Ancient Names

[J.Gellert]

So, I've been trying to flesh out some so far uncharted territories on my homebrew fantasy campaign setting. Part of the idea is that most lands and people are based off real-life historic civilizations, as with Conan's Hyborian Age setting (and to an extend, Forgotten Realms and other settings).

So I've decided to just drop the mask and use ancient / old / forgotten names for the kingdoms. Obviously, it saves me time, but it also reinforces the connection.

To be more specific, I mean things like Albion for Great Britain, Kemet or Khem for Egypt, Thule, and so on.

How many of these do you know? And even better, does anyone know of a good website where I can find more?

[Coidzor]

Scythia is a good name, just sort of rolls off the tongue, y'know.

Couldn't say for a website, but there's a couple of maps of the ancient world on the wiki that you could find relatively easily, I think and take a gander at the names listed there.

[dragonfan6490]

Ah, this is my territory. I'm a history major, so lets see what we can come up with. Cymru, Kernow, Siluria, Gwent, Dumnonia, Rheged, Ynys Mons, Dyfed, Lothian (those are just Romano-Celtic Britons), Eire (Ireland), Iberia (Spain), Hellas (Greece), Ugre (Hungary), Wallachia (part of Romania), Numidia (parts of Algeria, Tunisia, and Carthage). Hope that helps!

[Temotei]

Naming resources.

[Ormur]

Here's the Wikipedia article on exonyms, names over foreign places is various languages. Scroll down for list of exonyms in Latin, Greek, Icelandic, German etc. That should be enough for whatever flavour you want for your place names.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Cathay for China.

[Zeta Kai]

Don't forget Minos. A little thing like being blown off the face of the earth tends to be memorable.

[J.Gellert]

I've already got all Greece-related stuff written down

Thank you all, I've got a lot more to go with now. Especially dragonfan6490, hehe, great list.

The exonyms article looks useful as well. I'll definitely try the map idea too, if these do not prove enough.

[AslanCross]

Caledonia for Scotland. Cush was the Biblical name for Ethiopia, if I'm not mistaken. Canaan (Palestine), Edom (Jordan), Chaldea (another name for Babylonia; modern-day Iraq) and Maharlika (proposed nationalistic name for the Philippines).

[Killer Angel]

To be more specific, I mean things like Albion for Great Britain

Staying there, you have also Northumbria, which once was the core of the anglian kingdom of Bernicia. And Lothian.

[Cyrion]

I did the same sort of thing once- got a lot of mileage out of a historical atlas, especially city names.

[bosssmiley]

Watch out for delicious confusion potential though:

• Iberia means Spain + Portugal now, but to the Romans Iberia was a kingdom in the Caucasus (so was their Albania).
• There are likewise Galicias in Spain, Poland/Ukraine, and Asia Minor.
• Kush was an early Sudanese kingdom, but the Kushan Empire was a Central Asian state comprising most of the *stans and the Punjab.
• Prussia isn't in (modern) Germany and wasn't originally inhabited by Germans, and it was only ever technically a part of the Holy Roman Empire.
• Great Bulgary was in central Russia, Bulgaria is in SE Europe.
• The Khitans are not the Khazars who don't come from Khwarazm. Oh, and the various Cossack hordes are no relation to the Khazaks.
• And as for Turkestan...

More locally for me, pre-unification Scotland was variously Alba, Caledonia, Galloway(!) and Pictland.

That said, probably the best way to shorthand a culture is to grab a historical atlas and loot names to your heart's content.

[Aedilred]

Lessee:

You've got your ancient empires of the Middle East; your Minoan empire (although it was never called that at the time, I believe), your Sumerians, the Hittites, your Assyrians, your Egyptians... these are a bit obvious, but there are some good names in the towns, cities and smaller component states- Ur, Sumer, Nineveh, Karnak, Kalhu, Memphis, Kanesh, Kish, Nippur, Mari, Carchemish, Jerablus, Arzawa and so on.

Getting a bit more modern, although still remaining within the ancient world, and largely ignoring Greece and Rome as a bit obvious, you have places like ancient Armenia, Lydia, Pontus, Media, Carthage- these give us names like Tigranikert, Tigranocerta, Colchis, Amasia, Sinope, Sardis, Ctesiphon, Corupedion, Antioch, Tyre, Sidon, Tartessos.

Then you have the various names for European proto-states in the pre-modern era- Francia, Neustria, Austrasia, Burgundy, Asturias, Navarra , Wallonia, Brabant, Frisia, Wallachia, Moravia, Moldavia, Bohemia, Galicia (two of these!), Saxony, Franconia, Thuringia, Lotharingia, Jutland, Gothland (or Gotland/Gotaland if you prefer), Svealand, Norrland, Livonia, Novgorod, Volgabulgaria, and many more.

In England amd Scotland specifically, you had Bernicia and Deira (combined to form Northumbria), Mercia (the midlands), and the various Scottish kingdoms- Moray, Alba, Pictland, and the Isles, as well as smaller, non-extant counties which could be fun- Westmorland, Hexhamshire, Winchcombeshire.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head; hope it gives you something to be getting on with!

[Thurbane]

Naming resources.

Great source, top-notch contributors!