I think charr naming isn’t really understood all that well. And being a bit of a charr lore buff, I’ll do my best to clear things up. The problem is is that you have classical charr naming, then you have modern charr naming, sometimes various cultures within the charr mix those up a bit, and then you have the inclusion of titles.
Oh my, it’s like an actual culture. Imagine that. ArenaNet have really achieved something here. Okay, but let me roll back and try to explain how the basic concepts work.
The Basics
The charr are born into a name. This is a name awarded to them by their parents. Once they become part of the fahrar (anywhere between ages one and six/seven), they start working towards a claimed name, and the fahrar ends up with a warband name upon graduation.
Understanding Claimed Names
A claimed name is basically earned from ‘any feat of renown’ within the fahrar. This can be combat, but it can be any number of things. With modern charr thinking, it can even be purely related to one’s talents as an artisan. You can claim a name for an invention, a clever battle plan, for being sneaky, for art, or even for creating a more efficient way of handling agriculture.
Under modern thinking, every charr in a fahrar is allowed to discover and nurture their core talents, with fahrars even being given days off in order to actually pursue these, to try to understand them better. The charr as they are now are a very different beast to the charr under Flame Legion rule.
Originally, claimed names were aimed more towards combat prowess, and for some parts of the Blood Legion this may still be true. But modern conventions allow for so much more.
As an example: A sneaky Ash Legion spy might claim the name shadow in her fahrar for being able to move around unseen.
The Classic Naming Method
Originally, the name a charr was born into tended to be a guttural thing – examples of this wound be Bonwor, Kalla, or Bonfaaz. Other than that, the parents might have named their child after something they liked, in the example of Pyre.
For an old name, you really just need to come up with something guttural. Like Garn or Forzan. That sort of thing. Think orks.
Now, originally the system was that a charr’s claimed name would come after the warband name. For example, Pyre Fierceshot. In this case, the warband is Fierce, and the claimed name is Shot. Shot was taken as Pyre was an archer, and one who prided himself on rarely ever missing. So an elementalist might be burn, burnt, or similar. That sort of thing, you get the idea.
So a classical name is, indeed, something like Pyre Fierceshot.
The Modern Naming Method
This is similar to the classical one, except there are a few changes. Of late, the charr have been acquiring themselves a real culture. As such, their names have begun sounding more refined. Examples like Sicaea and Bhuer come to mind. Often, these are influenced by old Roman names.
For this, you could take examples from Latin and Rome. I’ve used names like Xanthe, Ursula, and Lexus for charr played by friends and I.
Now this next part is interesting. Largely, the system has stayed the same for the last name, but it’s been switched around. Modern charr naming conventions have the claimed name before the warband name.
So a last name might be something like Embermane. This would have the claimed name of Ember (perhaps an engineer or elementalist), and the warband name of Mane. Another example is Bhuer Goreblade himself, with the claimed name being Gore, and the warband name being Blade.
Thus a modern name is something like Bhuer Goreblade.
Titles
Some charr claim titles, this has always been the case. This has been a thing for the charr since time immemorial. If a charr manages to claim a title, it’s due to some amazing feat or other, or being exemplary at a particular thing. And this title is often used instead of the warband name (assuming that the charr even has a warband, still).
The only difference really is that the inclusion of the definite article has become commonplace in modern titles, whereas classical titles tend to exempt that.
Examples of this would be: Smodur the Unflinching, Sicaea the Shrouded, Rytlock Brimstone, and Bonfaaz Burntfur.
In Conclusion
You can build a good name for yourself based upon the knowledge above. You can opt for classical or modern parts of either, to be honest, as the writers have chosen to do so. Some charr simply might prefer to keep the warband name last, but hold onto more guttural names, or vice versa.
Some charr might have a title, and that title may or may not include the definite article. If you want to roleplay, going in understanding all this may be helpful.
Ultimately, that’s about all you need to know.
