That would make sense for battle-earned warrior titles & other nicknames (your broker might gain the moniker of "the Canny Bargain", for example), but not for a dwarf's actual given last name. Now, bastards without a real name might make enough of a reputation to gain a nickname, and then take that as their surname . . . but bastards are impossible in DF. Maybe orphaned children who have no adult siblings could(/should?) be put through this kind of identity crisis.
Mind you, "earning" one's name would definitely be a step up from the current Random McRandomrandom, but I feel a better system would be Urist Vucarlikot, where "Urist" is some object or trait that is liked/respected by at least 1 parent, "Vucar" is the 1st name of the older parent, and "Likot" is the first name of the younger parent. This would give all siblings a shared family name with direct ties to their parents. On the other hand, this family name is only good for 1 generation, whereas in other dwarf fiction, dwarves are well-known to take great pride in their multi-generational clan names. But that wouldn't really work in the gender-neutral world of DF, because how does the game decide which parent's clan will absorb the new family? Is it the most populous clan? Or the richest clan (which would have to wait until the economy kicks in)? Or the most prestigious clan (whatever sort of calculations that would require)? Either way, after several generations, you're likely to have almost the entire fort consider themselves members of the same clan, rendering the entire clanship issue almost irrelevant.
On the other hand, I do agree with dwarves having some control over their own and each other's names, particularly if the player is given some input as well. What If: Individual dwarves may petition for a name change, with the player able to [A]gree to the new name, [D]eny the request, or say [N]ot this time, but try again later. Dwarves will try to pick names related to their profession(s), achievements, and/or personal interests. Each petition must be accompanied by the signatures of other dwarves who like the new name: 7 signatures to change a dwarf's last name, 5 signatures for a first or nickname.
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Topic: Naming conventions (Read 526 times)