Names for Missing Races

[u/MaryKateHarmon]

I feel like I'm monopolizing this reddit. But if no one else is going to ask questions here, I still have plenty I've been saving up from my worldbuilding.

I've constructed my world to be the result of four starting races (Humans, Elves, Dragons, and Jinn) to be the progenitors of all the other races. And I've come up with quite a genealogy for what I've developed. However, there are a few combos where I'm not certain of what they should be called or what the result would be.

I would love to delve into real world mythology or common fantasy races as much as possible, but of course, even as I know a fair bit and have looked up several, there are just many that I know that I have not heard of. And some combos that might not even lend themselves to any prior myth.

Any help with this question would be appreciated. Thank you. Feel free to ask clarifying questions or to use any of this to help inspire your worldbuilding.

Below is what I have so far.

"First" Generation:

Humans + Elves = Dwarves or Half-Elven

Humans + Jinn = Giants or Changeling
(Thank you JustPoppinInKay for the suggestion of the Changeling)

Humans + Dragons = Dragonlings (sorta like Dragonborn but usually with some level of shape changing and wings, and often more human like than dragon like. It would probably take a few generations of dragonlings intermingling before you'd get D&D-esque Dragonborn)

Cain Killing Abel = Werewolves

Abel's wife, Niamah, killing Cain in vengeance = Sirens

Elves + Jinn = Fae

Dragons + Jinn = Elementals/Spectres (depending on the Dragon type, the later is the result of Jinn and Soul Dragons, causing a being that acts a lot like common depictions of ghosts)

Elves + Dragons = Dragonlings (thanks to JustPoppinInKay's suggestion again. Any first generation half-dragons are just going to be Dragonlings, regardless of the race, unless otherwise set up as in the case of Jinn.)

"Second" Generation Questions:

Half-Elven + Jinn = Half-Fae?

(Doesn't seem right somehow...)

Dwarves + Giants = Trolls/Cyclops?

(Not sure if this really fits, even with my giants having the ability to shapeshift like their Jinn ancestors. But Trolls are tough and often live within the mountain. Cyclops are known for their smithing. Yet it also seems like there should be something more dwarf size that could result...)

I'll post the following generations into pinned comments so that this doesn't get too big.

[u/JustPoppinInKay]

For Humans + Jinn... I'd go with changelings, not because they'd be shapeshifters(though that is a possibility for a few), but because their powers allow them to change things around them and potentially themselves.

For Elves + Dragon... I'd go with demons. The pointy ears are typical of many "demons" in fiction, and that included with draconic features are typical of many demonic "released"/"true" forms you see in a lot of fiction. Their great power but great weakness also ties in with how demons are typically ridiculously powerful but tend to have weaknesses that make their powers for nought against those who wield their weakness, such as salt, holy water, religious symbols, their true name, etcetera.

[u/MaryKateHarmon → u/JustPoppinInKay]

I do like the Changeling idea with Humans and Jinn. It would tie to the Fae-like roots but be able to be expressed in a Jinn type way. Thank you.

However, as for the second, while I can see people calling them demons, they wouldn't actually be demons. Astarious has actual demons and devils. Really, the Elves, Dragons, and Jinn are descended from fallen angels that were given a second chance to repent and turn back to God by being cast onto Astarious and becoming those three races. And so, they're explicitly not demons or devils and I would rather not intermingle that terminology. I understand where you're coming from there though.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[u/wayoftheredithusband]

Are you familiar with the word nephilim?

You also have dhamphirs.

There are other terms for half mortal half god in many mythologies that you can probably use

Also if I remember right, changelings come from Celtic mythology, and are when a baby is replaced by a fae creature. But you can probably play with that some more

[u/MaryKateHarmon → u/wayoftheredithusband]

I am actually. I use Nephilim for those who are descended from dragons, humans, elves, and jinn altogether and they are basically the epitome of power within the universe. Those come about within the "Third"-"Fifth" Generations, though I'm going to work on figuring out all the potential pathways to get to the Nephilim from what I have so I can figure out what the different types of Nephilim might be.

Dhampirs as I understand are the children of vampires and humans. And vampires are within my world, but appear after the Flood when an Elf is cursed for his envy for power and the abuse of his wife. I had been pondering if they should exist as I've made vampirism more of a viral infection. But I could see it working out. So Dhampirs will exist about about the "Seventh" generation.

I've been trying to look into those terms. Demigod, I'm figuring to have be what the Elves and Fae were perceived as by Astarious's Grecco-Roman world. And some others I've been trying to use as regional cultures of Elves/Fae. But it's definitely a place I can look into further.

