Tieflings receive one name at birth and choose a second the day they decide what they are. The grimoire records both kinds and takes no position on which is truer, though it notes that only one of them was picked by somebody who had met the tiefling in question.
Blood-names carry the old infernal music: sibilants, dark vowels, stress held late like a breath. Akaria, Malzar, Xulos. Their meanings run to cinders, pacts, and debts, the accounting vocabulary of the deep courts. Many tieflings wear these names comfortably, the way one wears an inherited coat: it fits, whoever bought it.
The virtue name is the tiefling invention the other peoples quietly envy. Sorrow. Creed. Excellence. Quiet. A single common word, worn like armor, announcing the one law that tiefling has chosen to live by. It is considered deeply rude to ask whether the name is aspiration or achievement. It is always both.
The elements of the old tongue
Aka- cinder
Bel- tyrant's due
Dam- bound oath
Eke- whisper of doubt
Ira- wrath
Kai- broken chain
Lev- rising smoke
Mal- ill-starred
Nem- debt unpaid
Oro- burnt gold
Sza- serpent-tongue
Val- worth proven
Margin notes
Why do some tieflings have names like 'Sorrow' or 'Creed'?
These are virtue names: a chosen single-word name declaring the concept the tiefling has decided to embody. The custom appears in the 5e lore and has become the culture's signature. Choosing one is a rite; explaining one is optional.
Should my tiefling use their infernal name or a virtue name?
Many use both: the blood-name for family and enemies, the virtue name for the life they are building. A tiefling who gives you the infernal name first is telling you which one they expect you to become.
What do tiefling names sound like?
Infernal blood-names favor sibilants and dark vowels with late stress: Szaeth, Nemara, Zarakas. If it sounds like a held breath or a sealed contract, it is on key.
Last inscribed 2026-08-16
