Daisypelts Guide to Warrior Cats

Names

Clan Names
The Clan cats all have unique names, they can range from simple, silly to very meaningful.

Clan cats take can take pride in their names espeically when being given a Warrior or Medicine Cat name, which is a huge honor to them and a pivotal moment in their life.

When Clan cats are born they are given a name usually by their mother and/or father. Their name will always end in 'kit' while they remain in the nursery. Their name will usually mean something, based on their pelt color or after their personality, or again may just be chosen randomly by their parent.

For example a cat with a bushy tail may be named Squirrelkit, a cat with a white pelt may be named Snowkit or a cat who is a bit of a handful may be called Rowdykit. Or in various cases they may be named after a cat that may have passed away and was important to the parent. But in other cases names can indeed be normal or just random names such as Breezekit or Bramblekit. Some parents will always be more creative than others when it comes to names.

When a Kit is six moons old, they become an Apprentice or Medicine Cat Apprentice in a special ceremony performed by the Clan Leader. In this ceremony they will be given their Apprentice name where the end of their name is changed from 'kit' to 'paw' (Squirrelkit would become Squirrelpaw).

Once an Apprentice completes their Warrior training they become a Warrior and are given a Warrior's name in another ceremony. A Warrior's name is different to Kits and Apprentices as they are always different. The ending 'paw' is changed to another word chosen by the Clan Leader, the new word may mean something in the same way they were originally named, after their appearance or character or it may just be chosen because it fits well, or again may be a name plucked from the Clan Leader's head at the time!

For example Squirrelpaw could become Squirreltail, Squirrelflight or Squirrelfur.

Medicine Apprentices also get a new name. When they go to share tongues with StarClan at the half moon, their mentor will perform a ceremony where they will give them their full Medicine Cat name. This is done in the same way as a Warrior's name and like their name may have a meaning or may not. Once the name is received they will continue to serve with their mentor as a full Medicine Cat, even if they are still treated like their Apprentice sometimes.

When a Cat becomes Clan Leader they must share tongues with StarClan, when StarClan will perform a special ceremony where they will give them their nine lives and their Clan Leader name. The end of their name will be changed to 'star'.

For example Squirreltail would become Squirrelstar.

Exceptions
There are a few exceptions to this however. In certain cases a name can be changed if the cat and the Clan Leader agree their old name no longer represents them. Their name can be changed in a special ceremony performed by the Clan Leader.

For example a Warrior may wish to change their name after an accident such as losing an eye, perhaps because they lost the eye in a life changing battle. They may change their name from something such as Squierreltail to Oneeye.

There are also special cases where a name can be given before it usually would be given. This usually happens when an Apprentice is dieing. The Clan Leader can perform a special ceremony in which they give the Apprentice their Warrior name early, so that they can travel to StarClan as a warrior. It may also be done if an Apprentice is injured and are unable to become a Warrior. They can be given a Warrior name to represent the Warrior they would have been.

Another exception is when an outsider joins a Clan. There are a few cases where a former Kittypet or Loner has requested to keep their own name even after becoming a Warrior. This can be frowned upon by other cats as not truly becoming a Warrior. In SkyClan many of the KittyPets who joined the Clan compromised by mixing their Kittypet names with a Warrior suffix, such as Billystorm.

Tribe Names
The history of the Tribe(s) is a mysterious one and the way the cats within them have been named has changed over time. Only two styles of naming are known.

The Tribe Of Rushing Water

The cats of The Tribe Of Rushing Water also have special names, however their name usually remains the same all of their life.

Tribe cats are usually named by their mother, and are named after the first thing the mother sees after she gives birth to them.

For example a cat may be named Wing Of Swooping Eagle.

Because of the length of their full names, they usually shorten them to the first word when referring to each other, so the above example would be called 'Wing'.

The naming of the Tribe cats is also questionable as one would think a nursing Kit-mother would be stuck in her den resulting in a lot of Kits being called 'Stone Wall Of Cave'. However the Tribe cats seem to have a variety of names, so this does seem a bit strange.

Exceptions
The main exception to this is when a cat is chosen as the Leader. In this case they are given the name Teller Of the Pointed Stones or StoneTeller for short. They can also be referred to as the Healer (As unlike the Clans, the Tribe Leader takes on the responsibly of leading the Tribe and being the Healer like a Medicine Cat in the Clans).

The only other exception is in the rare case an outsider joins the Tribe. In this case they will usually keep their own name, and not receive a name like that of the other Tribe members.

Ancient Tribe Cats
The Ancient Tribe Cats, (the ancestors of the modern Tribe Of Rushing Water) seem somewhat different to their modern descendent. Little is known about their ways when they lived by the lake before becoming The Tribe Of Rushing Water but they seemed to live together in a similar way to the Clans and Tribe. All that is known about the names of the old cats is that they are taken mainly after nature.

Examples include things such as Half Moon and Fallen Leaves. They seem to be a shorter version of The Tribe Of Rushing Water's way of naming cats. However it is unknown how the names are chosen, whether by the mother like the modern Tribe or by other means. It seems that although they had a Leader, their name did not stand out from any other cat and followed the same two worded nature based pattern. The only other form of rank known is 'Sharpclaws' which seem to be the equivalent of Clan Warriors or Tribe Prey Hunters / Cave Guards, however like the Leader their names do not stand out and seem to follow the same pattern as the rest using the two worded nature patten. No other ranks or special names are known to have been used.

Rock
Rock is the oldest known cat to have existed, and has been said to be a Leader of a Tribe (which was supposedly one of three Tribes that existed at the time) long before the Clans were born. It is believed that these Tribe(s) were the ancestors of the Ancient Tribe ancestors of the Tribe Of Rushing Water. The name Rock is all that is known of the names those Tribes may have used. Was that always his name? How was it chosen? Does it have a meaning? We do not know.