#candlestickmaker

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

I recently found out that a lot of surnames came about from occupations. I wanted to do something similiar for my sci-fi story. So, the surnames will also be in all different languages and everyone is multilingual anyway and I'm conlanging lots of languages too. Also, I don't like the 'family name' concept. It is a personal surname, your family doesn't have the same surname as you unless they're in the same job and chose to use the same language. If you change jobs, you can change your surname, if you have multiple jobs you can pick one or do a hybrid. Most children do not have occupations, so maybe their surnames are based on their schooling/apprenticing/desired occupation? There are exceptions of course, like jobless people, jobs that can't be mentioned like a spy, or people who constantly change jobs. Does this make any sense?

Utuabzu: It's not totally unreasonable. Plenty of cultures don't have surnames at all - many Indonesians, for instance, have just one name - plenty of others have additional names that work differently to what we are used to - traditionally, Arabic names are genealogies, sometimes going back many generations, and also include other information like whether the person has completed the Hajj, memorised the Koran, is descended from the prophet Muhammed, etc. - others still are geographic - this is where a lot of names preceded by 'de', 'von', etc come from, they originally just meant that someone was from or otherwise associated with that place. Roman names also included cognomen, names given or adopted by a person because of some notable feature or accomplishment, which is probably nearest to what you want.

One thing you should consider is that people tend to have relatively fixed names, particularly in larger and more densely populated societies, because it makes it easier to know who is who. There's a reason countries like Thailand and Japan forced people to adopt permanent family names in the 19th Century - it was to make it easier to collect census data and track people and know who is who and who they're related to. If people in your society only have a fixed personal name, and a constantly shifting occupation-name, people are going to have to find some way to clarify that when they mentioned Karen Baker, they mean Karen who lives three doors down and was Karen Butcher three weeks ago, and is the daughter of Karen Candlestickmaker.

In this case, patronymics (or matronymics) may be your friend. A patronym is a name that indicates who someone's father is (any English name ending in -son was likely a patronym), and they're pretty common in a range of cultures. Icelandic surnames are almost all patronyms (which is why most end in -son or -dóttir, and aren't inherited), and many Slavic cultures have patronyms in addition to family names (which is why so many Slavic people's names follow a pretty standard formula: [x] [y]evich/evna* [z] - [y] is the father's name, and evich/evna means approximately son/daughter). I don't know of any cultures that use matronyms off the top of my head, but it certainly wouldn't be unreasonable.

*spelling and exact phonology varies between languages. 

Licorice: Almost without exception, pre-industrial societies are interested in keeping track of who is related to whom. This is often due to concerns about inheritance and consanguinity. Who a person is related to is a thing that is known before their job or job class is known, unless they live in a society where jobs are inherited, which isn’t the case in the world you are building.

Naming systems are often used as a way of keeping track of relationships, though not always. In a small community where everybody knows everyone else, names denoting family relationships aren’t always necessary. 

If you haven’t done this already, I think it would be worth spending some time figuring out how your world got to the place where it is now, with everybody multi-lingual, well-educated, and  able to change jobs with some regularity. I’m also getting the impression that family ties or connections aren’t important to them, but I may be mistaken about that. A name is an identifier. Why, in their world, do people identify themselves by their work rather than by their relatives or by some other, perhaps less changeable, aspect of themselves? What historical factors have brought this about?

Feral: I agree 100% with points brought up by both Utuabzu and Licorice. I’d also like to touch on the last two situations - children and people either without a job or with a job that shouldn’t be public knowledge.

Licorice thinks that familial relationships maybe aren’t particularly important in your world. However, indicating the person responsible for the care of a given child, whether that is a biological parent or not, is going to be a much more valuable surname than “Preschooler” or “Future Unicorn Doctor”. Once they’re older, what we would consider a late primary school age, yes, stating that they are the apprentice of a specific master or even just in a particular fields makes sense because you can figure out who they go with - because children need to have someone to be responsible for their care and other adults need to know who that person is sometimes.

For a job like a spy, it would make sense for them to have a cover just like a real world spy would be. It doesn’t seem like Joe the Spy couldn’t get away with introducing himself as Carl the Tailor. 

Which brings up a question you need to decide on - who keeps track of all this? As part of their onboarding at a new job, do the citizens of this world have to submit a name change application? Is it based on the honor system? And if you have a name like Carol Sales Associate and you want to get out of retail, would your name cause you to be immediately discriminated against?

For people without a job, it seems like they would be incredibly marginalized. Would they actually be stripped of part of their identity because they got laid off? That seems cruel. And maybe your society is, that’s fine. I’m just saying, we have a very unjust society right now when it comes to financial instability, but this is really unjust, if possibly a little more honest.

