Do you pick your character’s name and traits or does it pick you?

Dragon Age Origins Blog image2 Whats In a Name?

Have you ever wondered at the importance of a character’s name to his or her make up and personality? Does an author — or in the case of Dragon Age: Origins, an entire team of authors and world designers — name a character based on the meaning of a name, or something that just subconsciously resonates? How about you? Do you name your character through any sort of convention, driving toward how you feel the character will represent him or herself throughout the story? Whatever the method, it is certain that we all put some degree of weight and meaning behind the naming of something. We even have an analytical practice (that some call science and others… don’t) called numerology to help us distinguish character traits based on names.

I found a site that automates this practice. I entered in some prominent character names. This is what I found:

Alistair & Alistair Theirin

I began here due to the immense popularity of Alistair. I chose both his singular name and his full name because, to me, he always seemed to have a duality about him concerning the man who wanted nothing to do with his heritage and the man who grudgingly and dutifully accepted his birthright and calling. It’s interesting what came out too!

Alistair is a Scottish Gaelic derivative of the Greek Alexander, most commonly meaning defender of mankind. It also can mean ruler and avenger. His characteristics in numerology are listed as “practical endeavours, status oriented, power-seeking, high-material goals”. There is definitely good argument for the former, but the numerology meaning falls a bit flat for me — though one could make a case for it based on psychology if one really wanted to.

Alistair Theirin adds the additional characteristics of “initiating action, pioneering, leading, independent, attaining, individual” — and makes me think that numerology is saying that Alistair might have thought he was rejecting who he was… but he was always who he was. I know. Deep, right? *cue chorus of oooh’s and aaahhh’s here*

There are many other details here that I did not list, and some of them really seem to ring true to the character, such as a certain degree of egotism and the potential to be too much the introvert and isolate himself. Some of the additional elements of the singular name were very much in his character as well. Try it out! All in all, it was surprisingly close to how I view the character.

Now let’s try Morrigan

Morrigan, unsurprisingly, is Celtic for war goddess. Numerology on this single name appears to list Morrigan as “expansive, visionary, adventurous, and interested in the constructive use of freedom”. Those can definitely be attributed to her in some ways, especially the last two. It also paints her as clever, analytical and a quick thinker who will get very upset if her freedom is threatened, can be very impatient and restless, and emotionally repressive. Some of these secondary traits are shared with Alistair (also unsurprisingly — if anyone needed to get a room in Dragon Age: Origins, it was those two!) but what I found most interesting is that she also shares those secondary traits with Leliana, and her primary traits are shared with Zevran — both in my perception of them and in numerology.

There are many other interesting traits and comparisons for all of the major characters in Dragon Age: Origins, such as Leliana being listed as a selfless humanitarian with a giving nature and tendency toward duty and creative expression; or Sten meaning “Stone” and directly connected to foundation, order, service and steady growth; and so on, and so forth. I even ran the name of my own character and compared it to my name (names, actually — I am the numerology equivalent of a split personality), and discovered that I, personally, share traits with Leliana and Alistair, Morrigan, and Zevran, while my character was exactly how I played him: Responsible, protective, and sympathetic with a practical focus on balance, and a tendency to beat himself up emotionally and sacrifice parts of himself (yes, including being the one to do the deed no one else can bear) for the good of all.

What was remarkable and intriguing to me, though, was that the “Soul Urge” traits of my game-character and those listed by my actual and formal name were exactly the same! Cue those oohs and ahhs again folks, because that got me thinking that there might really be something to this numerology stuff. I had picked the name (which I had made up completely) because I’d thought it sounded cool and would suit the character. Little did I know that the universe was apparently speaking to me through my subconscious…

Click the link. Run a few names. Let us know the results in the comments — I am oh-so-curious!

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