Rewriting Radiance - What's in a Name?

A rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but I've been finding some names in Radiance less appealing as time goes on. While I wrote about my original intentions here, and while I still like the names of Asher, Virgo, Asher's parents and the Sitra Achra, the names of the rest of the Seven just aren't working for me any more.

So here are my thoughts on other options (I used www.behindthename.com liberally to research this article):


The Seven…
While accurate, calling the group simply 'the Seven' conveys very little information, and isn't terribly exciting. So what else could they be called? The Seven...

Midot - meaning aspects, principles, attributes or measures. More Hebrew might be undesirable, however, and it still isn't that evocative.

Facets/Archetypes - conveying the idea that these are all different aspects of the same divine force. I prefer facets, as it suggests the 70 faces of Torah, evoking a gemstone. Archetypes is a bit drier but more precise.

Manifestations/Avatars/Incarnations - these are all more fantastic, perhaps more appropriate to a fantasy setting, and accurate descriptions of how I imagine they function. Except for the connotations of the word (the movie, the cartoon, Hinduism) I think I prefer Avatars, but given the reality of pop culture, Incarnations might be the better choice.

Sephirot - a better option than Midot perhaps, in that it sounds better, seems a bit more accurate, and conjures more interesting images, it also suffers from being in Hebrew.

More after the jump.



Hod/Splendour (Mercury) and Netzach/Victory (Ostar)
Not sure how I got to Mercury and Ostar, but Ostar feels a bit generically fantasy without conveying much meaning, and Mercury is a bit close to Virgo while not emphasising the close relationship between Hod and Netzach, that are a close pair in kabbalah. I'd like the two of them to have names from the same kind of tradition:

Ziv and Yachin - the two pillars outside the temple, called Boaz and Yachin, are said to be representations of Netzach and Hod, but unfortunately Boaz doesn't really work for my female Hod character. Ziv means shining or radiant, so I prefer it as a stand in for Splendour, but it does break up the symmetry between the two names, even though they would both be Hebrew.

Kleio and Andronikos - one option is to go Greek. Kleio (or Cleo) is the Muse of history and heroic poetry, whose name means glory, a reasonable translation of Hod. Andronikos would indicate 'victory of a man', from andros = man and nike = victory. Other variants would include Nikandros, Nikaphoros and so on. I like the idea of including andros, as the sephirot are often interpreted to be a human figure called 'Ish', a man, but I'm not sure what Greek names would indicate about these characters' backgrounds.

Roshan and Jaya - another intriguing option is to make Hod and Netzach come from the Indian subcontinent, which has a fascinating history of Jewish tradition. Roshan means light or bright, which is a reasonable approximation to some concepts of Hod, while Jaya (or Jayanta) means victory. I quite like the idea this opens up, but I'm not sure I know enough about the Indian community and culture to do it justice.

Gevurah/Strength (Li)

I always wanted Gevurah to be Asian-American, for some reason, and I liked the idea of calling Li, which in Chinese can indicate strength or power (though apparently usually only in the masculine) and which in Hebrew indicates "to me" or "mine". But it felt a bit too short to me memorable, so I'm considering doubling her name:

Li-Wei - Wei can also indicate strength and power.

Zheng-Li - Zheng means 'just or proper', which seems intriguing as a concept to go with Gevurah, also called Din / Justice. I currently think I prefer this option, but I could be persuaded otherwise.

Chessed/Compassion (Rahko)
Rahko is another name that just fails to be memorable, and which I can't remember how I got to it. Other options that I've come to include:

Armo - Finnish for grace or mercy, an accurate translation of Chessed and from a part of the world that I imagined Chessed to come from.

Esmé - English/Dutch coming from the word 'loved' in old French. Again, very appropriate for Chessed and its European origins works nicely for me.

Áki - an ancient Scandinavian name that means 'father' or 'ancestor', that would be parallel to Abraham, meaning father of many, who is the primary manifestation of Chessed in the Bible.

Before I make any choices, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Any names you preferred? Should I keep them as is?