Heroes and ancient warriors collected names. Think of biblical characters, Tolkien’s heroes, or ancient kings with their list of titles. Quite impressive, especially compared to our simple John Robert Smith. (My apologies if that is your name.)
So, how do you go about choosing a name?
In Gothic, names basically consisted of combining two meanings into a single world. For example, Alaric in Gothic is Ala-reiks. This is a combination of “all” (Ala) and “ruler (reiks). Thus, this sacker of Rome lived up to his name as ruler of all.
Here are some common name parts that you can connect to make your own or use for your characters.
Choose one of these beginnings based on its meaning.
| Ahta | Terrible |
| Alh | Temple |
| Anda | Courage |
| Ans | God |
| Athala | Noble |
| Auda | Wealth |
| Badwa | Battle |
| Gaisu | Spear |
| Harya | Army |
| Liuda | People |
| Mahta | Mighty |
| Ragina | Counsel |
| Swintha | Strong |
| Thauris | Daring |
| Wulfa | Wolf |
Next, add an ending.
| -bawds | War |
| -balths | Bold |
| -friths | peace |
| -gais | Spear |
| -haryis | Army |
| -mers | Famous |
| -nanths | Daring |
| -swinths | Strong |
| -wakrs | Watchful |
One final comment—Gothic names were often redundant, or even contradictory. For example, Gaisugais means spear spear. Or Badwafriths means battle peace. But I feel that if you pick a name, you’ll want to be able to show how it matches you. So be careful of meaning–unless, of course, you are a redundant or contradictory person.
So, choose your name, add it to your collection, and do your best to imitate the heroes of old.
Daniel F. Bowman 