What's in a Name?

[Fingolfin of the Noldor]

Tolkien goes into the Naming of the Eldar in THe laws and Customs of the Eldar pg 214-17 of Morgoth's Ring. Some interesting notes:

• the father-name was the first name and was announced at the first ceremony called the Essecarme(Name-making)
  -this name stood first and remained 'unaltered'
• among the Noldor there was later another ceremoney called the Essecilme(Name-choosing)
  -there was no fixed date for this but it could not take place before the child was deemed capable of lamatyave(of individual pleasure in the sounds and form of words) which seldom occured before the 7th year
  -this name was called the "second-name"
• the father-name and choosen-name were 'true-names' not nicknames the father-name being public the choosen being private
  -private not secret, the choosen-name was regarded as personal property which could not be used without leave
  -a new name choosen-name could be choosen but it would not replace the former both becoming a part of the 'full-title' of any Noldo¹
• no specific time is given for the giving of a mother-name or really any of the other given-names
  -many mother mother names were names of 'insight'/'foresight' in regard to their child
  -the mother-names, unlike other 'given-names', were often granted special authority and regarded as 'true names' and "public not private if placed (as was sometimes done) immediately after the father-name."

¹The 'full title' of a Noldo was the sequence of all the names that had been acquired in the course of life

[ July 16, 2002: Message edited by: Fingolfin of the Noldor ]

[ July 19, 2002: Message edited by: Fingolfin of the Noldor ]