[heavyedhunt]

LessThanOrEqualTo (detail) (work in progress) #edhunt #edhuntart #painter #printmaker #candlestickmaker #drawing #exploring #learning #power #everything #anything #something #nothing https://www.instagram.com/p/CQZP1yXBr7x/?utm_medium=tumblr

[graphisch]

Making long, tapered beeswax candles from a mold I’ve never used. Not sure it’s ever been used. It fought me all the way. Hopefully it will easily release the candles. I’m not holding my breath. #beeswax #beeswaxcandles #candlestickmaker #reenacting #howtheyusedtodoit #painintheass #lostarts #doityourself #diy #learningprocess #itsfunandgamesuntilsomebodylosesaneye #iusedtodateagirlwithoneeyeshewasverycute

[shaunjudahyo]

Phrankinoud for the win...Goodnight #LetsCreate #LightheartedCandles #CandlestickMaker #MyHandMakes #HikeDude #SelfCare #MountainDude #AnotherBlackExperience #IDopeDifferent #BlackManAdventures #BlackManMagic #OnlyOneWayToDoMe #CreationCreating #BlackBoyJoy #MyDayMyWay #Emcee #Birmingham #Alabama  #OutdoorsDude #GodUp #AlwaysInspire #GoBeGreat #AllowYourselfToBeHappy #Poet #TeachinArtist #Author #BeShaunLeavell #ShaunJudah #ILoveMeSomeMe #ThoughtsForAll #Empath #Intuitive #IAmArt #ICreateArt #IAmCreation (at Birmingham, Alabama) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2QdwlCBp-s/?igshid=xg6n9siwrhee

[excaliburblade0430-blog]

Creative Scents Schonwerk Pillar Candle Holder Set of 2- Crackled Mosaic Design- Home Coffee Table Decor Decorations Centerpiece for Dining/Living Room- Best Wedding Gift (Silver)

[fanonical]

ah yes, harry potter, and his cousins, harry butcher, harry baker, and harry candlestickmaker

[allmusic]

AllMusic Staff Pick: Ron Elliott The Candlestickmaker

While certainly not every listener's mug of fennel, The Candlestick Maker is a thoroughly enjoyable work and recommended for fans of early-'70s West Coast singer/songwriters.

- Lindsay Planer

[smillingcartoonist]

The Boys:Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker 2 #  

[proto-storm-blog]

Melting a little wax for our Tiki-man candle project. 💡 #vacuumBae #prototype #MakerSpace #makermovement #redefiningcreation #maker #americanmade #thermoplastic #ImInLoveWithAFormer #techtool #getcreative #creativity #redefiningcreation #thermoforming #vacuumforming #thermoplastics #vacuumformer #PCB #Production #ProductionReady #candle #candlestickmaker #customCandle #candlecraft #candlemaking #candlelight #crafty

[thegrayplatypus-blog]

Vintage Fisher Price Tub Toy! Three Men In A Tub🚨$18 plus shipping 🚨Claim below with the word SOLD, and then DM me your email and shipping addresses and I will send a PayPal invoice. Or go to our Etsy shop and purchase there at TheGrayPlatypus on Etsy.com. Link to shop in bio. #thegrayplatypus #etsy #etsyshop #vintage #retro #vintagehome #vintagetoys #vintagefisherprice #tree #kids #fisherprice #tub #80s #1980s #classic #littlepeople #chef #butcher #baker #candlestickmaker

[misselisak]

http://shopgirlslikeme.bigcartel.com/product/building-my-village Hey! I wrote a #book all about building #relationships in my current #season. I must say, my relationships are now #flourishing and my #village is #LIT. Check it out for yourself! Exclusivley at @ShopGLM. Link above and #linkinbio 😘 #writer #author #candlestickmaker #shopglm

[heavyedhunt]

Now we're getting somewhere! Two (2) more colors for the Kirby Klassic! #edhunt #edhuntart #printmaker #reliefprint #reliefprinting #destructive #reductive #color #thething #thefantasticfour #marvelcomics #jackkirby #painting #inert #outsiderart #painter #drawer #cooker #baker #candlestickmaker https://www.instagram.com/p/CY2ROpdP9P_/?utm_medium=tumblr

[pamdora]

So I think this is the fourth quilt I've made with a bathtub in it, but who's counting? #bathtub #stuffhappens #quiltart #fiberart #textileart #wip #threemeninatub #nurseryrhymes #butcher #baker #candlestickmaker

[shaunjudahyo]

#LetsCreate #LightheartedCandles #CandlestickMaker #MyHandMake #HikeDude #SelfCare #MountainDude #AnotherBlackExperience #IDopeDifferent #BlackManAdventures #BlackManMagic #OnlyOneWayToDoMe #RedMountainPark #CreationCreating #BlackBoyJoy #MyDayMyWay #Birmingham #Alabama #OutdoorsDude #GodUp #AlwaysInspire #GoBeGreat #AllowYourselfToBeHappy #BeShaunLeavell #ShaunJudah #ILoveMeSomeMe #ThoughtsForAll #IAmArt #ICreateArt #IAmCreation (at Birmingham, Alabama) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2N6EvohNG0/?igshid=1nx40jy8fnl3t

[agatharights]

Random thought pop up after seeing the working in a bakery thing. I work in the packaging part of a butchering factory thing. Do you happen to know any candlestickmakers?

Statistically someone here has GOTTA make candlesticks. It's gotta happen. We can make this song come TRUE

[kosherkathy]

One day to go! . . . #halloween #ghostbusters #october #happyhalloween #california #weho #soho #dtla #thisisus #smirk #funny #comedy #japan #siliconvalley #sanfrancisco #payitforward #itsbeginningtolookalotlikehalloween #crafter #crafty #decoratingfortheseason #thewitchisin #jealous #wealreadydecorated #yeah #wecrayinagoodway #hatersgonnahateyo #professionaldecorator #productionassistant #costumemaker #baker #candlestickmaker #filmproducer #writer #director #entertainer #comedian https://www.instagram.com/p/BoXyIIAHf4M/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2a0lj2h81n3i