If you had a dragon, what would you name him/her?
I had a fairly long discussion about this with Jim the Editor and didn’t really come to a satisfying conclusion; I think I’m possibly going about the question the wrong way. See… when I take it upon myself to imagine a dragon, I sort of… picture something that would come with a name? Like, a dragon to my mind is an intelligent creature that might not necessarily want me to name it, or might expect a name from its own language. Y’know, you can’t name a dragon the way you’d name a pet dog or whatever because it’s going to understand the name and has to like it, but it’s also weird to just give a dragon a normal human name like “Kyle” – which is a name I genuinely like and could imagine giving to a kid, but is undeniably a weird name for a dragon.
Can you do that? Can you name a dragon “Kyle”? Kyle the dragon?
I mean, I’m committed now; I guess if I ever get a dragon, then this is what’s happening and we all just have to live with that.
I mean, you’re assuming sapient dragon here, and even that’s not a given. Dragons are HAZY. If I got a dragon cub I’d name it something cute, like, Marshmellow for a white one, or Daffodil for a yellow one, and if it got sapient when it grew up it’s nickname time. Don’t blame me, Mars/Dill.
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I think the thing is, “dragon” is such a broad term with so many interpretations that you kinda have no choice but to make assumptions and picture what *you* understand a dragon to be. And I understand dragons to be sapient. You might not, but if we have to agree first on what a dragon actually *is*, then the question is pretty much unanswerable.
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If a dragon can be named Pete, why not Kyle?
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The Dragon wasn’t named Pete, the kid was named Pete, I thing the dragon was named Elliot.
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Well point taken but that’s just as odd of a name for a dragon!
Though to be honest I was thinking Puff the Magic Dragon when I wrote it, no idea why. I was thinking of that song and not the movie. 😂
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welp
I guess when a dragon shows up in my D&D campaign he’ll be named Kyle
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Ok but how is naming a sapient dragon cub different from naming a baby? (I know the ask didn’t specify it, but once we go sapient in our assumptions, I’m sure we can make plenty)
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I would say because when a dragon cub is born, in my mind, it is effectively more of a toddler than a baby, and as such, it would at least be sapient enough to want approval for any name given to it.
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