Urist

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The first name Urist is generally accepted in the DF community as the generic dwarven name, and often used as a reference name if someone talks about a dwarf and doesn't have (or want to bother with) an actual name, similar to a Russian and "Ivan".

"Urist" is the dwarven word for "dagger". This is somewhat of a misnomer as dwarves really aren't that sharp.

The origin of the name's popularity seems to be the tale "One Dwarf Against the World," a well-received narrative style account of a hermit fortress played in the 2D version. That dwarf's full name was Urist Borushdumat (Raked-Roughness). Despite that dwarf having been female, the name is used for either gender of generic dwarf.

This first name is almost always linked with a last name with the Gaelic surname prefix "Mc", for instance, "McMiner" or "McUslessNoble". The suffix of the surname is always a description of the dwarf or the dwarf's job, even though this is not a valid form for in-game dwarven names. The "Mc" refers to both the Scottish accents commonly given to dwarves in fantasy films and video games, and the stereotypes of Scots being drunk and violent, stereotypes also associated quite accurately with dwarves.

Examples

• Urist McMiner can't find his pick!
• It's time for Urist McUselessNoble to have an unfortunate accident.
• Urist McStupid dodged into the magma.

Other uses

Urist is also the tongue-in-cheek term for the temperature units used by Toady One and has since been adopted by players. It has also expanded to be a unit of measurement for any dwarven measuring system. For instance, a tongue-in-cheek statement like "the room was 100 square Urists" could mean that the room was 10 by 10 tiles.

In popular culture

• Typing "Urist" into the game Scribblenauts Unlimited creates a dwarf.
• Immigrants in Papers, Please are occasionally named Urist.

Fun facts

• Animals can be named Urist as well.
• Dwarves CANNOT obtain the name Urist McUristurister. Whichever elf wrote that deserves a magma bath.