Hobbity Research!

[dreamflower]

A couple of weeks ago, I went to look up some names to use for OCs on the hobbit family trees in Peoples of Middle-earth. I ended up getting totally sidetracked by considering all those names, and it turned into a geeky, hobbity, non-fic project.

Well, my geeky, hobbity non-fic project is now up at Many Paths To Tread: Hobbit Names and Naming Conventions

It is an explanation of the various naming customs among hobbit families, the differences and similarities between various clans, as well as a comprehensive list of all hobbit surnames and hobbit first names, as found in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, History of Middle-earth: Volume VI, Return of the Shadow, and History of Middle-earth: Volume XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth.

I really hope everyone will find it fun and useful, and that you will let me know what you think!

Comments

[labourslamp.livejournal.com]

So this is what you've been up to!

This is a marvelous bit of research, even if I probably won't use it because 1). I shan't be needing more OCs for a while and 2). when I do I usually like spending hours digging on my own, only to come to the same conclusions independently!

Though I will thank you very much for the listing of all the rejected hobbit names. I'd skimmed through them briefly before but never seen them laid out so systematically. (Am still smarting over the fact that Tolkien already sniffed out "Alaric" as a marvelous hobbit name... I remember thinking I had struck gold when I found it...)

[dreamflower]

Yes, I fell into the pool of hobbit minutiae and nearly drowned, LOL!

Once I began to see all the patterns-- which of course I had vaguely noticed for years, but not actually *thought* about-- I knew I had to put it all down into an organized form.

Tracking down all those names was exhausting but fun. I think my favorite find was "Jo Button" from RotS! We get loads of gentry names, but not so many working class hobbit names.

And "Alaric" IS a great hobbit name-- and the fact that JRRT thought of it first just proves you are right!

[labourslamp.livejournal.com]

Jo Button is a delightful name!

About the only downside to relying on the family trees is that the last names become restricted because not enough people do with last names what they do with first names--come up with patterns and then try to find their own!

...On the other hand, there have been plenty of times when I've tried to find names formulaically and completely failed as a result.

And there have been some absolutely marvelous names which I'm convinced were plucked out of thin air, because one of them even defies Tolkien's no Latin rule: "Caractacus "Cracky" Boffin, Elediriel Cotton (the fancifulness of whose name is explained by the early 4th Age hobbits' sudden fascination with things Elvish and disdain for any sort of historical accuracy!), Madrigal Brandybuck--all of which are part of a sweet little classic Fourth Age fic which I need to actually read through at some point in time...

The only other thing I would add on a personal level by way of advice is if anyone needs more inspiration, you really can't go wrong with a lot of the names (well, last names, at least) that Charles Dickens used! I remember going through Our Mutual Friend (still my favorite of his novel) around the same time that I was first starting to really get involved with LotR, and lo and behold there was Noddy Boffin, which is nothing if not a hobbit name. Both authors seem to be invoking the same spirit of quintessential Englishness with their names, and it's a good cheat for those of us whose American backgrounds mean that we aren't immersed in that.

[dreamflower]

Yes, as I noted, many of the more prominent hobbit families bear actual English surnames-- and you are quite right about Dickens! I never thought of that!

[elandulin.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the excellent work and splendid lists. I spend a great deal of time worrying over names and had no idea there was so much research material to be found. I did name my North-Tooks from the list of Frankish names you sent me once, and I keep that bookmarked for inspiration. This new piece is just a treasure trove!

As I tell skeptics, naming hobbits is serious work!

[dreamflower]

It *is* serious work! Names meant a lot to JRRT-- he knew the power of language and how the right word or name meant all the difference. When a hobbit writer gets an OHC name "wrong" most readers will "feel" it, even if they do not know why. The right hobbit name will often mean the difference between whether or not the character is accepted easily by the reader.

You do an excellent job with your Fourth Age hobbit names. Jamie and Mat Bucket are utterly perfect! The names of Merry's and Pippin's children and grandchildren in your stories are also marvelous! And I love the notion of how time among the Elves and Men will have influenced the naming of Merry's and Pippin's children. (And in writing this it also occurred to me-- Elanor must have been very influenced by her visit to the King and Queen, since she named her son after the King!) So hobbit names in the Fourth Age may have evolved some new naming practices!

[elandulin.livejournal.com]

You are quite correct about OHC names and how they can make or break a character. I took kind of a chance on 'Jamy', and I've been very grateful for the acceptance accorded it!

I was empowered in bringing in names with outside influence for the 4th Age descendants of Merry, Pippin and Sam by Tolkien's decision to name Elanor's daughter Fíriel, a name taken from the Dunadein, and with slightly (it seems to me) Elvish overtones. And, as you say, her son was Elfstan, certainly a nod to the King. It told me that Tolkien believed the the children of the hero-Hobbits felt those same connections their fathers had forged and stepped outside of tradition to honor them.

[dreamflower]

And most telling, Pippin's decision to name his heir "Faramir"--not really the most *obvious* of Men for him to name him after, it could have been "Boromir" or "Aragorn" (or one of Aragorn's many other names) as well. But I love the way it plays up the special connection Pippin felt to Faramir the first time he met him.

I was surprised, as I made the list, to see Faramond as a name briefly considered for Frodo! So it's possible that the "Fara-" part of the name would not have been totally unfamiliar to hobbits.

[shirebound]

Wow! *boggles in awe*

[dreamflower]

*grin* It IS mind-boggling, isn't it, to know how much thought and how many names JRRT put into his hobbits! I was astounded to see how many of them I was coming up with, and then just when I would think I was done, remember or notice another!

[garnet-took.livejournal.com]

I loved this. Like you, I had noticed a lot of the patterns in the names in different families, but had never put them all together to realized the strong conventions that hobbit names followed. The other thing I just love are the Westron names for the four famous hobbits. I think Pippin's and Frodo's are my favorites.:)

[dreamflower]

There really are very strong patterns for each of the families which he considered important enough to make a family tree for. The most interesting thing I noted that I'd never realized before was which families repeated names (the Tooks and the Gamgees) and which did not (all the rest)!

I was never especially keen on the "Westron translations" of the hobbit names--they sound "odd" to me, though I find them historically important, and a good indicator of the amount of time he put in on them. Many scholars claim that the "Westron" names were made up "after the fact" in order to explain some things, but from looking at the translation notes in PoMe, it's clear he had all of that in mind from long before the story was finished!

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent reference work for those of us who sometimes need help coming up with names for our OCs.

[dreamflower]

I hope that it will prove useful in that regard! It's often hard to come up with just the right OHC name-- I hope this will help a lot!

[periantari.livejournal.com]

That is an awesome essay! i must print it out to read! Sounds very interesting. :)

[dreamflower]

I hope you enjoy it! It was a lot of fun to work on!

[frodosweetstuff.livejournal.com]

Oooh, this was very very interesting. I have spent a lot of time looking at the family trees in the past and noticed a few of the things that you wrote about but not all. Loved the info about where the names came from and how the different families went about naming their children. Also, I never thought about whether Sam's children were all called Gardner - very interesting question!

:))) I bookmarked your essay so I can come back - especially when I need to come up with a hobbit name for a fic. :)))

Excellent read - thank you very much!!