tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 10 08:14:24 1996

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Re: Choosing a Klingon name

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>Date: Sat, 7 Sep 1996 11:22:50 -0700
>From: Volodiya Reid <[email protected]>

>I am interested in taking a Klingon name.  How does one compose a name in 
>Klingon?  Do you/can you transliterate your own name or is there some 
>completely different process.  I would appreciate any help in the matter.

>Volodiya - The Winter Warrior of the North

This really should be a FAQ.  There really seems to be more interest in
names than I'd have thought it was worth.

A name is a name.  It's what you want to call yourself.  From what we've
seen in Klingon, names do not necessarily mean anything on the surface,
they're just *sounds*.  Just what you'd like to be called.  Some people
like to make up a name that's an epithet, that has a meaning.  So Will
Martin calls himself "charghwI'"/conqueror (based on his first name and a
reference to William the Conqueror).  Alan Anderson calls himself
ghunchu'wI'/perfect programmer.  Some people like to transliterate their
real names into Klingon orthography (hopefully careful not to break Klingon
phonology).  Some people like to pick just some random string of sounds
they like the sound of (I use Seqram, which is based on my name, 
Mark S., spelled backwards, but it doesn't mean anything).  It's what YOU
want to be called.  Have a blast.

Now, here's a new little tidbit of info.  I have to write up a proper
report (someday) about the Star Trek 30th anniversary celebration I just
came back from, but Marc Okrand did mention something relevant to this
discussion in a panel he was holding.  Why do so many Klingons seem to have
names that don't even fit into Klingon phonology?  It's because Klingons
are a people (like some Terran cultures) that sometimes take "outsider"
names.  These are names that are for use with people outside the culture or
social unit; names for the offworlders to call them.  (I've heard there are
some cultures on Earth where it is sensible to say "I don't know what my
name is."  People there have a private name, known to few or none, a name
that's used in his presence, and a name that's used to refer to him when
he's not there, which may or may not be the same as any other... and may or
may not be complimentary.  And may also vary by locale, so I might know
what one group of friends calls me, but not another).  A fair answer.  And
these names need not be Klingon in pronunciation, because they're not
Klingon names, they're names for Klingons intended for off-worlders.

~mark

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