Naming customs in Themiclesia

In Themiclesia, an individual often possesses several names, each for a separate purpose. The manner in which these names are created and used is associated with a large body of cultural traditions and, in some cases, legal prescription.

In most cases, a surname can be combined with another name to give additional information about the person mentioned.

Surnames

Most Themiclesians have two surnames, found on the census.

The sjêngh (姓) is often translated as "inherited name". While it is usually inherited through the father, the etymology of the Shinasthana character, suggests that it is more associated with the female line when the character was invented. This has been interpreted by some anthropologists to indicate a matrilineal society or totem during the earliest phases of Themiclesian culture. The sjêngh was historically used to indicate ancestry, and Themiclesian culture strongly discouraged marriage between two individuals of the same sjêngh, which was thought to lead to inbreeding. To prevent inbreeding, the sjêngh is never altered throughout an individual's life. Traditionally, at no distance in the geneological relationship between two persons is this rule dispensed with; in the modern age, laws have been significantly relaxed, with sibling and first- and second-cousin marriages prohibited.

The gjê (氏), sometimes rendered as "family name", is also passed on through the father. The family name differs from the inherited name in its function as a geographic, professional, or political indicator. There is debate how the gjê originated, some academic works making the case the gjê originally applied to branches of a clan that occupied certain productive niches or held notable positions, not dissimilar to how Western names like "Tanner" or "Smith" appeared. This theory has been expanded to include geographic gjê for branches of a clan that founded or joined settlements and were named after it; as such, unrelated lineages can have the same gjê.  While the sjêngh never changes, the gjê may change with an appropriate reason, such as marriage, adoption, moving, or politics. Into the modern period, many gjê are compounded with geographic areas, e.g. the Rje (李, "Plum") of Pjan-ljang (繁陽), who have the sjêngh of Sljeh (姒) instead.

A prominent example of a political gjê is Gwjang (王), which literally means "king". This was the gjê taken up by junior branches of the royal family as they separated from its finances. Thus, rather than being divided geographically, most canonical Gwjangs append their names with their royal ancestor, rather than geographic places, e.g. Gwjang of [King] Mjen of Tsjinh (晉文王氏).  Any kind of hereditary title can replace the gjê in writing, as it serves the same purpose of identifying a person with a kinship group; this is often considered evidence for the original use of gjê, more as a social designation rather than the identity of a lineage. Indeed, political titles show a strong ability to become names for lineages. As an example, when the emperor signs treaties, he names himself "Emperor La", (皇帝涂, gwang-tegh-la), even though his gjê is Slje-mra of Gar-nubh (河內司馬); any of his descendants who do not receive titles are likely to take up the name Gwjang, "King".

Personal name

An individual receives his personal name (名, mjêng) at birth, usually given by his parents. Clairevoyants have been known to participate in a child's naming by exaimining the portend of each element of the name in combination with the hours of the child's birth; this practice is now obsolete in most regions of the country but remains customary in some, purely as a matter of tradition. A personal name can be one or two characters long, which typically contain a coherent meaning that may or may not be related to the person. In contrast with some cultures, Themiclesian names rarely draw from mythology or religion; instead, objects of cultural or philosphical importance, natural features, and abstract concepts are more popular themes. Most themes relating to war, violence, disease, misfortune, and negative images in general are avoided.

Personal names were thought to bear a supernatural relation to its owner. In antiquity, knowledge of a personal name enabled one to curse the name and by therethrough its owner; therefore, a courtesy name (see below) was required. It thus became highly taboo and offensive to utter the personal name of another person, particularly that of a social superior; in the case of the emperor, this constitutes the crime of lese-majeste. The personal names of prominent individuals are also referred to as their "taboo" (諱, hwjeih). Exceptions to this rule are one's own family members and oneself. Conversely, to identify oneself by personal name is deemed an act of humility, a notion probably associated with the ancient belief that exposing one's name was tantamount to exposing oneself.

The system of taboos significantly further historically. The personal names of a person's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents are all subject to taboo; the taboo is expected to be observed by visitors to the family, who may be informed beforehand of such prohibited words. In modern times, some very traditional individuals still maintain the habit of missing a stroke when writing these taboo words to demonstrate their respect towards their families.

Courtesy name

A courtesy name was granted to a person coming of age, which was 20 before 1935 and 18 after. As with the personal name, parents are responsible for coming up with a courtesy name, which typically displays much more pronounced positivity than a personal name. Other elements often augment the courtesy name proper, which usually is one or two characters long. Within one's family, the format is normally seniority + courtesy name + gender affix:

• Seniority is indicated for males by the order of 伯, 仲, 季, and 叔 in descending order.
• Gender is indicated for males by the word 父 after the courtesy name.
• Seniority is indicated for females by the order of 孟, 仲, 季, and 叔 in descending order.
• Gender is indicated for females by the word 母 after the courtesy name.

Beyond the family, the seniority element is typically omitted in favour of the family name, as the person's seniority amongst siblings is usually of less importance to outsiders.

Name changes

In principle, a Themiclesian person may always change his personal name by reporting the change to the bureaucracy. However, his sjêngh and gjê are subject to restrictions; the sjêngh was considered biological in Themiclesia and in no case may be altered until the modern period. If a child with a known gjê is adopted, it may be renamed to that gjê. When a woman marries, she may also change her gjê to match that of her husband, though this was not common practice in the upper echelons of society. Other than these reasons, changing gjê was discouraged or prohibited for convenience of administration.

During the Tsjinh dynasty, the gentry clans began to acquire political and economic rights, such as exemption from upper limits to freehold, the right to retain subsidiary clans, and to participate in triennial civic elections. Originally, whether a clan was part of the gentry or not was socially decided, but during the late 4th century an official register appeared to combat fake ancestries or marriages as a means to obatin prestige. From that time, counterfeiting family trees, marital records, and pretending a gjê to which one did not belong (冒氏, mugh-gjê) became serious offences.

See also

• Themiclesia