Bad Names: A Guide

[Gloometh]

WHAT IS A BAD NAME?

Bad names aren’t always that easy to spot, and there are a lot of rules that come into play when talking about bad names.

Bad names are names, that don’t fit your story. They might be words that humans use, but not cats. They might be creatures that aren’t the Warriors’ world, or they might just not work for the cats in whatever area your writing about.

Some examples of bad names; Angel, Azure, gems, Dragon, strange names for normal colors…

There is also a lot of names that are acceptable in the Warriors’ world, but don’t sound very warrior-like.

Here we will cover the basics for naming a cat, while giving it a good sounding name that won’t be shouted down by hardcore fans.

NAMES THAT AREN’T WARRIOR-LIKE.

What is a name that is acceptable in the Warrior World, but doesn’t sound like it should be there?

One example might be “Bubble”.

This is a perfectly acceptable name part, and your welcome to use it, but it sounds like a bubble from a bath, and the image coming to mind when you think of a cat named… oh… Bubblefur, is one of a cat either sinking into a bubble bath, covered in bubble bath bubbles, or covered in blisters.

None of those images are worth thinking or talking about, so it’s better to avoid names like that.

Check that your name doesn’t sound a bit like a human name, or that the image that comes to mind has to do with something about the cat, not something to do with humans.

METALS, GEMS AND ECT.

This is a tricky subject. There are a lot of rules that some into this one.

Gems aren’t something a normal cat would know about, they come from within rocks after all, and only special types of rocks, so cats wouldn’t ever be able to see them.

However, let’s say your cat lives in a place that is maybe a cave… or their Clan is settled near a place that might have gems left by humans. Then the cat would know that gems exist. And maybe it’s Clan has been there long enough to know the names.

Then your cat COULD be called something like Sapphireclaw, but I still don’t think it’s a very good thing.

In a special role-play or Clan or something, yes. In a normal forest Clan, no.

Metal is a trickier subject.

For starters, sometimes you can mean the color bronze, not the metal. But your cat has probably never seen bronze, so it doesn’t know what the color is in the first place.

It wouldn’t know what “steel” or “metal” would be either, so those names are out as well.

Gold and Silver are fine, those colors are seen elsewhere, not just in metals, so they would know.

I think that should be it for things like that… on to the next part.

HUMAN TERMS FOR THINGS.

This is a rule often misused.

Sometimes, people name their cats after things that cats would know, but use the human name. This is a no-no.

So one example… “blond”. This is a possible color for a cat, so you might thing to use it.

However, blond is basically yellow, and a cat would see the color yellow elsewhere, and use the word yellow, like “That bee is yellow!” not, “oh, there’s a blond bee!”. You would never hear that.

So be careful of things like that.

FOREIGN THINGS.

Another tough rule. Foreign things.

One thing you need to be careful of is the setting of the clan, or where your cat lives.

If your cat lives in Africa, then “Zebra” is fine. However, in England forest country, it’s a HUGE no-no.

Things like “Bamboo” might be fine in China, but not elsewhere. Please keep note of where you are and make sure the name you use is from that area.

NUMEROUS USES.

Sometimes, the same name is used numerous times. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’m just saying you should be careful.

Example: Bud, Budding, Budded…

“Bud” is a good one to use, “Budding” is okay, and “Budded” is just terrible.

“Blood” is another one. You can use “Bloodied”, “Blood”, “Bloody”…

“Bloodied” is NOT one to use. “bloody” isn’t all that good either… “Blood” is okay, but what mother would name their kit “Bloodkit”? It’s a better name for a rogue that changed its birth name or something.

OTHER TERMS FOR SEASONS, ECT.

Often times, people will things like “Summer” or “Spring”. The debate on whether or not these are proper is a long one.

In some cases, you’ll find that the terms are even used in the Warrior books, though they like to use the term “Leaf-Fall” and things like that. And you’ll properly never see a cat called “Leaf-Falltail”.

Anyway, the choice is yours.

BUILDINGS.

You can’t name your cat after buildings such as barns. This might appear clear to a more advanced fan, but not to a less advanced one.

Things such as barns, aren’t very good things to name your cat after.

Firstly, because they’re human things.

Secondly, the name “Barnclaw” or “Barntail” are terrible.

And who would even think of calling a cat “Towleg-Nesttail”?

How is that even possible?

OTHER NAMES THAT AREN’T VERY GOOD TO USE.

First off, “Star” is a no-no. It can be used in some cases… but what is your cat becomes Leader?

Starstar is not a very nice name. XP

Next, never give your cat their warrior name as “kit” or “paw”. Seriously… like, “Cloudkit”, “Cloudpaw”, “Cloudkit”.

I know that would never happen… but whatever.

I believe that is everything… If there is anything I’ve forgotten, please PM me or post and I’ll add it.

Hope this helped.

~ Gloometh (Gloompace)