# need a name for a continent



## Caged Maiden

Okay so I have a continent with about 5 different regions/ kingdoms on it.  I named the kingdoms and regions and love it just as it is, but I have changed the name of the continent twice and still hate it.  I am currently calling it Hadrule, but I realized that sounds like Link's Hyrule, and now I need a new name.  Something simple would be better, nondescript but that sounds nice.  Any suggestions?


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## Ophiucha

Well, what are the names of the other continents? What are the names of some cities or towns in the unnamed continent? Are the people on that continent a 'fantasy counterpart culture' of any real world culture?


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## Queshire

I'm pretty much only suggesting this 'cuz I want to use it in my story, but how about Mu? It's supposed to be a legendary sunken continent, basically the Atlantis of the Pacific.


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## Butterfly

As it's you... here's a list of continent sounding thingies that I dragged out from my unusable file - unusable because I can't ever imagine myself using them, so if you want any of them, go ahead and take them, or modify them, whatever you want to do with them.

Annalay
Armorea
Arnesse
Attrisea

Cantor 

Erest 
Etores 

Gamroth 
Ganisia

Helet 

Iness 
Irona 

Jarat 

Kolania

Malita 
Mardahar

Onterat 

Poracia

Quatora

Ryeka 

Segura 

Tayness
Tantus
Thessia
Tundal
Tyrancia

Vanlania
Vannarad


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## Mindfire

Something that I do is name regions after continents or oceans that don't exist anymore. Try some of these on for size:

Gondwana

Laurasia

Pangaea

Oldredia

Rodinia

Nena

Kenorland

Vaalbara

Amasia

Avalonia

Cimmeria

Baltica

Laurentia

Lemuria

Meropis

Kumari

Mirovia

Panthalassa


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## Alex97

When I need a name for something I usualy go on google translate and search related words in  languages that resemble the culture I'm writinging about.  Combine the a good word you find or change it a bit and somtimes you'll get really good resualts.


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## Butterfly

Mindfire - Excellent idea!

Have you thought about of looking at the moon? My dad had a great big globe of it once. There are some wicked names up there.


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## Caged Maiden

I'm going to have to consider for a bit, that was an information overload, thanks!  I like Onterat.  It's hard to name continents because how often do you talk about them?  I mean, most people say, "I'm from the US," or, "I'm from Kansas City," but no one says, "I'm from North America."

So my regions are: one big continent which needs a new name.  That is broken down into Two southern kingdoms called Goronmark and Eddenmark after the twin brothers who divided the kingdom long ago, a huge southern territory with no king called the Independent Southern Alliance or ISA, The eastern kingdom of Adelmoor, the central mountain kingdom of Rheinguard, and the western kingdom of Andruain.  I tried not to pick cultural sounding names, because the people all speak a common language (for my convenience).

So anyways, thanks for the help, I'll think on it some more and see what fits.


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## Queshire

Frankly the ISA seems like a bit of an odd one out, and it's going to get immediatelly compared to the USA or the EU. If you're ok with that, then fine, but otherwise I'd suggest something more... medieval sounding, perhaps something like the Southern Kingdoms or Southern Territories.


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## Mindfire

anihow said:


> I'm going to have to consider for a bit, that was an information overload, thanks!  I like Onterat.  It's hard to name continents because how often do you talk about them?  I mean, most people say, "I'm from the US," or, "I'm from Kansas City," but no one says, "I'm from North America."
> 
> So my regions are: one big continent which needs a new name.  That is broken down into Two southern kingdoms called Goronmark and Eddenmark after the twin brothers who divided the kingdom long ago, a huge southern territory with no king called the Independent Southern Alliance or ISA, The eastern kingdom of Adelmoor, the central mountain kingdom of Rheinguard, and the western kingdom of Andruain.  I tried not to pick cultural sounding names, because the people all speak a common language (for my convenience).
> 
> So anyways, thanks for the help, I'll think on it some more and see what fits.





Queshire said:


> Frankly the ISA seems like a bit of an odd one out, and it's going to get immediatelly compared to the USA or the EU. If you're ok with that, then fine, but otherwise I'd suggest something more... medieval sounding, perhaps something like the Southern Kingdoms or Southern Territories.



I agree with Queshire on the ISA. It seems a bit... modern. But if you make it slightly more modern or "ahead of its time" than the other nations, maybe with some more advanced steampunk tech or a democratic form of government, then it might work.


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## Elder the Dwarf

anihow said:


> I'm going to have to consider for a bit, that was an information overload, thanks!  I like Onterat.  It's hard to name continents because how often do you talk about them?  I mean, most people say, "I'm from the US," or, "I'm from Kansas City," but no one says, "I'm from North America."
> 
> So my regions are: one big continent which needs a new name.  That is broken down into Two southern kingdoms called Goronmark and Eddenmark after the twin brothers who divided the kingdom long ago, a huge southern territory with no king called the Independent Southern Alliance or ISA, The eastern kingdom of Adelmoor, the central mountain kingdom of Rheinguard, and the western kingdom of Andruain.  I tried not to pick cultural sounding names, because the people all speak a common language (for my convenience).
> 
> So anyways, thanks for the help, I'll think on it some more and see what fits.



