Name Guide

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In the Warriors books, the naming of cats follows a certain pattern. Every cat has a name to be identified by. They call each other by their given names at birth. It is up to the mother to decide the names of the kits. In a Clan, the name of a new kit is given with the suffix -kit at the end. In Twoleg territory, cats giving birth do not name their own kit. Most of the time a Twoleg does it for them. However, in some cases, a cat may name her own kits and get away from the Twolegs.

Clan Names
The names of Clan cats are constructed from two words (for example Bramble+Claw or Squirrel+Flight). Both of these words pertain to things or notions known to the Clan cats, and usually describe the appearance and / or the personality of the cat. These can be of the following:

• Colors and Patterns: White, Golden, Dark, Spotted
• Attributes: Brave, Sharp, Sweet, Wild
• Body Parts: Claw, Heart, Foot, Tail, Fur, Eye
• Plants and Animals: Birch, Holly, Hawk, Tiger, Flower
• Nature: Cloud, Sand, Stream, Stone, Moon
• Phenomena: Fire, Mist, Night, Storm
• Action: Pounce, Running, Leap, Step
• Names are short, containing generally two or three syllables.

First Part of the Name
The first part (prefix) is given by the kit's parents upon its birth. The names can be of the following:

• Pertaining to the kit's appearance (Squirrel- for fluffy tail, Blossom- for patches that look like fallen petals, Bumble- for stripes similar to a bumblebee's)
• In honor of another cat or ancestor (Leaf- in honor of Leafstar and possibly Spottedleaf, Tiger- in honor of Tigerstar, Cinder- in honor of Cinderpelt)
• Some event pertaining to the birth or life of the kit (Storm- for being born in a storm)
• Other, seemingly unrelated to either (Toad-, Petal-)

Second Part of the Name
Kits, apprentices and leaders have -kit, -paw and -star respectively as the second part (suffix) of their names by tradition.

Examples: Whitekit, Whitepaw, Whitestar

• The suffix of warrior and medicine cat names are assigned by the Clan Leader, (or Medicine Cat, respectively) though they (or in some cases one of their parents) can request a specific name for themselves, if they wish.

Examples: Redtail, Redwillow, Redscar

Reserved Words
The following notions are generally not used in Clan names (although some have been occasionally):

• -star, -kit and -paw are reserved as leader, kit, and apprentice suffixes (e.g. Firestar, Cherrykit, Molepaw) However, Tribes use these words for their names.
• "Moon-" is a name reserved for places sacred to the Clans as places where leaders and medicine cats may commune with StarClan (such as the Moonpool and the Moonstone). The only known exceptions to this were Bluestar's mother, who was named Moonflower; however, Erin Hunter stated they could not change her name to Duskflower due to too many uses of Moonflower, Ambermoon, Cloudtail's daughter, and Harveymoon, a SkyClan daylight warrior. In this roleplay, "Moon" is only allowed in special cases, all of which must be run by the moderator.

Addressing Each Other
Clan Cats call each other by their full names, even if they are kin. They do not use pet names, shortened names or titles.

• It is considered rude and disrespectful to address a cat by his or her former name (that referred to a lower rank), for example, to address a warrior by their apprentice name or a leader by their warrior name.

Name Change
If a name does not suit a Clan cat anymore, the Clan leader can decide to change their name by a Name Changing Ceremony. This often happens when a cat receives a significant injury, although it also happens when a warrior retires to the elder's den. For example, after Sparrowpelt had lost part of his tail in a fight with a badger, he was renamed Halftail. The Clan leader can also change a name at the request of another warrior.