Naming fictional military units?

[Brett Howell]

So I'm having a problem with naming a mercenary army in my sci-fi story. I've had a few ideas, but none of them seem to pop.

Do you guys use a formula to create names for your military units? Or is it more a "best fit for the situation" type?

 

[Ursa major]

Could you be more specific?

Are you searching for equivalents for, say, regiments, brigades, companies and battalions?

 

[Pyan]

What Ursa said.

If you mean names in general:

Most mercenaries I've read about seem to come in companies - sometimes Free Companies or Rangers. A smaller number is often a band.

I've seen them called écorcheurs and condottieri as well, but that tends to be specific to France and Italy respectively.

They also seem to have names relating to colours (eg The White Company), or, very often, the name of the leader, founder or where they originate (eg the Catalan Grand Company)

 

[Xelah]

Also, are you talking proper names, or nicknames?

The Rough Riders were an irregular cavalry brigade that fought in the Spanish-American war at the end of the 19th century. If I'm not entirely mistaken, the UK also had a regiment with the same name around the same time.

Stonewall's brigade was a unit in the confederate army that earned it's nickname after proving unmovable, much like a stone wall.

The "Puking Pigeons" was a derogatory name for the the 101'st airborne during the Vietnam era as none of the other soldiers enjoyed riding in hueys.

 

[Brett Howell]

I'm more concerned with a proper name at the moment - the nickname will hopefully reveal itself to me in time. I'm more leaning towards a name that's based on where they originate and is more along the lines of a Corp - even as large as a Army Group (depending on the size at any given point in history). The story itself it based in the 4000's, with the unit playing a major role, but it was founded during WWII from survivors after the bombing of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

I would have loved to have gone with Rotterdam Terror Corp, which has a real ring to it, but unfortunately it's the name of a Dutch hardcore band and that's partly why I think I'm having trouble with the name now (since nothing I come up with sounds as good).

 

[Sapheron]

Do you really think this band is going to get upset, or likely even realise, that you're using the same name as them in a scifi novel?

 

[Ursa major]

Why not The Rotte Damned?

(The river Rotte - which was, you'll not be surprised to learn, dammed - was the source of the city's name.)



(Or aren't they rotters? Or damned?)

 

[Nik]

Their official name might be something like 'Third Euro Brigade', but they're known as the 'Ragged Rotters' for their condition after the siege of Port Landfall on EpsEri-D, where they held against all odds and expectations, even mounting a most unexpected attack on the rear of the besiegers when those turned to face the relief forces...

Other names to perhaps prompt ideas: Sch**ck Mercenary's (in)famous 'Tagon's Toughs', of course. And, from my Mereland tales, the St.Elmo's Lancers....

 

[Brett Howell]

Thanks for your input guys/gals - it's been much appreciated and helpful

Sapheron: I've been mulling over that question for a while now and I think the safe bet is to not take the chance - I could always contact them and ask their permission (they can only say no right?)

Although thanks to Ursa and Nik my problem may be solved - I love "The Rotte Damned" (with the "Ragged Rotters" being a perfect smaller unit's nickname within the Damned) - thanks for your help

 

[Culhwch]

Not to come across as the resident naysayer, but it would take a lot of convincing for me to believe a unit formed in WWII was still active 2065 years later (if not more, depending when precisely in the 4000s this is set...). How many are even still active today?

 

[Justin_B]

The question of longevity might come down to a few simple things..
Have the group been a functioning military unit over the entire span of time, are new members assigned, sought out and/or join by virtue of geneology ??

As far as naming goes..
Maybe think about how bonds formed through triumph over adversity affect people.
If the naming becomes tradition, perhaps sub-groups and traditions would be defined over time through other sucesses (or even failures).

Personally I like Rotterdam Raiders (though may sound like a football team) - something easily shortened. Could easily see this being used in battle as a call to action, and mottos developed ".. Raiders never quit" etc.

There may be some research on Military tradition that could help you out.

