What’s Your Noble Name?

By: Zoe Samuel
Estimated Completion Time
6 min
What’s Your Noble Name?
Image: DianaHirsch / E+ / Getty Images

About This Quiz

Shakespeare may have been right about roses, but when it comes to names, not all are created equal. Noble names, in particular, speak of power and prestige. Why is this? Are names just names, or do they have some connection to something deeply seated in our culture, something that tells us to straighten up at certain syllables? The answer is that it is complicated.

In England, the oldest existing noble names are usually Norman names, inherited from the leaders of the army of William The Conqueror. In 1066 AD, when William's army conquered England, he and his retinue replaced the existing Anglo-Saxon order of kings and nobles with the Norman one. Kings from before 1066 tend to be called things like Edward the Martyr, so Norman kings could be called Edward I, II, III, etc. Some really old names have Roman antecedents like "Verulam" which comes from the Roman city of Verulamium.

In Japan, on the other hand, the famous samurai Miyamoto Musashi (Miyamoto being a surname) was born Bennosuke to a family with a completely different surname. He wrote with the pen-name Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Genshin, and had the Buddhist name Niten Dōraku. Each of these names meant something different to different audiences, but in his capacity as a samurai, at court he went by "Musashi no Kami," which named him as the protector of the Musashi province (an area that includes parts of several modern provinces).

What noble name belongs to you? That depends on who you are. Take this quiz and find out which noble name is yours!

1 - Duty king queen royal
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What do you see as the duty of the nobility?
To serve our Emperor
To serve our own interests
To serve the people
To crush the goblins and kobolds of the mountains!

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2 - Battle knight
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When the king summons the battle standards, what class of soldier do you muster?
Archers
Infantry
Cavalry
Paladins

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3 - Travel carriage
Thomas Janisch / Moment / GettyImages
How would you like to travel across your ancestral estate?
I would travel on foot, that I might stop to examine every rose, every blade of grass.
I would drive a chariot.
I would climb atop my camel.
I would ride my war horse.

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4 - Quest Ancient Mage Royal
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What quest would you never turn down?
Infiltrating the castle of a pretender to the throne, so I could assassinate him myself
Crushing a neighboring kingdom, bringing them to heel and obliterating their culture!
Repelling the invaders from the distant border of my kingdom!
Saving the Maiden of The Cove from the clutches of the Devil of Hell Mountain!

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5 - Royal Accessory
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What accessory would you use to tell everyone about your noble rank without having to say anything?
My pair of swords would say it all.
I would wear a wreath of olive branches atop my head.
A silken headdress should make everything clear.
My magical amulet would say it all!

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6 - Toast king royal
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A toast, by jove! What vessel shall you use?
A drinking horn
A golden chalice
A copper cup, of course!
I drink water from a clear mountain brook, for my lips shall not touch the demon drink!

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7 - Warrior
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With what would you arm yourself for personal protection?
A halberd
A short sword
An ax
A flaming longsword

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8 - Housing
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You're traveling across the lands. Where do you stay the night?
The castle of my cousin's benefactor. Of course, they're going to make me duel for my supper...
I'll just take the home from some peasant and burn it when I'm through with it.
I will pitch a tent someplace safe, and have my men stand guard the night.
The Prancing Pony, my favorite tavern!

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9 - Average Person
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What term would you use to refer to regular people?
Peasantry
Plebs
Farmers
Villeins

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10 - Token knight
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What token have you given to the maiden in whose name you fight?
A poem I wrote myself
A piece of my armor, leaving me exposed to death!
A silken garter. Yes, I wear garters, sometimes.
The dagger I would otherwise keep hidden, should I be captured by the enemy

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11 - Dynasty
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What would you do to perpetuate your dynasty?
I would act in accordance with karma.
Marry my cousin, who is really wealthy!
I would ensure against military encroachment by my neighbors.
Destroy the vampire who killed my great grandfather!

