Father-names among the Noldor

[Galin]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

( . . . ) Feanor - named all seven of his sons... Finwe. I don't think Tolkien explicitly stated that he added individual parts later, but he did say that Curufin has his dad's full name because he was Feanor's favourite, which seems hard to square with him getting it at birth.

It's also noted that Feanor begged Nerdanel that the Mother-names of his last two sons -- Ambarussa - should be different.

Another reason Curufin received the name Curufinwe is that he resembled his father very much in face. This is reflected in his Mother-name Atarinke "Little father -- referring to his physical likeness to Feanor, later found also to be seen in his mind."

The Note on Mother-names (The Shibboleth of Feanor) begins: "The Eldar in Valinor had as a rule . . ." and states that the Father-name was given at birth, usually "recalling" the father's name by resembling it in sense or form, or "sometimes" it was simply the Father's name, to which some distinguishing prefix in the case of a son might be added later.

So what about Feanor's sons? Another, earlier text about naming (Morgoth's Ring) begins: "This is the manner in which the naming of children was achieved among the Noldor" -- and without going into detail here about the earlier text possibly being superseded -- in my opinion it's also possible that this account is simply more detailed concerning Noldorin customs specifically, where (in any case) it's said . . .

Laws and Customs: "soon after birth the child was named. It was the right of the father to devise this first-name, and he it was that announced it to the child's kindred on both sides" [and in the early days of the Eldar]

"( . . . ) it was then still the custom for the father-name of a son to be a modification of the father's name (as Finwe/Curufinwe) or a patronymic (as Finwion "son of Finwe")."

JRRT, Morgoth's Ring

[note: in this text, version B, Finwe named Feanor Finwion, later modified to Curufinwe when his talent was revealed]

Here the Noldor have Father-names, Chosen-names -- meaning the right to name themselves at a given point --
and other names including Mother-names.