I know this isn't what you asked, but I personally would change Goronmark and Eddenmark to Goromark and Eddemark.  It is a pretty natural conversion, especially if they are places people are constantly referring to.  To me, the second two just flow and sound much better.


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## Queshire

Hm... I say keep it as is for the formal name for those two, but informaly shorten them more Goro and Edde.


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## Caged Maiden

Regarding the ISA, it is an independent territory where each town/ village governs itself with a local council and then regional representatives.  no royalty, just land-owners around the territory who raise their own guards who patrol the roads to protect citizens.  It's more advanced than the kingdoms, but I'll think about what I'm calling it.   Maybe I need to look at that name list again, because I don't want to refer to it as a territory, for fear it will sound uncivilized, when in fact, it is wealthy and mostly able to rule itself.  Just another quick question.  In one of my books, the main big city in the ISA is falling apart, run by criminal organizations, and unable to militarize because soldiers would have to be hired.  Does that sound feasible?


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## Mindfire

anihow said:


> Regarding the ISA, it is an independent territory where each town/ village governs itself with a local council and then regional representatives.  no royalty, just land-owners around the territory who raise their own guards who patrol the roads to protect citizens.  It's more advanced than the kingdoms, but I'll think about what I'm calling it.   Maybe I need to look at that name list again, because I don't want to refer to it as a territory, for fear it will sound uncivilized, when in fact, it is wealthy and mostly able to rule itself.  Just another quick question.  In one of my books, the main big city in the ISA is falling apart, run by criminal organizations, and unable to militarize because soldiers would have to be hired.  Does that sound feasible?



Only thing that bothers me is that your ISA sounds very loosely organized. Such a decentralized government would make it easy prey for the surrounding nations. It needs stronger leadership.


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## Elder the Dwarf

Mindfire said:


> Only thing that bothers me is that your ISA sounds very loosely organized. Such a decentralized government would make it easy prey for the surrounding nations. It needs stronger leadership.



Not necessarily true.  The Boeotian League and the Hanseatic league seem pretty similar to what she is after.


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## Mindfire

Elder the Dwarf said:


> Not necessarily true.  The Boeotian League and the Hanseatic league seem pretty similar to what she is after.



Pardon my ignorance, but I don't know what those are.


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## Elder the Dwarf

No problem, they are just two examples from history of successful unions of city-states.  The Boeotian league was in Greece led by Thebes, essentially as an alliance of many city-states to protect themselves against the big powers of the time (Athens and Sparta-though not at the same time, mind you.  Athenians and Spartans didn't get along too well).  The Hanseatic League was a major federation of trade-oriented cities in the late middle ages (i think, it has been a couple years since World History) in the area of modern day Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark.  I think the leading cities there were Bruges and Antwerp.


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## Cloud

Another thought: have the current inhabitants always lived there - did they name the continent?

Or were they late arrivals? Did they push out any previous inhabitants? Could they have taken a hand-me-down name from a previous culture?

eg - humans taking over after elves
eg - Europeans invading America

Everywhere has history, and it often lingers in the names.


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## Shockley

Of course, it's important to note that both the Boetian League and the Hanseatic League (especially the Hanseatic League) eventually got picked apart by other powers. 

 Older alliances, to join that part of the discussion, tend to have looser names. IE, the afore-mentioned leagues. The Holy Alliance (Russia, Austria and Prussia) and the subsequent Quadruple Alliance and Quintuple Alliance. Other examples would be the Catholic League, Holy Roman Empire, Italian League, Dual Alliance, League of Three Emperors, etc. 

 Acronym soup is a modern thing.


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## The Dark One

For god's sake don't use anything from history (like Pangaea) unless your story is actually set there...not that there were too many humans running around on Pangaea. You'll just get hassled by nerds and geeks, when you could have taken three seconds to come up with your own name.

Here's a tip to aid creativity...all continents on earth start and end with the same letter. Why not continue that tradition?


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## Cloud

The Dark One said:


> Here's a tip to aid creativity...all continents on earth start and end with the same letter. Why not continue that tradition?



Except the Arctic


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## Elder the Dwarf

Cloud said:


> Except the Arctic



No, the exception would be Europe.  Antarctica follows the A...a rule he was talking about.


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## Shockley

Elder the Dwarf said:


> No, the exception would be Europe.  Antarctica follows the A...a rule he was talking about.



 Europe confirms to the same letter rule. E...e.


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## Mindfire

The Dark One said:


> For god's sake don't use anything from history (like Pangaea) unless your story is actually set there...not that there were too many humans running around on Pangaea. You'll just get hassled by nerds and geeks, when you could have taken three seconds to come up with your own name.
> 
> Here's a tip to aid creativity...all continents on earth start and end with the same letter. Why not continue that tradition?



I respectfully disagree. Next to nobody cares whether or not you appropriate a paleontological name for your own purposes. I mean, how many people actually know what Mirovia or Gondwana or Rodinia is and actually _care _about it? A very small fraction of any audience I should expect.


