double the question double the head acke

[Nickeris86]

Ok I have two questions for you all.

First is another question on names. Does the name Nathanial sound like a name that would be given to the nephew/son (he's adopted because his mother died in childbirth) of a well off but very rural tavern owner. See my issue is I really like the name and had planned on having people call him Nat in his village, but for some reason it just doesn't seem to fit with a Medieval sword and sorcery novel. Any suggestions?

The other question i have is also a name question sort of. One of the magics that I am using is similar to Alchemy in Full Metal Alchemist without transmutation circles for the most part. What I mean by this is that mages who practice this magic can manipulate matter that already excites into different shapes or take the raw materials of something and make it into the finished product, (taking a lump of raw iron and turning it into a sword blade of equal mass.) I was going to call these types of mages C rafters, mainly because this type of magic is very popular among artisans and that its used to build and shape things. however because of the Codex books I feel that I can't use this name but I can't think of something else to call it that would immediately conjure up the idea of building.

[Lanodantheon]

1. Nathanial's a Biblical name. Old as the hills. As long as it fits with the aesthetic of your world, you're fine. If the average person has that same kind of name, it won't stick out. If every other female is named Aerith, you might have a problem.
 
2.  Calling them Crafters won't upset anyone  since Craft is a word in common usage. If you refer to the Magic as "The Craft"  no one's going to question it. For Centuries, Magic has been called "Witchcraft" and simply, "The Craft." A Crafter is one who crafts. Logical.

If you called it Furycraft, people are going to have trouble since Fury Craft is unique to Alera.

You may make it more distinctive by calling it Magecraft or something of the like (Open your local thesaurus or root words list).

[library lasciel]

You could also go with the "insert name of object or material being worked with" convention, and that can help distract away from using "Craft" or "Crafter" as a singular name/concept.  This also pulls it further away from 80's movies and stereotypical representations of witches.

So for examples -
A Tinsmith is a nonmagical person who repairs/builds things with tin.
A Tincrafter is a magical person who does the same.

A Woodsmith is a mundane carpenter
A Woodcrafter could maybe do the same things, but probably focuses on intricate decorations or ornaments because the magic is more "elite"

You're broke (or maybe the kingdom has magical sumptuary laws restricting what magical items people can own) so you go to a swordsmith.
You're the heir of a duchy and this is your first "real" sword, so your father the Duke has commissioned a swordcrafter for the work.

[Nickeris86]

Not sure I made this clear but crafting is not the only type of magic in my world though it is one of the most common and one of the essayist to learn.

@Library Lasciel: I had intended on doing that when referring to crafters that were masters of a certain type of crafting, which in essence is part of the problem i face. I don't want a fellow JB fan to flame me when I call someone in my book a earthcrafter, or a woodcrafter, because they are the same terms used by JB in Codex.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

First is another question on names. Does the name Nathanial sound like a name that would be given to the nephew/son (he's adopted because his mother died in childbirth) of a well off but very rural tavern owner. See my issue is I really like the name and had planned on having people call him Nat in his village, but for some reason it just doesn't seem to fit with a Medieval sword and sorcery novel. Any suggestions?feel that I can't use this name but I can't think of something else to call it that would immediately conjure up the idea of building.

Build the world to fit the name you want.  If you come up with twenty other names in the village that sound like they belong with a Nathaniel, it will be convincing.

[Lanodantheon]

I had intended on doing that when referring to crafters that were masters of a certain type of crafting, which in essence is part of the problem i face. I don't want a fellow JB fan to flame me when I call someone in my book a earthcrafter, or a woodcrafter, because they are the same terms used by JB in Codex.

Again, use roots of words. Roots of words are more forgiving than just the word in the base language. It might take some practice to find the correct one to use though.

Greek and Latin would be the easiest, since English inherits alot from those languages. This would also allow the average Enligsh-speaking reader to pick up on what the person does almost instantly. 

Going off that, Firecraft could be Pyrocraft or Ignicraft. Though Ignicraft sounds funny.

You might experiment with roots from other languages or make up new roots to stand in for fire, wood or whatever.

Another option would be to put yourself into the shoes of someone who lives in your would. What do they call it?

A Pyrocrafter could be called a Fireman.

But, I have a personal interest in Slang so that suggestion's biased.

[Aludra]

If you need an intermediary term:
tinsmith - mundane
tinworker - intermediate crafter
tincrafter - expert crafter

Also, using woodcrafter isn't bad since there's a real thing called woodcraft which is your aptitude in the woods. 

Judging by your description of the magic system you could also use
"X-chemsit"  -- this one workd better for more basic elements "Wood-chemist, Tin-chemist" it falls apart a little at "Sword-chemist"  But I really like it because "All-chemist" get it?

"X-shaper" -- this one works with everything
"X-synthing" -- I think this one sounds a little cyberpunk, but could do.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Again, use roots of words. Roots of words are more forgiving than just the word in the base language. It might take some practice to find the correct one to use though.

Greek and Latin would be the easiest, since English inherits alot from those languages. This would also allow the average Enligsh-speaking reader to pick up on what the person does almost instantly. 

Unless the reader is like me, in which case they will want to know how Latin and Greek got into this fantasy world in the first place.

[Snowleopard]

Check on alternative meanings for the word - craft.  I forget - are those synonims or antonims? (Please pardon the spelling - am very tired.) 

[comprex]

A Pyrocrafter could be called a Fireman.

But, I have a personal interest in Slang so that suggestion's biased.

Or you could look into the process a bit more and come up with things like "Sootshaper" (since, of course, the visible parts of any fire are from soot glowing).

[Snowleopard]

There's an old word - Mavin - which means master I believe.
Could use that instead of craft or crafter.
FireMavin - WaterMavin.  Or just shorten it to Mav.  Once you've indicated
where Mav comes from (Mavin).

[Nickeris86]

There's an old word - Mavin - which means master I believe.
Could use that instead of craft or crafter.
FireMavin - WaterMavin.  Or just shorten it to Mav.  Once you've indicated
where Mav comes from (Mavin).

Hmm I like that one, not necessarily for crafters but to replace Mage.

[Snowleopard]

You're welcome to it, Nickeris86.

I enjoy working with words and trying to  find the right word for the
job.

[Nickeris86]

I like to do that as well, but names always giving me trouble. I don't know what it is about them but I cannot ever seem to come up with a name that I like right away, especially when I am making cool sounding names for magic, spells or characters that aren't modern sounding.

[Snowleopard]

Sometimes they occur easily to me - other times I have to work for them.
I think in writing just as in life - somethings you're immediately good at - others take a little more work.
Often times with a name I'll have an impression of what I want it to sound like and then try to find
a name or a word that fits that.
Baby name books or sites are great for finding names that mean something - even if only to you.