Female Halfling Virtue Names

The idea of halfling virtue names in gaming has been buzzing around in my head for a few months. Those who've gamed with me in the past are familiar with my preference for using virtue names for my human characters, in part because every journey, especially for those terribly religious characters like paladins, resembles the subtext in so many Greek Dramas-the real meaning of one's name.

The last one I named with a virtue name was sort of a joke... When going over my out-of-use characters, I found a preponderance of Doctor Who related names, Zoe, Jamie, Tegan and a Rose. Now, these were actually unrelated to Doctor Who on my part (indeed, my Tegan is a Teagan, given the patronymic of Teague the Harper, the NPC bard who was her dad) and my Rose was last played in 1995 or so, but since I've been watching Who from the beginning this past year it became a joke that all my characters shall names relating to Doctor Who, even if the writers of Doctor Who will have to write in my characters AFTER they go to the dead pile... Anyways, so when making a character who was deeply religious (albeit not in a Paladin way!) it was inevitable that she'd be Verity...

Virtue names for human characters are pretty easy, especially for female characters, because in most cultures in our history males are often named for heros or famous figures (in English, for example, Biblical names like James and Simon, and historic names like Alexander and Julian) and females are often named either after their fathers or after virtues, generally the virtues that make them a good wife. That's why virtue names often seem old fashioned to us: Hope and Faith aren't that out there, but Patience, Chastity and Fidelity sound like some women out of The Crucible.

If we look at Tolkien's names for Hobbits, most of them lovingly included on this list, you'll find that most of the masculine names are nonsense in English, but that there are a great many female names that have simple meanings in English: Flowers, Plants and objects of value.

So what if these are virtue names after all? What if we assume the halfling tongue to be symbolic, so symbolic, in fact, that few Bigguns speak it because they don't share the entire mythic history of halfling kind and don't know what they 'really mean'? [scroll way down for Table]

Name*:	Real World Meaning/Derivation:	Halfling Virtue:
Amaranth	A category of plants, some weeds with many uses	Adaptability
Angelica	Group of plants used in medicine & flavoring	Flavorfulness**
Asphodel	Plants, let's assume the British Bog Asphodel	Hard to Kill
Belladonna	Plants, poisonous, useful as anesthetic...	Pretty & Deadly
Berylla	From Beryl, a gem w/many colors, Mohs 8	Changeable & Strong
Camellia	Camilla, Genus of plants that includes Tea	Vital for EVERYTHING
Daisy	Flowers that close at night and open in day	Dependable
Diamond	Hardest gemstone	Hardy.
Lily	Perennial flowers that grow from bulbs	Always Returning
Lobelia	Plants that induce vomiting.	Remover of Poisons
Malva	Edible Plants w/weedlike growth	Comforter
Marigold	Plant that has insecticide properties	Wyrm (Dragon)Slayer
Mentha	The Mints, impossible to kill in the garden	immortal
Mimosa	A variety of plants including plants that react to touch	Speedy
Myrtle	Hard to kill plant used in making liquors	Giver of Health
Peony	Flowering Shrub, often up to 5-6ft tall	Tall
Poppy	Flowers, source of opium	Ender of Pain
Rosa/Rose	The Rose family, brambles	Sneaky and protective
Rowan	Tree with astringent berries	Preserver

oh, and this name generator is the best: http://www.slacknhash.net/halfling_name_generator.php
*From Tolkien
**Might be one of the most important Halfling Virtues of all!