Raen

Raen is a clan of Au Ra. The Raen have been closely related to the Domans for a long time, so their names are somewhat Japanese-like.

Raen is introduced in Heavensward.

Starting Attributes

Main article: Starting Attributes

Lore

Auri creation myth tells of a Dawn Father and a Dusk Mother from whom all Au Ra are descended. The Raen believe their veins to run thick with the blood of the former─their brilliant white scales and iron wills serving as proof of this divine lineage.
Unlike their sister clan, the Xaela, who bloody the land with their endless tribal conflict, the Raen have embraced a life of tranquility and solitude, long abandoning the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors to settle the deep valleys of Othard's mountainous eastern reaches. Only on rare occasions will one emerge from the valley mists to seek adventure in realms afar.

Naming Conventions

If Raen names are based on Japanese names, does this mean that you can name your Auri warrior after your favorite anime character? Of course! You’ve always been able to do that. Does this mean that you can name your Auri warrior after your favorite anime character and still be within the boundaries of Raen naming conventions? Prrrrrrobably not—the main reason being because the names used in a lot of modern manga/anime are just that: modern. The names that we’ve decided to go with for Final Fantasy XIV, are based off of ones that were prevalent between the 16th and 18th centuries. The Miku in Miku Hatsune? That wasn’t around in the 17th century, so (unfortunately), it isn’t name a Raen family would consider for their daughter, no matter how green/cyan her hair.

Old Japanese names had meaning, and because of that, so do Raen names. Hozan is from 宝山, meaning “treasure mountain.” Yugiri is from 夕霧, meaning “evening mist.” So, simply taking some Japanese phonemes and combining them is not an option.

So, what type of meanings do typical male Raen names have? Here are a few examples:

• ウンザン（雲山） Unzan (lit. cloud mountain)
• カイエン（海燕） Kaien (lit. sea swallow -> storm petrel)
• イッセ（一畝） Isse (lit. an ancient distance measuring approx. 30 steps)
• ギョウセイ（暁星） Gyosei (lit. the dawn star)
• フウゲツ（風月） Fugetsu (lit. wind moon -> a beautiful scene in nature)

For the most part, they have a strong link to things in nature which are believed to be strong, agile, or even uncontrollable. Farmers and fishers will take the names one step further and implement some form of their profession as well, 荒海 Kokai (lit. rough seas) being an example of this.

Now on to female forenames. Many female names are based off of plants, weather, birds, or the seasons─words that represent beauty and kindness in the Doman society. Here a few examples:

• アジサイ（紫陽花） Ajisai (lit. Hydrangea)
• イザヨイ（十六夜） Izayoi (lit. 16th night -> the 16/17th night of the 8th moon)
• クモキリ（雲切） Kumokiri (lit. cloud cutter -> a type of orchid)
• コハル（小春） Koharu (lit. small spring -> an Indian summer)

It goes without saying that the rules stated above are not set in stone. While it is not common, it is not entirely unheard of for a female Raen to have a name that might represent a powerful storm, or for a male to have a name that means “beautiful rose.”

Just as is the case with most of the other races, the Raen also have surnames (family names). Unlike their Auri ancestors who employed clan names as surnames, the now-clanless Raen have adopted a more complex practice. Families of the warrior class (and generally the ruling class) are the only people “allowed” surnames in Doma, and they will often take surnames that displayed their battle prowess or position within an army.

Some examples of this are as follows:

• ブヘン（武辺） Buhen (lit. fight valiantly in battle)
• ユヅカ（弓束） Yuzuka (lit. bow bundle -> quiver)
• グンジ（軍侍） Gunji (lit. army samurai/warrior -> soldier)
• ヤツルギ（八剣） Yatsurugi (lit. eight blades)
• オビナタ（帯刀） Obinata (lit. blades on waist -> carrying two blades meant one was a warrior)

Though the names are not recognized by the ruling class, families of the merchant and peasant classes will still give themselves surnames as to make their everyday lives easier─the names reflecting their professions.

