#so many tags sldihfsdgdfhgj

[the-insouciant-scientist]

5 for everyone??

5. How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are the reasons behind their name different in- and out of universe?

Oh wow, hope you're ready for a very long explanation because I have a Lot to say about this and a lot of characters dhfgdjafdgj. Including some ~secret never before seen middle name lore~ just for fun! Under a cut because this got very, very long.

(Most of these were chosen by scouring lists of Victorian era names, so I probably don't have to mention that every time. Just take it as a given!)

Harper (Middlename/Theory/Marten/Russula/Twillbert/etc.) Faraday

Since Harper was made as a slightly different character before getting Flondon'd, I don't actually remember the details of their first name specifically! I think I was just angling for something reasonably gender neutral and around the right era, and Harper just stuck. Faraday came when I realized I needed a last name for them and just panic googled Victorian-or-earlier-era scientists and realized that Harper Faraday sounds absolutely delightful to the ear. So, named after Michael Faraday! Which is, ironically enough, about what happened in character too. They do not have a defined middle name because they (and I) forgot they needed one for way too long, so now if asked they usually just say the first thing that comes to mind, which is not usually a name that normal humans have. They will never live "Twillbert" down for the rest of their days.

Phileas Emrys Clarke

Phileas was a combination of Jules Verne reference, it being slightly reminiscent of a recurring family name, and just being objectively fun to me. Clarke fit the vibes more than anything else, plus I liked the idea of it being a name picked up from his time working in Irving's shop! It was initially a job related surname, after all. Emrys came way later and definitely reads to me as one he would have chosen himself (as opposed to his first name, picked up as an urchin, and his surname, received as an older teen), and means immortal, which really loops into his whole "I will never die there's too much cool stuff to do and trouble to get into while I'm alive" very nicely.

Irving Basil Merritt

Hers was extremely vibes based/just names that sounded nice with each other I'll admit! I was going for the sense of like, this is the name of a very stereotypically proper Victorian Englishman, except no this is a very gender-nonconforming tailor/dressmaker who is so very gentle and friendly to literally anyone who comes into her shop and not that at all. Basil, however, is a loose reference to the character of the same name in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Not in a way that means you should be concerned for her own safety! Just. That artistic touch and devotion and queerness really resonates I think.

Caoimhe Ann Coledoc

I knew from the get-go that I wanted her to have a Very Irish Name, and I wanted something that could sound nice alongside her twin (who also needed a Very Irish Name), and who I was naming at the same time. Caoimhe was the one that caught my eye the most, and I especially liked the softer sound of it compared to the rough and tumble butch I was sticking it on. Cian suited her brother pretty well, so together it just worked. Fun fact, Coledoc is not their real last name! It's a derivative of their mother's maiden name, Colloc, or rather the word that was derived from. It's an old Breton word that means beloved, at least according to the sources I've seen. Idk, I'm running with it. Either way, it was a bit of a secret password between the twins, so when Caoimhe descended to the Neath alone and needed a new surname, she kept that close as a reminder of why she had gone. Ann was honestly a bit of an afterthought, just needed a one-syllable name to bridge the gap and it was relatively popular in her region of Ireland around when she was born, so!

Agnes Maria Day

Her entire name has so many layers to it. Baseline it's a play off "Agnus Dei", but it's also a reference to St. Agnes of Rome, who has a very sad story even by saints' standards. Maria is technically her confirmation name, not a middle name, the Italian version of Mary. So her entire name is uhhh extremely Catholic, which makes sense based on how she was raised on the surface! But really that pun kinda took on a life of its own.

Geneviève Blackwell

Another vibes-based name! I knew I wanted something incredibly dramatic sounding, and just kind of picked though name lists until I found some that fit! Still haven't decided on a middle name for her yet, hard to get something to fit alongside the others sdlkghfgklhd.

Hyakinthos Athanasiou

I put waaaaay too much effort into this guy's name I'll be honest. Hyakinthos (also known as Hyacinthus) was the name of a Spartan prince, beloved by both Apollo and Zephyrus, and in some stories killed out of godly jealousy and others by accident. Turned into a hyacinth flower after that. I really loved the contrast between the softness of the floral name vs the whole "was murdered" thing, drawing a line of death through his entire character, and then additionally some victorian floriography assigns the meaning of "sincere care" to hyacinths, which! Yeah!! And then Athanasiou is a really fun one, because given the time period he's from it literally means "son of Athanasios" rather than being like. A family name? But the kicker is that Athanasios means immortal. He's the son of immortal and he can't die. Running around in circles and kicking my feet up about this guy I had a Blast figuring out a name for him that was both thematic and actually historically accurate! This literally could have been a name back then!! Sorry I'm just so excited about that.