Artoonian Names

The traditional Artoonian naming convention is Given name - Secondary or Baptismal name - Family name - Clan name (if different from family name) (clan names, when distinct, are generally preceeded by the preposition el, "of"). Membership in an Artoonian clan passes patrilineally, except in cases of illegitimacy* or children bearing a maternal family name; adopted children who take their adoptive family's name are considered full-blood members of their family's clan. As an aid to comprehension, especially when names are likely to be parsed by or of foreigners or immigrants, the family name (but not the clan name) are generally written in all capital letters (or underlined in a unicase typefaces); foreign names of alternate formats (such as surname-first Asian names) are never modified or rearranged. It is customary, however, to convert given names to Esperanto orthography (e.g. an American businessman John Mark Smith would be known to Artoonian merchants as "Johano Marko SMITH" or "Johano Marko SMID̂").

Women traditionally take their husband's family name, retaining their hereditary clan name if different from their husband's (as most clans are large enough to maintain significant genetic diversity, there are no laws or cultural taboos either for or against inter- or intraclan marriage beyond those of general consanguinity). Women who maintain their maiden names after marriage are looked upon with suspicion and generally excluded from polite society. However, if a woman is well-known before marriage and wishes to maintain her notoriety, she may use the form Given name - Secondary or Baptismal name - Family name - naskita Maiden name - Clan name (naskita, analogous to née, is often abbreviated nask.).

The proper formal address is Title Family name (or Title Clan name if appropriate)**. If a person has no other formal legal title, Sinjoro (Mister), Sinjorino (Mrs.), or Fraŭlino (Miss) may be used. When doing so, the family name is understood, and not capitalized. Persons of familiar terms usually address each other by given name or by baptismal name. If a person's given name is not a traditionally Christian one, clergy will generally refer to him or her by baptismal name. Clan names are traditionally used only in the most formal situations or when family honour is at stake; in most day-to-day situations the family name would be the most formal name to use comfortably.

Other than tradition, the only rule to which names must conform is that, because the empire's official language is Esperanto where singular nouns in the nominative/vocative cases must end in -o (which changes to -on in the accusative), any name which ordinarily ends in a different letter will be treated grammatically as a contraction. Thus, when a name that ends in other letters (feminine names, for example, often end in -a) is used in a grammatical instance which would require its declension, an -o is added to the end (-a may be dropped if it aids in pronunciation any cadence) and dealt with accordingly. For example, the common woman's name Maria, for example, becomes Marion in the accuative. When a name which ends in -a needs to be expressed in the genitive, it is left alone, its usage determined from context.

The placement of titles is generally before the given name, if spelled or pronounced as words, or after the family name or clan name, if post-nominal letters. Titles pertaining to a clan, however, are generally inserted before the clan name along with the preposition de (of).

Thus:
Johano Benjamen Petro, of the clan Petro, a captain in the Imperial Navy, marries Karesinda Elisabed̂a Davizo, of the clan Vulpo, an ophtamologist. Together, they have a daughter, Safira Maria.
Johano could be addressed as:

• Kapitano Johano Benjamen PETRO

• K-no Johano PETRO

• Kapitano Petro

• Joĉjo (to his friends)

• Kapitano Sinjoro Johano Benjamen PETRO, K.S.G. (after being knighted into the Order of St. George)

And if Captain Sir Benjamin, through hereditary right, claimed the chieftancy of the clan Petro, any of the following forms might be used:

• Kapitano Sinjoro Johano Benjamen PETRO, Ĉefo de Klano Petro, K.S.G.

• Kapitano Sinjoro Johano Benjamen PETRO, Klanĉefo (or "Klanestro") Petra, K.S.G.

• Kapitano Sinjoro Johano Benjamen PETRO, Petrestro, K.S.G.

• Kapitano Petrestro Johano Benjamen PETRO, K.S.G.

• Ĉefo Petro

Karesinda could be:

• Doktoro (Doktorino) Karesinda Elisabed̂a DAVIZO el Vulpo

• D-ro (D-rino) Karesinda Elisabed̂a PETRO el Vulpo (after marriage)

• Karesinda PETRO nask. Davizo, D.Of. ("Doktoro Oftalmologia") (this form would probably be used professionally, especially if Dr. Petro were publishing in a medical journal; Davizo is not capitalized because it is no longer her official family name and because nask. implies its context)

• Doktorino Petro

• Liza

• Damo Karesinda Elisabed̂a PETRO el Vulpo, D.Of. (after her husband was knighted, she could assume the title Damo, "Lady", as a courtesy)

Safira would be simply:

• Safira Maria PETRO

• Sanja (officially "Sanjo", but see note above on feminine names)

• Maria, to her friends and family, but since many of her friends are probably also Marias, she will probably be Sanja everywhere but in church.

* The imperial government and her shires' do not formally recognize the matrimonial sacrament nor accord it any legal standing (other than when inheriting peerages), so determination of legitimacy is left as a prerogative of the individual clan chiefs. As a general rule, however, they require a clerical solemnization unless the family are members of the Religious Society of Friends.

** The Emperor and members of his family have no legal family name. They are members (and the Emperor is hereditary Clan Chief) of the Clan Vulpo, and represent the dynastic Imperial House of Vulpo, but they are properly known only by their given or baptismal names, as in Imperiestro Arĉjo Iᵃ, or Imperiestro Arĉjo Iᵃ el Vulpo.