The Acolyte (2024)

The Acolyte (2024)

Valyrian Name Meanings

I am just really too into baby names and High Valyrian, so here comes a long post about both. So what follows is my headcanon completely, though certain choices (i.e. Aegon) I feel are just too coincidental for David J. Peterson not to have done it on purpose. 

Based on established Valyrian words, grouped by root

Aegon: from āegenkon, iron

Aelor, Aelora, Aelyx: from  ēlie, first

Aemon, Aemond, Aemma: from aemagon or emagon, to have, own, or contain

Aenys, Aenar: from añogar, blood

Aerea, Aerion, Aerys: from aeragon or aerēbagon, to travel

Aethan: from itatagon, to finish

Alyssa, Alysanne: from ālion, a piece of land

Baelon, Baela, Baelor: from baelagon, to help

Corlys, Corwyn: from korzion, Valyrian steel

Daemion, Daemon: from tēmagon, to prick or poke

Daeron, Daella: from dāez, free

Elaena, Helaena, Laena, Laenor: from elēni, voice or music

Gael: from gēlyn, debt

Gaemon: from gēlyn, debt, and mōris, end

Jacaerys: from jaes, deity, and sēter, spell

Jaehaerys, Jaehaera: from jaes, deity, and aeragon or aerēbagon, to travel

Jaenara: from jaes, deity, and ñages, dawn

Lucerys: from loktys, sailor, and sēter, spell

Maegelle, Maegon, Maegor, Maekar: from maege, prudent or practical, also the root for maegi

Monterys: from manda, kind or courteous

Naerys: from naena, multitude

Rhaegar: from rhēdegon, to be known, to have renown

Rhaelle, Rhaella, Rhae: from rāelagon, to keep or maintain

Rhaenys, Rhaena, Rhaenyra: from rhaenagon, to find

Saera, Shaera: from zāeres, crystal

Shaena: from saelie, third

Vaella, Vaegon: from vēzos, sun

Vaemond: from vēzos, sun, and mōris, end

Valarr, Valerion, Valaena: from valenka, male or masculine

Visenya, Viserys, Viserra: from vestriarzir, story

Based on my own headcanon words

Daena, Daenys, Daenara, Daenerys: from dēnas, lamp or lamplighter

Maelor: from maelagon, to wander

Matarys: from matarion, fountain

For notes on the gendering of Valyrian names: 

Some names, namely Aemond, Vaemond, Gael, and Rhaelle, do not decline normally in High Valyrian from what I can tell, though if someone can tell me otherwise I will gladly listen. However, for now I am going to chalk these up as Westerosi influence, and gender the first two as terrestrial-gendered names, and the other two as aquatic gender. I am pulling the rest of this essay completely from my mind, so be warned!

Obviously, the four Valyrian genders (lunar, solar, aquatic, and terrestrial) don’t map exactly onto the male/female naming scheme, but it does seem that the lunar gender is exclusively for female names, though of course this has more to do with GRRM using English naming conventions, and I will also chalk this up to Andal influence as well. Terrestrial gendered names similarly seem masculine-leaning, though there is the notable exception of Alysanne, which I have in the past put down as “Alisān” when referring to her in High Valyrian.

Now, this may be overcomplicating things, but I would just really love it if the gendering of these names was significant- I am basing this a little bit on Chinese baby naming where the radicals that make up a kid’s name are treated superstitiously. When it comes to baby names, I lean more towards the idea that they reveal more about the parents than about the kid themselves, but Valyria also has access to dragon dreamers and prophecy, which does lend itself to the idea that the parents might use some vision of their child’s future to inform their name. Also, the further removed Valyrian speakers are away from the culture, this importance might fade away entirely in favor of what sounds good to the parent- there are only a few names from here that we know came from Valyria itself: Aenar, Daenys, Gaemon, and Jaenara.

Anyway, solar and lunar gendered terms are mostly reserved for humans, so I think gendered names here may center the meaning of the name around the character of the child itself. Solar gendered terms include names of occupations, so I think perhaps solar gendered names refer to what a parent might wish for what the child might do, or a great deed- so it may be a sign of ambition or dreams for a child. Lunar terms in turn might instead refer to traits, so what the child might be, so more like virtue names in English. So we might be able to relate this difference with the name root “Rhaen-”. In the name Rhaenys, the meaning could be interpreted as “finder,” while in Rhaena or Rhaenyra, it would be closer to “found.”

On the other hand, I think aquatic and terrestrial might refer to events that might happen in a child’s life- so this may refer to a prophetic knowledge of what is to come in the child's life. The genders themselves fit their names pretty closely: aquatic gender terms tend to refer to things related to liquids, and terrestrial gender terms tend to refer to things related to the earth. Aquatic gender I think would refer to a pivotal moment in a child’s life- not necessarily good or bad, but a moment that changes the course of a life. Sort of like the sea giving and taking away.

I think terrestrial gendered names might be sort of protective charms, like a shield against terrible events. So we might be able to relate this difference with the name root “Maeg-”.  In the names Maegor and Maekar, it would indicate “he will become prudent”, while in Maegon, it would indicate a “may he be prudent because he needs to be.” I think this also adds a new dimension to every single one of Jaehaerys’ sons having a terrestrial gendered name.

To make a full summary with a new name, I am going to be using the name root “Bael-”, which we have examples of three genders for. The one we don’t have, solar, I am going to invent, Baelys, might mean “helper.” In lunar gender, Baela, it might mean “helpful”. In aquatic gender, Baelor, it might mean “he will help/be helped and change his life”. In terrestrial gender, Baelon, it would mean “may he be helped when he needs it.”

So there you have it! My unnecessary but super fun headcanons about Valyrian baby names! Thanks for reading this essay.

The series reminded me why I fell in love with Fallout all those years ago

fallout fans freaking out about shady sands as if the motto of fallout isn’t “war never changes.” i’m sorry but did you guys really think the highly expansionist imperialist society that considers itself the inheritor of pre-war values would be immune to exploding too or—

List of New Vegas references in the Fallout show that I currently know of

The Sunset Sasparilla logo shows up a couple times

Robert House makes an appearance at a Vault-Tec meeting

Frederick Sinclair, founder of the Sierre Madre, appears as a representative of Big MT

Julia Masters, who was first mentioned in New Vegas, appears as a representative of REPCONN, which I think also first appeared in New Vegas

Literal New Vegas shows up

Secruritrons in the credits of final episode

Edit: The Tops and the Lucky 38 are shown in the end credit sequence, don’t remember catching the other ones

I may have missed some but you can see why I doubt they retconned New Vegas when they take so much from the game

The X-Men: Evolution gang, by Lukas Werneck!