The Dresden Files > DFRPG

True Names

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Korwin:
If an Child got an Name at Birth from his Parents.
The Child gets adopted/raised by another one.
The Child gets an new name.

Whats the True Name of the Child?

I could see arguments for both...

Bosh:
I would say that whatever the child thinks of themself as would count.

Ihadris:
Perhaps its whatever name the child most closely ties to their identity. I beleive Harry mentions this when discussing summoning with true names in the early books- Demons names dont change because they have no sense of self but the subtle intonation on the way a mortal says their own name can change as who they are does.

As a further example (click to show/hide)Harry wrests control of Bob in the final scenes of Dead Beat by reminding him that he named him. Im sure that as a spirit bob had a true name before this- perhaps it was used in the binding that keeps him inside the skull.  Im sure that as a child

Wordmaker:
There does seem to be a lot of importance on the idea of personal identity when it comes to Names. Part of learning something's Name, and having it be of any use, is also knowing how the person/creature themself pronounces it, so I'd say that if someone was born with one name, then adopted and given another, it'd be the name they grew up knowing as theirs that mattered.

I'd say that if a woman got married and took her husband's name, depending on her views of herself and her marriage, that could even cause her Name to change. I'm pretty sure, for example, that Charity's true name would include the Carpenter surname.

Wyrdrune:
and as I remember - in the early books - harry tells us that to speak the own name to a wizard is dangerous.

maybe that only counts for humans as the names of spirits/demons/whatevs can be written down.

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