I love finding out the meaning behind names of people and places. As I researched names for “The Portal’s Choice” I discovered that there are websites that allow you to search the meaning of names, ones that tell you what the numerology behind your name says about you, and others that interpret your personality and how you handle situations in life based on your name. I spent time on many websites and in books about old English to determine what to name my characters and the different places that populate their world. 

The first name I had to decide on was the name for my protagonist. I wanted her to be courageous but I also knew she’d face obstacles and doubt herself throughout the story. I liked the look of the name “Tallis” and I liked the meanings that I found. “Tallis” means “truth” and “noble.” It also means “forest” or “woodland” in French. My character, Tallis, must learn to follow her truth and I believe she acts in a noble fashion in difficult situations. Sometimes, however, her understanding is obscured for a time, as if she was lost in a forest. The name works well for this character. 

Another important character that you will meet in “The Portal’s Choice” is Porteur. Porteur is the head gatekeeper for the spirit realm, and soon you will understand what that means. In French, the name Porteur means “gatekeeper”. That name choice was easy. 

Finally, I will fill you in a bit about one of the places in the spirit realm where souls usually go immediately after death. I named this level or spot on the spirit side “Bancofa”.  “Bancofa” is an old English word that means “body” and in the spirit level called “Bancofa”, souls exist in a human form with a body. 

In later posts I‘ll explain more about the name origins of the places and people that populate the world of “The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean” and “The Portal’s Choice.”