 

[Jay2645]

When I'm naming military units, I pick an arbitrary letter and assign it to them. Sometimes the letter is random, other times it actually has something to do with the Companies.
For example, I have "B" and "N" Companies in what I'm working on at the moment.
"B" Company was a random letter.
"N" Company, meanwhile, is the Company which receives all the rejects from the other divisions. Since this particular story is aimed at the geekier crowd, the "N" is speculated by different characters in the story to stand for "Noob". It does, of course, that's why I chose that particular letter, but it's never confirmed nor denied in the actual story.

That may be a bad example, but basically what I do is just either try to sum up the members of my Company in one letter ("N" Company), or choose a letter at random.
I'm not quite sure if that's what you're looking for or if you need something catchier, but that's my formula for naming units.

 

[Vladd67]

Not to come across as the resident naysayer, but it would take a lot of convincing for me to believe a unit formed in WWII was still active 2065 years later (if not more, depending when precisely in the 4000s this is set...). How many are even still active today?

Especially when you have a government like ours that seems to take pleasure in disbanding regiments and squadrons with long and proud histories.

 

[Brett Howell]

Not to come across as the resident naysayer, but it would take a lot of convincing for me to believe a unit formed in WWII was still active 2065 years later (if not more, depending when precisely in the 4000s this is set...). How many are even still active today?

I realize that the actual chances for a military unit (especially a mercenary one) would survive thousands of years, but it's not to say it couldn't happen in the realms of fantasy. It will definitely be something I keep strongly in mind when I'm working on the unit history.
I'd already thought to the recruitment aspect (accepting new members throughout the years, to a point where there is a half/half new recruitment/genealogy aspect to keep the unit alive. And being mercenary means as long as they have paying jobs and recruits, there's no reason they couldn't stick around (though I'll grant you that's simplifying quite a bit and thousands of years is stretching it a bit)

Thanks guys, your comments have given me a lot to think about in designing the history, and the things I'll need to explain (and thanks for the naming help as well of course )

 

[pom]

I think ceremonial units will survive ie: swiss guard at the vatican, but then again so long as the country survives in the current format then I can see the US maintaining its marine corp for as long as it's around. other then that I would tend to agree with most people above

 

[Peter Graham]

Very often, the official name for a unit or regiment is not the same as the name they give themselves.

Longevity may not be such an issue. In the 17th and much of the 18th Century, units in the British Army tended to be named after the person who raised them - "Barrell's regiment" and "Munroe's Regiment" both fought at Culloden in 1746.

In the later 18th Century, most regiments were numbered according to their seniority and place in the Line, which reflected the move in military strategy to the big, set piece battle, which in turn was an acknowledgment of the hopelessness of small-scale musketry. This system of numbering (which usually has a battalion number followed by a regiment number), has partially survived to this day, despite the fact that we no longer use a line system.

However, regiments still continued with their nicknames. Some of these nicknames relate to the area from which the regiment was originally raised - the Gordon Highlanders were originally (as the name suggests) a Highland regiment, although in the Second World War they drew most of their recruits from Glasgow.

Other nicknames remember a particular incident (such as "the Diehards") or perhaps even a feature of the uniform (as in "the Buffs", from where we get the phrase "steady the buffs").

So, I think that provided your fictional unit has a good historical reason to be called the Rotte Damned or whatever, there is no reason why this name should not survive, although I think you will need to ensure that the soldiers themselves know exactly how the name came about. Celebrating the glories of the past whilst skating over the reasons for (and the consequences of) previous conflicts remains an important part of military jingoism.

Regards,

Peter

 

[The Judge]

Erm... if this group was originally a WWII based one formed after the bombing of Rotterdam, surely their name -- official and/or nickname -- would be in Dutch? It should also, I'd have thought, reflect Dutch naming traditions. I'd suggest you did some research on real Resistance groups in the Netherlands and see what they called themselves. (A modern Dutch band may well use an English name, but that's a very different matter.)

