic characters is crucial if you would like to get as close as possible to Tolkienness. This guide will be your starting point. This, however, does not derive the origins of names. For the origins and meaning of names, you are strongly advised to refer to, The Bible, Anglo-Saxon literatures and various Sindarin works published. The Internet is resourceful when it comes to this.

I will start with the names of the race of Man (Rohirrims, Gondorians). The guide for Men of Bree and Men of Dale, Elves and Hobbits would follow shortly. If there is a need for naming of orcs and Uruks, I can provide that too.

For Elvish names, please see Chapter 2 or go to http:/www[dot]elvish[dot]org/

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Rohirrims

The names of Rohirrims are derived from Anglo-Saxon names. Or we call it Old English.

The prefixes often seen are:

Female: Elf-, Esc-, Ethel-, Béorn-, Céo-, Cwén-, Cyn-, Éad-, Eal-, Éo-, Here-, Léof-, Wulf-

Male: Ald-, An-, Béo-, Béorn-, Cén-, Céol-, Coen-, Cuth-, Éad-, Egel-, Elf-, Éo-, Esc-, Ethel-, Forth-, Fréa-, Grim-, Guth-, Hes-, Ord-, Théod-

The endings are usually:

Female: -bur, -fled, -gifu, -leofu, -swith, -thryth, -waru, -wen, -wyn

Male: -bryt, -dryt, -ea, -ferth, -frid, -frith, -gar, -helm, -here, -rath, -red, -ric, -rid, -sig, -stan, -thryth, -werd, -wald, -wig, -wine, -wulf

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Gondorians

The names of Gondorian are of Sindarin.

The prefixes include:

Female: Adan-, And-, Ar-, Bel-, Breg-, Celeb, Dol-, Edhel-, El-, Fan-, Find-, Galadh-, Gil-, Hir-, Ior-, Ir-, Lal-, Mel-, Mor-, Nim-, Rod-, Sael-, Tinú-

Male: Adan-, Aeg-, Am-, Aran-, Bara-, Beleg-, Celeb-, Curu-, Dag-, El-, Fela-, Fin-, Gal-, Gil-, Hal-, Ing-, Lin-, Mal-, Pen-, Tar-, Thurin-, Ul-

The endings are usually:

Female: -anor, -dal, -dis, -el, -eth, -iel, -il, -gil, -los, -raen, -riel, -rian, -rien, -uilas, -uilos, -wen, -wing

Male: -adan, -aran, -bor, -born, -dir, -dor, -had, -ion, -las, -or, -orn, -phant, -phor, -randir, -ras, -rod, -rond, -ros, -thelion, -thir, -uil, -vorn

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Men of Bree

The names of Men of Bree are usually short and simple. They are English-style.

Female: Ellie, Lalia, Dora, Adela

Male: Bill, Ned, Tom, Matt

They also use unfamiliar names such as Humphrey, Cuthbert

Some Bree-landers prefer to go by their last names which are often of plant such as Butterbur, Ferny, Thistleway

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Men of Dale

Men of Dale share the similarity with the Rohirrims. Their names are also of Anglo-Saxon. Please refer to Rohirrim naming.

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Note: The prefixes and endings are not limited to the fore-mentioned. This guide is for novice writers with little knowledge of Tolkien naming. The author does not in any way or the other make profit out of this.