SR:
This is not required reading, just handy dandy.
Names on Pern are not quite like the ones on Earth but it does have earth roots, it is afterall a colonial world. As such you might find names like Mihall instead of Micheal and other such 'bastardisations' How you create a pernese name (if at all, it's completely optional) is up to you, but Pern-pimping names can be lots of fun!
Naming conventions
Names on Pern do have some traditions and conventions. Popular naming conventions include derriving the name from the names of both parents. For example:
F'lar (Falonar) and Lessa had a son called Felessan. Adreasi and Jillarian have a son Adrejian and a daughter Jadrian. Gailen and Firna have two sons called Fingall and Galliar. B'nos (Belarinos) and Ava had a son L'nai (Lanai) This too is not obligatory, it's just something to know ;D
The more important naming convention on Pern is naming (mostly male) children something that can be well shortened to a proper honourific.
Honourifics
Honourifics are dragonrider names. They all are a contraction of the rider's full name made with an apostrophe. F'lar, Sh'gall, M'hall, R'gul are just some examples from the books. As you can see how long the honourific is or where the apostrophe goes doesn't matter.
Typically honourifics are one syllable, this stems from the origins of the honourifics. In the books the honourifics are explained as being started by the dragons in order to communicate faster. Riders later copied the names because it was both cool and convenient (I did not make this up, they really thought it was cool). During a Fall names would be shouted across great distances and a short, simple name was easier to shout than anything too lengthy and long-winded.
Long names like Falonar became contracted to F'lar. Similarly on WoF we have/had the following:
Itamar - I'mar Itenoram - I'nora Efrayim - E'yim Glaedwin - Gl'win but also simpler contractions such as:
Tikhor - T'khor Valery - V'lery Karel - K'rel Laorm - L'orm All male children on Pern would be given a name that could potentially be a dragonrider name, unless they were heirs and would never impress because of their ... prior engagement (one could always refuse the search riders). A prime example of that would be Jaxom, who impressed Ruth but never got an honourific because they couldn't make one out of his name (and he was heir to Ruatha, but that's a different story).
Females is a slightly different story. Canon gets a little bit lopsided about this because initially females only rode Queen dragons and as a sign of respect for the women riding the Queens their names never got shortened but always pronounced in full. There is the odd exception (Torene was often called 'Rene by other riders) but in general the trend of not contraction female riders name continued when women started impressing greens (again).
On WoF we give you the choice of contracting the name to an honourific or sticking with the original name. Whatever the choice you need not provide reasoning, though some people have. This is where we drift a little from canon because we don't see why a female greenrider should have more or less respect than a male greenrider.
Other naming conventions
Aside from human names there are some other things to keep in mind, namely when naming dragons and whers (though the latter are not available to play at this time).
Dragons know their own name at birth and will tell their bonded upon impression. For reasons unknown all dragon names end in -th.
Yes, that includes such wonderful gems as:
Seventh (mentioned in the books) Sixth Aerosmith Sephiroth But please, try to keep things ... a little bit sane, when naming your dragon and stray from using pop-culture icon names and sticking -th on the end.
As with human names dragon names aren't quite like Earth names and funky letter combinations are perfectly acceptable as long as it can be pronounced. At least a little. Names can be as long or short as you like too.
Similar to dragons whers too have a naming convention but for them all their names end in -sk and, if I recall, tend to mirror the name of the handler of the wher.
For example if Setsuna impressed a wher the wher would likely call him/herself Setsusk or something similar. A boy names Jack impressing a wher might have a wher named Jask.
Not terribly important right now, as whers are not available for play but I thought I should mention them.
Useful links for naming characters
Behind the name -- Names from all regions of the earth, check out some of the more foreign sections or try their name generator! Babynames -- A bit high on new mom's but they have a good data base of names. Fantasy Name Generator -- For outlandish names, it has a feature for Pern and Dragons! Dragon Name Generator -- Another dragon name generator but with less terrible suggestions than the previous one.[/list]