Although not universal, conventions in naming developed over the course of Pern's 2000-year history.
History[]
When the original colonists first arrived on Pern, they still followed the age-old Earth tradition of using first and last names. This continued throughout the First Pass, but towards the end of the Pass, some people started the tradition of using just one name. One of the earliest known uses just one name was Peter Tubberman, who changed his name to "Purman" to distance himself from what his father had done.
Another tradition that developed in the First Pass was the portmanteau naming of a child by combining syllables from their parents' (or other family or friends') names. The first known use of this was when Sean Connell and Sorka Hanrahan named one of their sons Ezremil, after Ezra Keroon and Emily Boll, the previous leaders of Pern and their deceased friends.
Conventions[]
Dragons[]
All dragon names ended in the "-th" suffix. Dragons were born knowing their names and communicated their names telepathically to their new bondmates.
Dragon memory didn't allow them to remember many names of other people or places unless they were well liked, so they would describe a person instead. Ruth called Ruatha Hold steward Brand "the thick man". "Harper" was universally Masterharper Robinton or "Weyrwoman" could either be Lessa or any other queen rider.
Dragonriders[]
During the First Pass, the early riders learned that their dragons would slur the names of their riders when talking to each other. The earliest known name with this was Mihall, the son of Sorka and Sean Connell, becoming "M'hall" after impressing bronze Brianth.
Upon discovering this, the riders would deliberately shorten their own names upon impression. This became known as an "honorific", and weyrfolk would give their children names that could be easily shortened, assuming they would eventually become dragonriders themselves. For example, the son of F'lon and Larna was born Fallarnon, eventually changing his name to the honorific "F'lar" when he impressed bronze Mnementh. The only names that were shortened in this way were the male dragonriders; female dragonriders (weyrwomen's) names weren't shortened.
Riders who survived the loss of their dragon were stripped of their honorific and reverted to a more typical naming format. Some went back to their birth names, while others did not necessarily revert to their full original given name. An example would be L'tol, who was born "Lytonal" but became "Lytol" after the death of his brown Larth.
Lord Holder Jaxom of Ruatha Hold did not change his name after Impressing his dragon Ruth, because it was decided that he would remain Lord Holder rather becoming than a full dragonrider.
Holders[]
Although it wasn't as noticeable, holders also often gave their children names with syllables from one or both parents (like a portmanteau). For example, Lord Holder Tolocamp and his wife Pendra named two of their children Campen, who had a syllable from each parent, and Pendora, who had part of her mother's name. Lessa's name contained part of her mother Adessa's name.
Watch-whers[]
Watch-wher names ended in the "-sk" suffix, with few exceptions. Watch-whers named themselves after their handlers, increasing the length based on how strong their bond was; for example, Nuella's first watch-wher was Nuelsk, but her second, a gold, was Nuellask. If a watch-wher was stationed at a major Hold, they named themselves after the hold, for example, Fort Lord Holder Bemin's Forsk. Watch-whers could also change their names if they changed handlers. Nuella's Nuelsk was originally bonded to Kindan and was called Kisk.