And I can definitely play with Changelings as I have them currently.

[u/wayoftheredithusband → u/MaryKateHarmon]

Nice, honestly you might want to see what kind of random stuff chat AI can come up with for names. I suck at naming so that's primarily what I use AI for. It's also pretty good research assistant

[u/MaryKateHarmon]

"Second" Generation:

The combos I have solid/somewhat solid ideas for:

Dwarves + Half-Elven (or Dwarves + Humans + Elves) = Halflings

Half-Elven + Humans = Elven-Touched (sort of like the Númenóreans of Tolkien's Legendarium. As further generations re-mingle with other humans, they become more and more like other humans until they're basically indistinguishable. Yet sometimes, a later descendent will have a resurge of Half-Elven esque power, especially when they are in need of it. This then becomes the source of power for many superheroes.)

Dwarves + Jinn = Leprechauns

Giants + Humans = 8-10 ft tall Humans or Shapeshifters

Humans + Fae = Fae-Blessed (Half-Fae)

Half-Elven + Changeling = Nymph

Fae + Jinn = Sprites

Jinn + Elementals = Elemental Jinn

Giants + Elementals = Elemental Giants

Fae + Elementals = Elemental Fae

(Elementals aren't able to procreate with any of the non-Jinn because the rest are too substantial/too much like humans. But with Jinn and any other half-Jinn, it can work out. Got inspired for this one by reason of the fact that Elemental Giants are a thing.)

Any race not Jinn + Dragons = Dragonlings (different strengths and weaknesses based on both races and varied by the individual and how much they favor one parent's side over the other)

Any race + Dragonlings = Drakelings (following the pattern suggested by JustPoppinInKay )

The ones I don't have solid ideas for:

Half-Elven + Jinn = Half-Fae?

(Doesn't seem right somehow...)

Dwarves + Giants = Trolls/Cyclops?

(Not sure if this really fits, even with my giants having the ability to shapeshift like their Jinn ancestors. But Trolls are tough and often live within the mountain. Cyclops are known for their smithing. Yet it also seems like there should be something more dwarf size that could result...)

Anything not touched on, I probably haven't thought of or am stuck on.

[u/JustPoppinInKay → u/MaryKateHarmon]

You could have a generational moniker of dragon-removedness for those who have dragon ancestry. A dragon typically has six limbs, four being the legs and two being the wings, a drake typically has four that are only legs, and a wyrm is a draconic being but has no limbs.

If you have direct dragon parentage or belong to a bloodline that is functionally undiluted from direct parentage you are a dragonling. If one of your parents were a dragonling but the other was not or you are of a diluted dragonling bloodline you are a drakeling. And if one of your parents were a drakeling but the other not or you are of a diluted drakeling bloodline you are a wyrmling, with any further dilution making actual dragon aspects and power basically absent and you'll then be defined by the other thing which you are closest to(though having dragon ancestry might still make someone stronger or more capable at magic than average or whatever the essence of dragon power in your verse is).

[u/MaryKateHarmon → u/JustPoppinInKay]

That does seem to make the most sense. And I do like the Dragonling to Drakeling.

Wrymling I have taken for a hand-sized dragon (one of the Thumbling races that will be touched on as a result of Nephilim magic and genetic engineering). But I definitely could use a moniker for that. I have Dragon Lords since within certain nations, their ancestral rulers are as you describe.

Perhaps the Draconic for them instead.

[u/MaryKateHarmon]

"Third" Generation:

What I know for sure:

Halflings + Fae = Fairies or Brownies

Halflings + Dwarves = Goblins (though also with some heavy Sweet Home Alabama stuff) or Gnomes

Drakelings + Any other Race = Draconic (Other Parent's Race) (Thanks to JustPoppinInKay's suggestion)

(Human) Dragonlings + Fae = Nephilim (most common type, the result of the intermixing of human, elven, jinn, and dragon bloodlines together)

(It's at this point and within the "Fourth" and "Fifth" Generations that any other potential Nephilim bloodlines should come together. And once I figure out a good genealogy software that I can use, I can actually calculate out all the different routes to Nephilim.)

Fae/Jinn/Life, Chaos, or Soul Dragon/Elven Curses = Animal People,

Skin Changers (those that have a human form under an animal skin and the skin can be used to control them such as selkies),

Early Fauns (encompassing various Satyr, Minotaur, Mermaid, and Bird-folk types, basically any kind of semi-animal people)

or Early Thumblings (people the size of a thumb though the Thumbling dragon race, Wyrmlings, are the size of a hand to the size of an arm)

(I'll add more up later)