Names
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Something I just noticed, that seems wildly pervasive in a MU environment:
A shit ton of female names end in 'a'.
SO MANY.
Why is this? Is it just that most female names, in general, end in an 'a'? Or, do women just think names ending in an 'a' are prettier?
I was glancing at the roster of available characters on Arx and 19 out of 27 of the female characters end in an 'a'. I didn't have the motivation to look at the vastly longer active roster to verify. So, it could be skewed information. BUT. Extrapolate as you will.
...clearly, I have too much time on my hands.
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The interesting question would be, do females names RL also have that tendency?
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My thoughts (so that doesn't make it right) is that most names are either the feminine form of male names (Alexander/Alexandria George/Georgina). So the 'a' gives the feminine aspect to the name. As well this is true through most French/Spanish/Latin where the root terms of the name offered -ie or -a as the feminine form of the names. I'm sure there is some study on it some where and a very technical reason.
My RL name is an -a name, it's also French/Spanish in origin.
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Because you can put 'a' after any string of letters and turn it into a feminine sounding name.
Buttera
Tacoa
Doga
Peanuta
...ad infinitum.
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Admirala
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Ending with vowels or vowel sounds in general, I think, with the sometimes Y included there.
Male names tend to end in consonants more often.
It probably has something to do, somewhere along the line, with the 'harder' consonant ending and the 'softer' vowel ending, yadda yadda western civilization gender stereotypes, we humans are dumb yet wily like that.
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I assumed it was a carry-over from certain Romance languages tendency to use grammatical gender (though the only one I've studied is Spanish). All goes back to Latin, and the why was lost long ago.
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The interesting question would be, do females names RL also have that tendency?
In modern day America, yes. For example: "Baby girl names ending in a and ah are climbing the popular baby name charts with no signs of slowing down, so choosing a baby name like Ava or Hannah will give you top baby name that is sure to stand the test of time. " (source) Just look at historical "top 50 female names" lists like this one from the 1950's and you'll see tons of ones ending in -a or -ah.
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Which means that it is likely that the names reflect real life rather than is a special roleplay or Arx thing.
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Now I kind of want to create a female PC and name her Penisse.
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@mietze
She could be mightier than a sword! And also have a tendency to wilt in embarrassing situations. -
@mietze Shang had a Shenissa that was... well. A giant green psychic penis in a cart. She was a mistress, of course.
Gods, why in the hell does my brain keep these things?!
Oh fucking well.
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If I was gonna do something like that it would have to be vanilla soft serve ice cream squirting. Nothing can top Ms. Baskin Robbins.
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Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
NoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooI had blocked that.
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@VulgarKitten
Well in a lot of the languages descended from Latin the -a denotes female. So I think it is likely done to present as feminine especially since for most games after a few months of play a lot of the popular real names are taken so fake names abound. -
I have not played on Shang but I love the descriptions over the years. How can you not like Baskin Robbins? Compared to everything else that gets shared here, I dunno, I thought it was really cute and almost sweet!
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@mietze Shang is so weird like that.
On one level, it's often horrifying.
On another, it's proof that human creativity is still alive and well, because damn some of the things that crop up are absolutely that above all else.
I am perpetually torn on this one, really, but lean toward the latter.
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I have not played on Shang but I love the descriptions over the years. How can you not like Baskin Robbins? Compared to everything else that gets shared here, I dunno, I thought it was really cute and almost sweet!
I think my favourite was the woman I stumbled over once who had glass shards (or were they metal? I forget) growing out of her flesh. The description was both tasteful and extremely detailed. The player was interesting to talk to as well.
