Naming names

They all have a reason or meaning behind them...

Naming characters, I believe is a form a fine art.

Oliver was named Oliver before I ever started writing. I’ve always loved the name… and to me, it’s green (my favorite color). So why would I choose anything else? And I love its short form, Oli.

Aurorius (his middle name)… that one took a little more thought and research. It comes from Latin influence, specifically the word aurum, meaning gold. You also see that root in words like aurora, the golden dawn.

So, when you put it together, his name is quite literally green & gold. (See what I did there?)

His last name, Zalto, I actually made up. His father’s name is Zane, and Zalto just… seemed right for him.

Julian… this is another name I’ve always loved. But even more than that, I love his nickname, Jules. There’s something about it that feels soft, like comfort, friendship, and love all wrapped into one.

Crossfire as a last name came from wanting to weave some of Arrowhead’s history into the people themselves. I liked the idea that certain families carry names that feel older—like houses that reach back to when the land was first settled.

You’ll see that idea echoed in a few minor characters as well.

Sora… Sora, Sora, Sora.

She wasn’t always Sora. Originally, her name was Ibis. Her mother is Egret, and I loved the idea of a quiet family tradition of naming the daughters after birds.

So why did I change it?

I’m a bit of a bird nerd, and somehow, I had never heard of a sora. I stumbled across them while looking up blue birds. They’re a small marsh rail with feathers of soft, stormy shades of blue and brown and cute black masks.

But in my mind, they didn’t stay in some distant wetland. They belonged in the lands of Arrowhead—tucked into the reeds along rivers and quiet ponds, like the one Oliver sits beside when he draws. Easy to miss if you’re not looking. Still. Curious. Unique.

They’re not songbirds like Sora Crossfire… but they feel like her.

Aranyakumara… this mighty, magical, and deeply important beast needed an epic name.

So I researched. And researched. And researched.

I looked for names connected to magic, to white, to deer, anything that felt ancient enough to carry him. Along the way, I came across the deer of Nara, Japan, sacred and freely roaming among temples and ancient grounds. That inspired the name of his kind, the shikanara. It is a blending of shika (deer) and Nara, shaped to fit my world.

But his name came a different way.

I stumbled across the name of a prince raised in the forest, from a Hindu story. The moment I read Aranyakumara, it felt… old. Mystical. Rooted in something deeper than I could fully explain.

And I knew it was his, especially when I learned that Aranya means forest in Sanskrit. Something that felt fitting in more ways than one.

Osa.

This big momma-bear got her name while I was naming the bonded on Oliver’s first day of school. I don’t even know why, but it felt right. Soft. Strong. Steady.

I did second guess myself for a bit. Was it too simple? Too close to oso (Spanish for bear)?

But then I did a little digging and found something I didn’t expect.

In some languages, the Ursa constellations (the Great Bear and the Little Bear) are called Osa.

And suddenly, this soft, comforting name I had chosen carried something more. Something special. Something written into the stars.

That felt especially fitting for Julian’s bonded… and for the role she plays in Oliver’s story.

I loved the tenderness of her name from the start—but I loved it even more once I understood it.

I know this is becoming a bit of a long read, but stay with me just a moment more—because Sylvaúra’s name might be my favorite of all.

She wasn’t always Sylvaúra.

Originally, she was Pearidah. When I first started dreaming up this story, I pulled from my mental catalogue of dragons and names. Saphira from The Inheritance Cycle is aptly named—blue dragon, blue gem. So I followed that same line of thinking. Peridot is a green stone… and somehow that became Pearidah.

Yep. It was the greenest “special” name I could come up with.

But the more I sat with it, the more I realized… it wasn’t her.

So I started again.

Sylvan means something of the forest. You see it scattered through fantasy—The Lord of the Rings, old lore, whispers of woodland things. And that part came easily.

Forest is green. Sylvaúra is a Verdantwing. It fit.

But she isn’t just of the forest.

She is the forest.

Every shade of green lives in her scales—deep canopy shadows, new spring growth, and those fleeting rays of buttery gold sunlight slipping through the leaves.

So I wanted her name to carry more.

I went back to the same Latin root that shaped Oliver’s name—aurum. Gold.

And when it came together… Sylvaúra.

Green and gold.

Not just a reflection of Oliver—but something that completes him, both literally and spiritually.

Of course there are many characters in a book, but these are some of the histories behind a few major characters in Of Green & Gold so far… stayed tuned because book three holds some rather awesome new characters!

Thanks for reading!

-L.J.