Naming
The character idea of Abir revolves around her being a Belah’dian, people from an ancient civilization that worships Azeyma, the Warden. As seen by the Sunken Temple of Qarn, ancient Belah’dia has a resemblance to real-world ancient Egyptian temples. As such, we can assume that Azeyma was heavily inspired by the ancient Egyptian sun goddesses, as her symbol is The Radiant Sun.
From the RPC Wiki1:
- “Wadjet-Bast of Lower Egypt and her counterpart Sekhmet from Upper Egypt. These goddesses were considered protectors, both of the respective regions where they were worshiped and also as attendants to the sun god, Amun-Ra. Both were also considered goddesses of cats, usually depicted with the head of a cat or lioness, making them an ideal figurehead for the Seekers of the Sun Miqo’te clan.”
- “The title of “fan-bearer” (particularly the “right hand” fan-bearer) was an important one whether attending a king or a deity, having the same hieroglyphic meaning as the word “protect.” Azeyma’s fan’s golden color is pervasively symbolic of the color of the sun. ‘Azima’ is an Arabic female name, coming from the word asim meaning ‘protector.’ Since Azeyma goes by the title “The Warden,” it is likely that her name was inspired by this.”
‘Azima’ was chosen as the last name to closely resemble Abir’s guardian deity. As explained in more detail in her backstory, she chooses a last name when registering as a citizen in the city of Ul’dah. As to not deface her goddess, she chooses a different spelling of ‘Azeyma’ to use as her last name. In the design of her name, ‘Azima’ was chosen to be the last name of the character first, and then the decision to use ‘Abir’ as the first name, to match the Arabic theme, came soon after. Similarly, this decision was based on real world surname conventions, where religious references are often seen as commonplace last names such as ‘Christopher’ and ‘Adams’.
‘Abir’ was chosen as the first name for its meaning in the hebrew language, meaning “Protector” or “Shield”.2 This followed the trend explained by the Arabic word for asim, which also means “protector”. Keeping true to the Arabian theme, ‘Abir’ also serves as a feminine name in the Arabic language meaning “Perfume” or “Aroma”.3 Although the Arabian meaning of ‘Abir’ played no role in the design of the character originally, one interpretation of ‘Abir’ can refer to the “aroma of a flower”, which ties back to the character as she is often seen tending to her garden plants (or as she often refers to them as her “Planties”).
The overall theme of Abir comes from the Bengali meaning for the name. As seen in the style of her hair, ‘Abir’ in Bengali means “the reddish color of the sky during dusk”. This ties into the character in two distinct ways. In her overall color palette, see is often seen in dark purple with red highlights, referring back to the meaning of the name to symbolize the sun setting during dusk. Tying into her backstory, Abir has a hidden darkness within her that is unknown to the Belah’dian people during their ancient times. Symbolically, this hidden darkness refers to the sun setting, and the rise of the moon. “For what is night, but the absence of the sun?” Abir is the only Belah’dian who can not only draw power from the sun via Azeyma’s blessing, but the dark powers of the moon as well.
Sources
1 “Lore:The Twelve - RPC Library - FFXIV Roleplayers.” 18 Apr. 2016, https://wiki.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/pages/Lore:The_Twelve#Azeyma.2C_the_Warden. Accessed 23 Sep. 2019.
2 “Abir - Abarim Publications.” 28 Nov. 2014, http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Abir.html. Accessed 23 Sep. 2019.
3 “Abir Name Meaning & Origin - Baby Name Wizard.” http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/girl/abir. Accessed 23 Sep. 2019.