The Culture of Warrior Naming

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        In the original Warriors series, names that were prevalent included heart, claw, and flower. These indicate a strong reverence of spirit, fortitude, and good kit-rearing, since cats such as Oakheart and Fireheart strove to embody the forces of nature, warriors like Thistleclaw fought effectively for the Clan, and queens such as Goldenflower, Morningflower, Grayflower were exalted as the most responsible she-cats in the forest in terms of motherhood. As the books continued, however, the surname flower died out, perhaps as a result of an emphasis on warrior skills for all cats, instead of forcing she-cats into eternal nursing roles. The name claw continued, as evident in Brambleclaw and Thornclaw, but lost its former allure due to its association with darkly ambitious and violent cats like Tigerclaw. The surname heart is still going strong, but is now used as a form of reverence for past cats, instead of natural elements. For example, Blackstar named Tigerpaw "Tigerheart" in the hope that he would possess his grandfather's fighting brilliance, and Firestar granted Cinderpaw the new name "Cinderheart" because she so forcibly reminded him of the gentle yet mature Cinderpelt.

        Nevertheless, nature plays a great role in warrior cat naming. Each Clan prefers features from its own territory, and on the occasion that a cat is named after an affinity from another Clan, it is due to his or her mixed heritage. An instance of this is Windflight, who was a ThunderClan cat who was also half RiverClan. It is generally considered an unspoken taboo to name a cat after one of the first four leaders, Thunderstar, Windstar, Shadowstar, and Riverstar, but exceptions do occur, just like the Windflight mentioned above. It is, however, not acceptable to name a newborn "Starkit," since that is a name coveted by StarClan and only allotted for Clan leaders.

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