Some examples are:

• モトカワ（原皮） → 猟師や革細工職人など

Motokawa (lit. origin skin) Used by hunters and tanners

• ヌシヤ（塗師屋） → 漆器職人や漆器商人など

Nushiya (lit. paint master store) Used by lacquer painters and sellers of lacquered goods

• ナエウリ（苗売）→ 農民や苗を売る商人など

Naeuri (lit. seedling seller) Used by farmers and sellers of seedlings

• カサヌイ（笠縫） → 笠を作る職人など

Kasanui (lit. umbrella weaver) Used by umbrella makers

• トリオイ（鳥追） → 農民や猟師など

Torioi (lit. bird chaser) Used by farmers and hunters

Now for the kicker.

Many of you who are aware of Japanese names, know that the surname is usually written before the forename (think Watanabe Ken in Japan vs. Ken Watanabe in the U.S.). What then, is the case with the Raen? In Doma, name order is as follows:

ヤツルギ（八剣）家のユキ（雪）

Yatsurugi no Yuki -> Yuki of the Yatsurugi family

Surname X + no + Forename Y -> Y of the X family

(‘no’ being the Raen (and hey, also Japanese) word for ‘of’)

However. Domans, knowing that the majority of races in Eorzea place their given names before their surnames, will follow the Eorzean order while visiting the realm. So Yuki Yatsurugi would be the common rendition of the Doman name.

What about spellings!?

For FFXIV, we have decided to use the Hepburn method of Romanizing Japanese. The Auri names you see in the game, as well as any other words based on Japanese (ninja actions, items from the Far East, etc.) will be spelled using the Hepburn rules. What are those rules? You can find them easily on that fantabulous set of tubes known as the Internets. Just pop in “Hepburn Romaji” and let your browser of choice do the rest.

For those of you who want to go really hardcore, you can also follow our in-game rules for dealing with the ‘U’ following an ‘O’.

Let’s take 宝山 (Hozan) from before.

The Japanese can be broken down into 4 phonemes ほうざん or HO, U, ZA, and N.

Why not write the name Houzan, then?

While that is one acceptable way of Romanizing the word, it’s not the method we’ve chosen for XIV.

We’ve chosen to omit the ‘u’ so that someone without knowledge of the Japanese language can pronounce the word in a manner that is close to the original Japanese pronunciation. In English, the ‘ou’ vowel combination is most of the time pronounced like ‘OW’ (as in ‘out’ or ‘ouch’). The う (U) in Japanese, when following an ‘O’ sound, instead extends the long vowel. In this case the short HO, becomes a slightly longer HO (like ‘hoe’). Removing the ‘u’ from Houzan and making it simply ‘Hozan’ creates a spelling that, when read by someone who doesn’t know about that magical Japanese ‘u,’ will sound similar to the Japanese pronunciation (Hoe-zan, instead of How-zan). Yes, this method is not without its flaws (that slight difference between a long ‘O’ and an extended long ‘O’ is lost), but it’s the one we’ve maintained since XI days, and have found that (for the most part) it works well.

We also will not be using hyphens or apostrophes in Raen names. This (as always) does not mean that you cannot use them if you wish, but know that in-game NPC names will go without them. Neither will we be using macrons (vowels with horizontal lines over them), because they don’t exist in our in-game font set. Acute users will notice that some in-game items from the Far East will have hyphens in them. Hyphens are used very rarely and only when a compound word that consists the first word ending and the second word beginning in a vowel (for example 脛当 sune-ate = lit. shin-guard). However, as many of you may have already noticed, hyphens are unfortunately not allowed in player names.

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Playable Races

Hyur

Midlander • Highlander

Elezen

Wildwood • Duskwight

Lalafell

Plainsfolk • Dunesfolk

Miqo'te

Seekers of the Sun • Keepers of the Moon

Roegadyn

Sea Wolves • Hellsguard

Au Ra

Raen • Xaela

Viera

Rava • Veena

Hrothgar

Helions • The Lost