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## Queshire

The Arctic (by which I mean the northern arctic, not antarctica) isn't a continent, it's a giant sheet of frozen water. I have to admit, that trend is pretty neat, just a coincidence I'm sure, but still neat. Although, depending on how you interperet it, North America and South America are exceptions. I also agree that there's not much problem with using places like Pangaea, sure people would complain, but they always complain. I like looking at places from mythology and using those as place names.


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## Caged Maiden

So what are the problems with my Independent Southern Alliance?  That it doesn't have strong leadership?  I guess the northern kingdoms are part of the reason, in my thinking, because the south is both wealthy and cushioned by the northern kingdoms.  So are you guys thinking the northern lands would simply see it as easy pickings and invade?


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## Mindfire

anihow said:


> So what are the problems with my Independent Southern Alliance?  That it doesn't have strong leadership?  I guess the northern kingdoms are part of the reason, in my thinking, because the south is both wealthy and cushioned by the northern kingdoms.  So are you guys thinking the northern lands would simply see it as easy pickings and invade?



Given historical precedent... definitely. I mean look at the place: weak leadership, loose federation of city states, wealthy. You might as well put up an "Invade Me" sign. These people need stronger leadership. Or at the very least a well-paid mercenary army.


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## Queshire

I don't know, they could look weak in peace time but come together quickly in a time of war. Maybe have a UN type of council directing matters that concern all the states while leaving the specifics up to each?


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## Mindfire

Queshire said:


> I don't know, they could look weak in peace time but come together quickly in a time of war. Maybe have a UN type of council directing matters that concern all the states while leaving the specifics up to each?



Well see, that's the problem. Getting this UN-style council together in the first place. In peace time, chances are, all these city states will be busy squabbling amongst themselves. And in the middle of all their land disputes and so on, unless they have some kind of natural barrier to invasion like mountains, desert, or waters not easily navigated, it's going to be childs play for any competent enemy general to sneak in and ransack the place before they know which way is up. Or even play one city-state against the other, having them pick themselves apart and then clean up the spoils afterward. No doubt these city-states would band together for protection if they knew the threat they faced. But by that time, provided the enemy general knew what he was doing and there was no disastrous luck, it would be too late.


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## Shockley

anihow said:


> So what are the problems with my Independent Southern Alliance?  That it doesn't have strong leadership?  I guess the northern kingdoms are part of the reason, in my thinking, because the south is both wealthy and cushioned by the northern kingdoms.  So are you guys thinking the northern lands would simply see it as easy pickings and invade?



 My primary problem, as I had hoped to convey, was the name. That's a very modern naming idea.

 But yes, they'd be easy pickings. One only has to look at the way the Vikings operated to get a good idea of what happens to smaller kingdoms.


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## Queshire

I like it as a idea, there's something to be said about a small, constantly shifting group as opposed to one large powerhourse. Trying to grasp water and all that. Really, there's a lot that can be done with it. Maybe a have them have a culute highly prize individuality but willing to stand together when times are tough? Historically there have been a lot of somewhat feudal countries, though in each case they submitted to a sigle overarching ruler.


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## Elder the Dwarf

I don't know.  Greece certainly lasted a while, and when Persia finally thought the little city-states were ripe for the taking they were sent packing.  There are certainly examples of your idea in both history and fantasy, and they could definitely work.  And if that's not enough, you could easily add "they employed an enormous mercenary army" somewhere in the description.  If you like that idea, stick with it.


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## Queshire

just change the name! XO


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## Shockley

Elder the Dwarf said:


> I don't know.  Greece certainly lasted a while, and when Persia finally thought the little city-states were ripe for the taking they were sent packing.  There are certainly examples of your idea in both history and fantasy, and they could definitely work.  And if that's not enough, you could easily add "they employed an enormous mercenary army" somewhere in the description.  If you like that idea, stick with it.



 Greece lasted a while, granted, but there was never a period where there were a bunch of independent city states. There were periods with powerhouse cities (such as Athens or Sparta or Thebes) exerting a whole lot of economic and military influence over other cities. So it's better to view the struggle for Greece as one revolving around leagues/nations, not independent city states.


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## Elder the Dwarf

Shockley said:


> Greece lasted a while, granted, but there was never a period where there were a bunch of independent city states. There were periods with powerhouse cities (such as Athens or Sparta or Thebes) exerting a whole lot of economic and military influence over other cities. So it's better to view the struggle for Greece as one revolving around leagues/nations, not independent city states.



That may be true; I'll take a loss in this argument.  However, even if you are saying that leagues of city-states like the Lombard, Hanseatic, and Boeotian leagues are impossible to maintain in the real world, this is fantasy.  They were certainly successful enough for a time to force any reader wanting to nitpick to suspend their disbelief.  In a fantasy world, which I'm assuming is what this is, a powerful league of cities that can withstand larger nations is certainly a possibility.

Anihow, sorry for hijacking your thread for a bit


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