Name for a city?

[Ireth]

I'm having some trouble coming up with a name for an important city in my vampire novel. I want it to have a Scottish Gaelic name, since it's in (or rather under) Scotland, but finding appropriate words to translate is proving difficult. Since the city is populated by vampires (I don't count the humans they keep as food) and located underground, I was thinking something to do with blood and/or stone. Anyone with a better working knowledge of Scots Gaelic, your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ThinkerX]

'Baobhan Sith'?

One of my old handbooks claims its the name of a sort of female vampire. A female name for the settlement proper could give it a bit of character - aka 'Going to Mothers' and 'Mothers house is a real b*tch.'

I've no idea how you'd go from species name to place name, though.

 

[Sparkie]

Dortadh-fala. It means bloodshed in Scottish Gaelic.

Or, how 'bout Acras or Pathadh? They mean hunger and thirst, respectively.

EDIT: The above info I got from a google search, so I can't really vouch for how accurate it is.

 

[Shockley]

Brollachan, literally meaning shapeless, deformed, etc. It was a shapeshifting monster that stalked the night.

 

[Ireth]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I'm not too sure about Baobhan Sith, as it's the name of a kind of Fae. I think they'd be more likely to name their city after the Crone Goddess who cursed them, but I'm not even sure about that, since they already have a sort of tavern called the Crone's Hand. Seems a bit redundant to name two things after the same thing.

I really like the words for hunger and thirst; I could definitely work with those. Cathair Pathadh has a nice sound to it, even in English. City of Thirst... yeah, that sounds creepy. XD

Brollachan I like too, though it sounds like it'd fit better as a nickname for their kind rather than a city name. My vampires do shapeshift, but only under certain circumstances. Still fits though, because I have the protagonist's father talk about the vampires, and he gets the details of their shapeshifting wildly incorrect. He gives them things like cloven hooves and snakes' tongues, when in reality they turn more batlike than anything else. Shows how stories can get exaggerated and lose truth over time. Though if it's already the name of an actual monster, I'm not sure. I'd like something that hasn't been used before, to keep my vampires distinct from other Celtic monsters.

 

[ALB2012]

Deirfiúracha apparently is Irish Gaelic for blood sisters.

Lol my search on google just can up with this post

I have just bought a Gaelic dictionary as this is the second time I have looked up Gaelic recently.
pathadh is thirsty or a need to drink
fuil is blood
is tighe fuil na bùrn- blood is thicker than water
http://glosbe.com/en/gd/darkness- check this site too

 

[Ireth]

Thanks, ALB. Irish Gaelic is different than Scottish Gaelic though, and I need the latter. Also "blood sisters" wouldn't really work, as the vampires in question are patriarchal, and not exclusively female.

That dictionary looks useful. Thanks for the link!

 

[ALB2012]

Thanks, ALB. Irish Gaelic is different than Scottish Gaelic though, and I need the latter. Also "blood sisters" wouldn't really work, as the vampires in question are patriarchal, and not exclusively female.

That dictionary looks useful. Thanks for the link!

No worries. If the dictionary turns up I will have a proper look

 

[Valoren]

try Morrhagan or Morrigan, goddess of ravens and death.

 

[Zireael]

Cathair means city, but I forgot if it's Scottish or Irish Gaelic...

 

[Ireth]

try Morrhagan or Morrigan, goddess of ravens and death.

Possibly... I'm not sure if I want to use the goddess' actual name for the city though, since she actually appears in the story (Morrigan = the Crone Goddess, creator of the vampires) and it might be a little confusing. I'll consider it though.

 

[Leif Notae]

Well, remember that most elder cities are named after the geographical landmarks, what people first saw when they got there, or how many arrived to the spot. Yes, "Two Butterflies Dancing" doesn't sound ominous, but if you were to take another feature, like "Left Blood River" because a water buffalo died in the water and the settlers used it for a feast, that's more traditional.

The next thing you may do is settle on two or three languages and see what those common words are. Do some subtle shuffling of letters and you can come up with a decent sounding name that has meaning for your world and is still relevant to your story.