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Baratheon Name


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I have read the wiki entries regarding the origins of House Baratheon and it is a very badass back story. What I don't understand is the origin of the name Baratheon. I understand that the founder of the house was Orys Baratheon, but where did he get the name from? He is described as rumored bastard half-brother of Aegon the Conquerer. This brings up the question: prior to the conquest, what were the naming conventions for bastards among the Targaryens? That brings up the question: what were the naming practices for bastards in back in old Valyria?

I guess it's totally possible that there wasn't any standard practice. I can believe that, but it still makes me wonder: where did the name Baratheon come from?

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Orys Baratheon had black hair, so if Aerion was in fact his father, then his mother could not have been Valyrian. So my first instinct that it could have come from his Valyrian mother is definitely not correct. Maybe he made it up 'cause it sounded cool. Maybe his mother was the kid of a middle class Essosi. Maybe his mother's father was a hedge knight who made it up 'cause it sounded cool. I don't think we have anything to go on in any direction.

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I assume it's Bara Theon, with Theon being a name meaning "godly" both in setting and in real life, and Bara maybe being from the Hebrew "create / be created" having to do with the way he'd taken the last of the storm Queens as bride. When he married her, she became a Baratheon and took the role of the daughter of the Storm God, thus she was made godly? 

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1 hour ago, MinotaurWarrior said:

I assume it's Bara Theon, with Theon being a name meaning "godly" both in setting and in real life, and Bara maybe being from the Hebrew "create / be created" having to do with the way he'd taken the last of the storm Queens as bride. When he married her, she became a Baratheon and took the role of the daughter of the Storm God, thus she was made godly? 

Wow. Excellent. I am totally sold. I had wondered about origin of Baratheon. I am literally taking this as canon until proven otherwise. Super well done

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My thought is it probably came from the nominal father of Orys. Not his biological father if the rumors were true. But the man who was married to his mother. Who might have been a minor underlying with Valyrian origins and an attractive wife. Whose interest it was to pretend his son was legitimate, as not to piss off his master. Perhaps as a consequence of the right of first night.

I was surprised to find out in the WoIaF that he had black hair. I thought that would likely have come from the Durrendon genetics in his children and he would look Valyrian.

2 hours ago, MinotaurWarrior said:

I assume it's Bara Theon, with Theon being a name meaning "godly" both in setting and in real life, and Bara maybe being from the Hebrew "create / be created" having to do with the way he'd taken the last of the storm Queens as bride. When he married her, she became a Baratheon and took the role of the daughter of the Storm God, thus she was made godly? 

But they called themselves Durrandons before the Conquest. So...

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12 hours ago, MinotaurWarrior said:

I assume it's Bara Theon, with Theon being a name meaning "godly" both in setting and in real life, and Bara maybe being from the Hebrew "create / be created" having to do with the way he'd taken the last of the storm Queens as bride. When he married her, she became a Baratheon and took the role of the daughter of the Storm God, thus she was made godly? 

Yeah, the Hebrew-Greek was the first think that came to my mind, but it could easily just be "son of Theon," similar to the Fitz- names used in England and sometimes applied to bastards.

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13 hours ago, YOVMO said:

Wow. Excellent. I am totally sold. I had wondered about origin of Baratheon. I am literally taking this as canon until proven otherwise. Super well done

+1

But in terms of how he got the name as a bastard.... unclear. Very interesting question!

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3 minutes ago, Rumy Stark said:

+1

But in terms of how he got the name as a bastard.... unclear. Very interesting question!

unclear indeed. However if this explaination is right, it could be a name that he just took or created based on the deeds the way Damon Blackfyre takes his name based on the sword rather than Rivers (which he was born with) or Targaryen (which Aegon IV legitimized him with) and his primogeniture took blackfyre after him.

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maybe Orys baratheon actually had valyrian white hear, but the maesters retconned it in their books. It's 300 years later, nobody from this time is still alive.

They might have also retconned the hair color of Rhaenyra's Velarion/Strong sons.

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Maybe Orys made the name up, just like Blackfyre was made up.

But as a half Valyrian who's hanging around lots of Valyrian houses (Targaryen, Velaryon etc), his selfmade house name should be Valyrian too. I feel like back then, those houses were a little more.. "detached" from the normal Westerosi than in Blackfyre times. So he didn't do it in the Common Tongue.

The important question now is: what does the Valyrian word Baratheon mean?

(I wouldn't mind finding out what Targaryen means either)

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