Tabaxi are a race of cat people from Volo’s Guide to Monsters. As Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition’s feline people, they’re exactly as curious and sneaky as you’d might think. While the majority dwell in Maztica, there isn’t a Tabaxi that doesn’t wish to travel the world in their youth. They normally return to their home within a few years, but how does this home affect a Tabaxi’s nomenclature? If you wish to know, keep reading our Tabaxi Names Guide!
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Tabaxi Names 5E Guide
Tabaxi names are harmonious with their clan and astrology, showing their complex (but a bit cliche) roots from their homeland. These are perhaps the names that shouldn’t be put in a name generator; Tabaxi are both extremely fun to name, and have names that are extremely in-sync with their character. By randomly selecting a name, you’ve basically randomly selected a Tabaxi!
How Do I Name a Tabaxi Character?
The Cat Lord, god of Tabaxi, is said to give curiosity to Tabaxi itching to leave their homeland. With such a gift, these Tabaxi become storytellers for their people, gathering news and history so their tight clans can be informed. Knowledge is, therefore, crucial for these wanderers, and they might trade large sums of money for important information. These are creatures driven by interest and thought, rather than material wealth.
That cannot be said for magical items, since those tend to have histories, power, and even personality. Those are material possessions that Tabaxi are interested in, and where most stories of Tabaxi thieves come from.
Their search for knowledge comes at a small cost; Tabaxi are almost always changing their target. Their motivation can slip on a dime, as they learn new things or hear about something else. Thievery might simply be a path to new knowledge for these creatures, and thus the concept of theft is one foreign to most Tabaxi. That doesn’t mean all Tabaxi are thieves; they just don’t understand why an owner would hide such a historical item from them.
This also shouldn’t mean all Tabaxi are the same. Perhaps a Tabaxi leaves their tribe because evil whims corrupted their intrinsic curiosity. Or, a Tabaxi understands thievery but relishes in gambling or gifts for friends.
What are Tabaxi Babies Called?
The tabaxi affectionately refer to their young as kittens. Like most humanoids, the parents of a young tabaxi choose their name at birth. That name will generally follow the naming conventions described in this post.
See Also: Orc Names Guide
Examples of Tabaxi Names
A Tabaxi’s name is long and careful, crafted intentionally by a clan looking at star signs, prophecies, and anything else. Since this is your Tabaxi, the clan prophecy might center around your character, or something else entirely. Perhaps “River Through The Mountains” means you’re going to carve a nation in half. Or “Doubtful Shadow” means your brother will become the hero of the land, rather than you. These names are shortened to a one-word synopsis of the most important aspect of your name.
Your last name is always that of your clan. Normally, this is based on a simple geographical factor near your clan. Therefore, multiple clans could be named after the same cliff.
Tabaxi Names
- Cloud on the Mountaintop (Cloud)
- Five Timber (Timber)
- Jade Shoe (Jade)
- Left-Handed Hummingbird (Bird)
- Seven Thundercloud (Thunder)
- Skirt of Snakes (Snake)
- Smoking Mirror (Smoke)
- Curious Spirit (Spirit)
Tabaxi Clan Names
- Bright Cliffs
- Distant Rain
- Mountain Tree
- Rumbling River
- Snoring Mountain
- Aurora Sunrise
- Shuddering Forest
And that’s it for our Tabaxi Guide! Say, if you’re making a tabaxi, you might want to make them a Rogue or some type of Fighter. And you might also want to check out our guide for starting gold, especially if you’re making a high-level character.
Just made a Tabaxi Rogue named Doubtful Spirit and he goes by Spir (pronounced speir). His brother was the hero of the land until he became the death of them all. The rest of Spir’s clan thought of him as an outcast and feared him because of his multiple accounts of murder, when those killings were to save his brother from a gang, who was named Golden Flower and was destined to save them. They eventually decided to throw Spir out after he committed yet another crime to help his brother. It was a pickpocketing to get him 5 gold pieces to buy a snack. Spir never told him where he got the money, but he gave it to him anyway because Spir was seen as the inferior child. Spir decided to get revenge on everyone who had wronged him by sneaking to where the leader of the clan was who outcasted him and slit his throat with a dagger in his sleep. The same night he killed his brother and everyone else close to him that treated him as inferior to his older brother. After that he ran like the wind and never got caught again. His backstory made him think nobody would ever be on his side, making him become evil. Now he will steal or kill for fun because nobody cared about him unless he did something bad.