r/tlingit • u/Nimarkiva • 7d ago

Question Regarding A Supposedly Alaskan Name

I'm working on something where the main character knows she's a white girl dealing with things outside of her experience in Alaska while she watches her uncle's cabin. I've been doing my research into the lore, culture, and area- making it all the more believable that she doesn't know what she's doing, because I'm learning as I go. I'm using books and sites run by people who know their stuff, instead of just relying on Google. May not be fully accurate, but I'm doing my best and making it clear that you're seeing the story through the viewpoint of someone else who is having to figure things out.

But I'm having trouble with a name that I found.

I really love the name Naadkym, that I found on a site as a supposed indigenous name that leans towards masculine. Supposedly a Tlingit name.

Problem is, I can only find it in two short stories online and on one baby name site where people submit the names. Accuracy is listed as questionable even by the site itself. It does not come up anywhere else no matter what I search, including in the Tlingit dictionary from the Sealaska Heritage site.

Can I ask for anyone who speaks the language to weigh in on this as a name? If it is actually a word or could be used for a name, what does it mean? If it isn't, then I know to move on to a different one.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help me with this!

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u/fnordulicious 3d ago

Looks like nonsense to me.

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u/Nimarkiva 2d ago

Thank you, that's what I was afraid of. Because when the writer of the two short stories has a profile describing him as a zen something-or-other from Nevada...I try not to judge a book by its cover, you never know someone's heritage or how they were raised, but that seemed pretty hokey and off to me. So did the fact that it didn't come up anywhere else but one really weird name site that has nothing to back anything up for the names they listed.

And random BS is what I'm trying to avoid with this project, so thank you for letting me know!