As to longevity, the name itself may well be re-used by patriots several hundred years hence, by way of a memorial to their forebears, but the band itself would surely not still be in existence. For one thing, unless you are doing an alternative history from 1945, whom have they been fighting for the last 50 years? Unless they have been militarily active in some way, it would long since have become a drinking club, and such organisations tend to have a limited shelf-life. And as far as I'm aware, mercenaries don't tend to call themselves exotic names -- look around at the 'security' firms nowadays.

 

[Ursa major]

Erm... if this group was originally a WWII based one formed after the bombing of Rotterdam, surely their name -- official and/or nickname -- would be in Dutch? It should also, I'd have thought, reflect Dutch naming traditions. I'd suggest you did some research on real Resistance groups in the Netherlands and see what they called themselves. (A modern Dutch band may well use an English name, but that's a very different matter.)

While you are, of course, correct, it does depend on whose nickname it is (i.e. who bestowed it). The Rotte Damned sounds like a name some smart-arsed English person rolleyes might have given the group; always assuming that there aren't Dutch folk who are au fait with English punning, mentioning no Chrons user-names .

And it also depends on the history of the group: who they might have been working for: who created them, things like that.

As to longevity, the name itself may well be re-used by patriots several hundred years hence, by way of a memorial to their forebears, but the band itself would surely not still be in existence. For one thing, unless you are doing an alternative history from 1945, whom have they been fighting for the last 50 years? Unless they have been militarily active in some way, it would long since have become a drinking club, and such organisations tend to have a limited shelf-life. And as far as I'm aware, mercenaries don't tend to call themselves exotic names -- look around at the 'security' firms nowadays.

This last point might suggest that the name is externally bestowed, in which case the need for an intimate knowledge of Dutch (and its informal naming "conventions") is somewhat lessened.

 

[The Judge]

This last point might suggest that the name is externally bestowed, in which case the need for an intimate knowledge of Dutch (and its informal naming "conventions") is somewhat lessened.

Didn't explain myself very well. What I meant was that modern-day mercenaries, if they are in a group, tend to call themselves security consultants and the like, and take to themselves official and security-type names. They don't, for instance, call themselves 'Dogs of War Ltd' (I know... there's bound to be one!! ) So a group formed at the end of WWII, if it was still in existence now and not just a club for old and/or would-be soldiers, would more than likely have changed its official name to something less redolent of murder and mayhem, even if among its members it retained the old name.

I take your point ref the nickname, Ursa, but did we generally give foreign resistance fighters English nicknames of that kind? I know the SOE was active in the Netherlands (though disastrously so, by all accounts), but again I don't think names of this kind were given were they? In France networks, rather than ad hoc groups, were given formal code names eg 'Prosper'.

I know this is only fantasy so Brett can call them whatever he wants, and if he'd said this had happened at the end of WWIII, then fair enough, any name is up for grabs in any language. It's just when real historical events are being used I get all pedanticky.

 

[Ursa major]

The British are notorious for giving things names: for instance the M4 Medium Tank (catchy name, not):

In the United Kingdom the M4 was given the name Sherman after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, following the British practice of naming their American-built tanks after famous American Civil War generals. Subsequently the British name found its way into common use in the US.

(From M4 Sherman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
​

Similarly, we (the British) called the M3, the (General) Lee.

Just about anything and everything military that the USSR and its allies built was given a NATO codename. (Perhaps this didn't need UK encouragement, but I doubt the Russians called their MiG-23 plane, the Flogger.)

In fact, the world works on names/identifiers; it's just that the public often does not know what they are. The UK is full of C Roads (e.g. C6), although you'd be hard pressed to find these numbers on a map or signpost. Every lonely railway siding (railroad spur) in the US, for instance, has some sort of name; but again, the general public is unaware of them. (Even at the heart of some of the UK's telephone exchanges are processes that were named simply to provide lude error report names, although I doubt this would be admitted in public. And no, I was not responsible for this naming.)