If you don't mind me asking, my Ta'agra is not particularly good, what exactly does your name mean?

Jobasha:
Jobasha's name was chosen for the sound, not for any meaning. Some Khajiit go by nicknames that have meaning in the Ta'agra.

But surely there is some meaning to some Khajiit names?

Jobasha:
Khajiti names have patterns of meaning.

"Jo" in Jobasha's name means "wizard." But Jobasha is no wizard, just a humble bookseller.

"Dar" in a Khajiti name means "thief," but this should not alarm you. "Dar" is like the Nordic "Clever Hudvar" or the Breton "Arnand the Fox." A Khajiit with "Dar" in his name is clever, and maybe clever with his hands, but not always a thief by your odd Imperial property customs.

"Do" in a Khajiti name means warrior. "Do" is rarely used by modern Khajiit, except for the Mane's guards. And masters of Goutfang, Whispering Claw, and Rawlith Khaj, of course.

Goutfang, Whispering Claw and Rawlith Khaj - what are these?



Jobasha:
They are among the many Khajiti arts of claw and tail. Jobasha learned Rawlith Khaj before traveling to Vvardenfell. The name means "rain of sand," and the art has many styles such as Rain, Sand, Wind, Sun, Storm, and Two-Moons-Dance.

Don't Khajiti names also reflect their status?

Jobasha:
Khajiti men show their status in life with their names, unless they choose a nickname. In Jobasha's case, as a "scholar," Jobasha uses "Jo" alone, not "S'basha-Jo," for using two titles shows great ignorance or great pride.

"M" or "Ma" means "child" or "apprentice" or, in the vernacular, "virgin." As an apprentice can be of any age, this leads to misunderstandings and jokes Jobasha cannot translate.

"J," Ji," or "Ja" means a bachelor or young advlt. In the vernacular, it means one who is young and lacks experience.

"S" is the most common, and means simply an advlt.



"Ra" and "Ri" show high status. "Ri" is the highest status among the Khajiit, used by leaders of cities or tribes.

"Dro" means "grandfather" and shows respect.

- Imperials have Latinesque ones usually, but there are some who don't, such as the population of Hackdirt

- Redguards seem to be the most open when it comes to names; tending to have English names or variations thereof, or just...well, "fantasy" names

- Orcs have guttural-sounding names, with the surname having a gra- or gro- suffix denoting male or female, respectively

I think some have vaguely Czech or Slovenian names. Rislav. Jarol, Sintav, Odiil, Invel, Bincal.

Perhaps Polish or Slovenian, but definitely not Czech.

- Altmer and Bosmer seem to have the most typical fantasy setting names, but again, difficult to describe

Many of the Bosmer names look kind of Welsh-like to me.

Remember Gortwog, the Orc-lord of Orsinium? His full name is Gortwog gro-Nagorm. It's the Orcish way of providing a patronymic (father's name); Nagorm was his pops. If Gortwog had a sister, she would've been gra-Nagorm.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Tamriel:Names might be a good resource for you. It includes all the names and surnames in both Morrowind and Oblivion.

What differs Czech names from other names, then? What "characteristics" does a Czech name have that, say, a Polish or an Irish name does not? I ask because my last name is supposedly Czech, and also because i'm just plain curious.

I think some have vaguely Czech or Slovenian names. Rislav. Jarol, Sintav, Odiil, Invel, Bincal.

I think you're right there. They don't seem to have much consistency.

When you've got a Redguard named Isleif (a Nord name) or one named Armand Cristophe (100% Pure Bretonish), you can expect that their father weren't Redguards themselves.

This is what you'd call a bug.

Let say you create an NPC named Hlorman Raalo the Dunmeri Dunmer From Morrowind, and that for some reason why you select his race you misclick and he ends up being an Orc.
A known example is Hasphat Antabolis, who wasn't supposed to be an Imperial but a Dunmer (see Redguard Forum Madness on TIL obscure texts). Isleif and Armand are good candidate for similar misshapes.

Always wondered about Hasphat Antabolis (he was an FG guy in Balmora if I recall); I thought the Antabolis part sounded suitably Imperial, but the Hasphat reminded me of something Assyrian/Babylonian/Sumerian =/

You can find several very outlandish names among the Imperials. I like to think that it's the Akaviri influence in the old Nibeneans.

You can find several very outlandish names among the Imperials. I like to think that it's the Akaviri influence in the old Nibeneans.

it sounds better in Farsi...

I would disagree with you there. I am no expert, but I do know a bit about the Welah language. I looked over a list of Bosmer names and some of them sound Welsh but most actually resemble Tolkein Elven names. Tolkein was a Philologist and one of his favorite languages was Welsh, so names like Cirwedh, which looks somewhat Welsh, probably has some Welsh elements. Bosmer names have many elemenst of Tolkien names like Cin, Gorn. fin and dh's. Also some names like Celegorn, Thoronor, Aredhel and Methredhel come almost directly from some of Tolkien's writings.

Well yes, I'm aware of that connection. They can still be "kind of Welsh-like" even if it's by way of Tolkien's Elvish. I do think they seem slightly more "Welsh-like" than the Altmer names, which are also Tolkienish, but I can't really put my finger on why.