Guild Wars 2

Edit, July 2016: since the recent update has (finally!) fixed the issue of pet names resetting when you equip a new pet, I’ve decided to update this list; both to include the new pets added with Heart of Thorns, and to fix the many, many errors. (So many errors.)

I won’t be updating the contents of this thread, however. To be honest, I’ll be surprised if anyone still reads it. Instead, I’ve posted the new version on my userspace on the official wiki, which I’m linking here on the off-chance anyone stumbles across this post:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/User:Idris/Asuran_Pet_Names

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Greetings, Bookahs!

Being an asura, my ranger doesn’t have time for sentimental frivolities such as naming her pets; indeed, to her, they aren’t really “pets” so much as “test subjects”. However, it simply wouldn’t do for an asuran biologist to go around referring to her animals by their colloquial bookah names! What’s needed is a logical system of scientific classifications, and that’s exactly what we’re about to share with you.

And yes, I do have way too much time on my hands.

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Notes:
I’ve classified each pet in the same manner as the game does: that is, by family and then by species, so each name has the structure “[family] [species]”. These names are loosely based on real-life taxonomy; most families and species have been labelled after their closest real-life counterparts, or given an appropriate Latin or ancient Greek name where there is no real-life equivalent.

I’ve put a star * next to any animals whose full names are identical to the real thing (for example, I’ve named the wolf Canis Lupus, which is the real-life scientific classification for wolves).

Finally, I’ve researched these as thoroughly as I could, but my knowledge of both taxonomy and Latin/Greek is sketchy at best, so if I’ve made any mistakes, let me know!

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Edit, July 2016: See above.

Bears
Family: Ursus (real-life name of the common bear genus)
Species:

• Arctodus: Arctodus (real-life name of the extinct short-faced bear genus)
• Black Bear: Ascalonus (fake Latin for “Ascalonian”; in real life, black bears are named “Americanus”, but since America doesn’t exist in Tyria, I chose the next best thing)
• Brown Bear: Arctos (real-life species name of the brown bear) *
• Murellow: Morbidus (Latin for sickly, diseased)
• Polar Bear: Maritimus (real-life species name of the polar bear) *

Birds
Family: Aves (real-life name of the bird class)
Species:

• Eagle: Haliaeetus (real-life name of the eagle genus)
• Hawk: Accipitrina (real-life name of the hawk family)
• Owl: Strigida (real-life name of the owl family)
• Raven: Corax (real-life species name of the common raven)
• White Raven: Leucorax (derived from the ancient Greek words for “white” and “raven”)

Boars
Family: Sus (real-life name of the pig genus)
Species:

• Boar: Scrofa (real-life species name of the wild boar) *
• Pig: Domesticus (real-life species name of the domesticated pig) *
• Siamoth: Tapirus (real-life name of the tapir genus, which is what the GW2 siamoth is based on and was originally named for)
• Warthog: Phacochoerus (real-life name of the warthog genus)

Cats
Family: Felida (real-life name of the cat family)
Species:

• Lynx: Lynx (real-life species name of the common lynx)
• Jaguar: Onca (real-life species name of the jaguar)
• Jungle Stalker: Chaus (real-life species name of the jungle cat)
• Snow Leopard: Uncia (real-life species name of the snow leopard)

Devourers
Family: Scorpius (Latin for “scorpion”)
Species:

• Carrion Devourer: Carnivorus (derived from the Latin words for “flesh” and “devour”)
• Lashtail Devourer: Aculeus (Latin for “stinger”)
• Whiptail Devourer: Uropygi (real-life name of the whip scorpion order — incidentally, these are not true scorpions; but then, neither are devourers)

Dogs
Family: Canis (real-life name of the dog genus)
Species:

• Alpine Wolf: Alpinus (Latin for “alpine”)
• Fern Hound: Pteridophytus (real-life name for ferns)
• Hyena: Hyaenida (real-life name of the hyena family)
• Krytan Drakehound: Familiaris (real-life species name of the domesticated dog) *
• Wolf: Lupus (real-life species name of the grey wolf) *

Drakes
Family: Draconis (derived from the Latin word “draco”, which means “dragon” and is the same word from which “drake” is derived)
Species:

• Ice Drake: Arcticus (Latin for “of the arctic”)
• Marsh Drake: Crocodylus (real-life name of the crocodile genus)
• River Drake: Potamus (ancient Greek for “river”)
• Salamander: Salamandra (real-life species name of the fire salamander)
• Reef Drake: Tropicalis (Latin for “tropical”)

Fish
Note: this family does not exist in the game; the armor fish and shark each belong to their own unique families, but as they are both pretty unequivocally fish, it seemed easier to lump them together.
Family: Ichthys (ancient Greek for “fish”)
Species:

• Armor Fish: Placoderm (real-life name of the extinct class of plated fish)
• Shark: Lamnida (real-life name of the white shark family)

Jellyfish
Family: Medusozoa (real-life name of the jellyfish subphylum)
Species:

• Blue Jellyfish: Caeruleus (Latin for “blue”)
• Rainbow Jellyfish: Irideus (Latin for “rainbow-coloured”)
• Red Jellyfish: Rubeus (Latin for “red”)

Moas
Family: Dinornis (real-life name of the extinct giant moa genus)
Species:

• Black Moa: Piceus (Latin for “pitch-black”)
• Blue Moa: Caeruleus (Latin for “blue”)
• Pink Moa: Roseus (Latin for “pink”; sadly, the real-life species name for flamingos, “phoenicopterus”, was far too long to fit)
• Red Moa: Rubeus (Latin for “red”)
• White Moa: Albus (Latin for “white”)

Spiders
Family: Aranea (real-life name of the spider order)
Species:

• Black Widow: Latrodectus (real-life name of the black widow genus)
• Cave Spider: Troglodytes (ancient Greek for “cave-dweller”)
• Forest Spider: Sylvestris (Latin for “of the forest”)
• Jungle Spider: Phoneutria (real-life name of the Brazilian wandering spider genus — a spider that roams the jungle floor and actively attacks its prey using a deadly neurotoxin instead of waiting in its web like a slightly less terrifying spider would)

Cool…. gogo Biology Major

I admit I’m now tempted to roll an Asuran Ranger who simply numbers their test subjects. Specimen 1, Specimen 2, Specimen 3… in the order I find them…

heh that might be interesting to see, to bad names don’t stick thou.

Nike.2631:

I admit I’m now tempted to roll an Asuran Ranger who simply numbers their test subjects. Specimen 1, Specimen 2, Specimen 3… in the order I find them…

That’s similar to what I had originally planned for my pets! But sadly, numbers aren’t allowed, and I couldn’t think of a letter code system that didn’t look silly. I suppose roman numerals could work, though.