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12 - Travel around city ancient
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How would you get around a city?
On foot. That way, I am less likely to be surprised.
In a sedan carried by servants
On horseback, to make myself look taller
In disguise as a leper, so I can keep my identity a secret

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13 - Social Class Masquerade ball
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What percentage of your social circle would be people from outside your social class?
None! Pah! Who do you take me for?
I don't mind associating with the occasional entertainer, but I don't make a habit out of it.
Perhaps an eighth or so are not from my social class.
More than half of my social circle are from outside of my class, ever since the great Dragon of The Deep destroyed my family's castle.

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14 - Nobel numbers knighting
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How many nobles occupy the same strata of the aristocracy that you do?
Quite a few, but we don't all serve the same king.
Many
None
Only a handful

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15 - entourage noble battle warrior
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Who would you have in your personal entourage?
My biographer
My mistress
My generals
My squire, so I can be alerted to danger while asleep!

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16 - Kingdom
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What is your kingdom's relationship with its neighbors?
They are glad to be separated from us by a sea.
They all fear our designs for them.
They keep their distance from us.
They stay away for fear of the terrifying demonic dogs that prowl every crossroad in our kingdom.

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17 - Battle Standard
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What symbol would you want on your battle standard?
A flower petal
A lion
A cobra
The symbol of my religious order

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18 - Vice royal
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What expensive vice do you have, being a noble?
Art by master craftsmen
Rare fabrics from exotic lands
Spices from lands I've never seen
Weapons capable of cleaving a troll in twain with a single slash!

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19 - Motto ancient medieval
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What is your family motto?
Always Resolute
My Enemies Know Only Fear
For God And Man
Death To Dragons

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20 - Unique Right knight warrior
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What is the most unique right you have, as a noble in your society?
I can decapitate any peasant who offends me.
I am permitted to own land.
I can have as many spouses as I like!
I can force the dwarves to open the gates to the Rainbow Bridge.

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21 - Family Viking
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Where would you be in the order of your parents' offspring?
Second-born
First-born
Third-born
I was the youngest, but I am the last to survive.

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22 - Dominating Color Masquerade Ball
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What color dominates your wardrobe at court?
White
Purple
Yellow
Red

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23 - Battle Warrior
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How warlike were the times in which you were born and grew up?
Extremely
They were only a little, at least where I grew up.
Not at all warlike
It was after the war was over, and we had lost.

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24 - Royal Pet Falcon
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Of the domestic animals you keep, which do you love the most?
My noble charger
My faithful dog
My beloved falcon
My dragon

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25 - Charity
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What public good do you support?
I support great composers.
I support educational institutions.
I support great performers.
I give money to a charity for the orphans of last year's zombie attacks.

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26 - Nobel sport Archery
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In what noble sport do you excel?
Archery
Racing on horseback
Falconry
Racing demon. Not the card game. Actually racing against a demon.

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27 - Excel at royalty king queen
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In what way do you break from your noble house?
I'm more ambitious than they were.
I don't!
I have accomplished more than them.
I will defeat the evil wizard where they failed!

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28 - battle knight warrior
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What was your role on the battlefield, when you fulfilled your family's obligation to the state?
I led my own unit on the front lines.
I was a part of a phalanx.
I gave orders from the rear.
I transported the wounded from the front line to a field hospital.

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29 - Battle 2 Knight
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What best describes the war in which you fought?
The unification of the land under our great leader
I helped expand the empire.
I established the empire.
I traveled to the underworld to battle with demons. Literal ones.

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30 - Parliment London
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Your queen has invited you to the state opening of Parliament. Bearing in mind no one else will see or know, what do you wear under your robe?
I'd go with just a light, summer kimono.
Nothing. it's the new fashion!
More robes, in case I want to take off the ceremonial robe at some point to show off what I've got underneath!
The holy mail of Pfazderon, capable of withstanding even the poisoned arrows of Candew.

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