I need a different name for Gnomes

[Xeviat]

I'm writing up a small primer on my setting for a game that I'll be starting up at the end of this month. Since I'm trying to not disallow anything in the PHBs, I need a different name for Gnomes. In my world, the name "Gnome" is used for earth fey, and the stats for the 4E Gnome (or 3E Gnome for that matter) don't fit for that. But, they do fit for the archetypical small trickster fey, so I would like a different name for them.

At the moment, all that comes to mind are "Brownie", "Leprechaun", and "Sprite". I'm not thrilled with any of those.

Oh, and please keep the suggestions reasonably close to European folk lore.

[Elemental_Elf]

Those 3 are definitely unsuitable.

I know, how about Korrigan? They're small Dwarf like creatures that sing like sirens (aka a Bard!). They do kill humans that fall to their song but D&D warps so much lore anyways...

If that is not to your liking, you could go for an Atomy which is a very small sprite like creature with a very vague lore surrounding it.

Hope that helps!

EDIT: You could also use the name Carbuncle. Its a small creature with a jewel on its forehead.

[Llum]

Nelwyn is always a possibility.

[LordVreeg]

'Jerks' comes to mind.  
'Antipodes' was a name for a kingdom of Dwarfs from an old english romance.
The Norwegian 'Tomte' is one I have used before, as I like the cadence.

[Elemental_Elf]

'Jerks' comes to mind.  

Hehe, Gnome Soda Jerks, hehe!

The Norwegian 'Tomte' is one I have used before, as I like the cadence.

I am not a fan of Tomte. It sounds... Weird.

[Jharviss]

I'm going to temporarily hijack the conversation, unfortunately myself not having anything to add to the renaming ideas.

In the spirit of this thread, I've been considering either renaming of heavily revamping my gnomes.  It's virtually the only normal fantasy race in my world (second to satyrs, and they're rather uncommon), but gnomes are hard to get people excited about.

Thus, I wish to change them.

Korrigan caught my eye, and I was wondering if anybody had any weird connotations with the word?  Small, flashing red eyes, fast, nice hair.  A lot of pictures have them as bald pseudo-goblins.  That might have to be worked around, for my needs.

I'm just curious as to what y'all think - would calling them korrigans but keeping them mostly gnomes be confusing or misleading?

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Certainly not more misleading that the Gorgon of the Monster Manual.

Personally, I've found that a name doesn't make a race interesting; however, you might do a rework on the gnomes and then rename them to prevent them from being confused with standard gnomes.  I remember my personal gnomes were "lake people" who built their homes into steep river banks and lake shores, and had webbed feet and could swim as well as they walked.  People liked those because the gnomishness was masked.

It's just a common fact, unfortunately - people dislike gnomes.  They have no niche.  It's a race of little people - no, not halflings.  These live underground and are earth-related - no, not dwarves...or halflings.  Theire one defining characteristic, which isn't even completely DnD-related, is that they are inventors who inventions tend to explode in random, comical ways.  That's something every party wants to have, right?  So yeah, not the best job on WotC's part.  </rant>

[Gamer Printshop]

Gnomes were never a creature of any folklore. They were actually the personification of the Earth element in Alchemy, just as Sylphs represent Air, Salamander with Fire, and Nereids with Water. When books of alchemy became somewhat public, say the early 18th century, images and descriptions of Gnomes came to common knowledge, and only since then have they become indelibly connected with fey, which they never were before.

[Nomadic]

It's just a common fact, unfortunately - people dislike gnomes.  </rant>

Not always true, I for one love gnomes. As for other people who also like gnomes please see: here.

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Gnomes were never a creature of any folklore. They were actually the personification of the Earth element in Alchemy, just as Sylphs represent Air, Salamander with Fire, and Nereids with Water. When books of alchemy became somewhat public, say the early 18th century, images and descriptions of Gnomes came to common knowledge, and only since then have they become indelibly connected with fey, which they never were before.

Perhaps this is why they are so ill-defined.  Without any extensive body of lore to draw upon, people end up looking at games like Warcraft or old cartoons to figure out just what a gnome is.  We just have this hazy idea of an earth-related midget that smiles too much and annoyes us on Travelocity commercials.

Thanks to norse mythology and JRR Tolkein, we all know what elves, dwarves, halflings, goblins, orcs, and trolls are like.  We know what most other fantasy creatures are like thanks to the large body of common folklore and mythology from which they are drawn.  But gnomes remain a comical mix of crap from other myths.  Perhaps someone should take the time to properly flesh out gnomes the way elves have been.  Then they might be more commonly excepted by the populous as a legitimate fantasy race meant to be taken seriously.

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Gamer Printshop]Gnomes were never a creature of any folklore. They were actually the personification of the Earth element in Alchemy, just as Sylphs represent Air, Salamander with Fire, and Nereids with Water[/blockquote]While that's a good point, wouldn't you say that the alchemical elementals actually resembled folkloric repersentations of fey quite closely, especially once the Rosicrucians get involved a century after Paracelsus invents elementals?  I'm thinking of Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock - admittedly an 18th century poem - and how the air elementals/slyphs are pretty similar to the commonly held vision of fairies (perhaps this is why gnomes and slyphs become connected with fairies more directly later).  That is to say that even if gnomes and slyphs weren't originally concieved of as fey but as elementals, they resembled fey very closely from the beginning, as opposed to the modern conception of elementals (ie anthropomorphic flames, giants made out of earth, etc).

I like dnd gnomes quite a bit.  More than halflings and dwarves, in fact (or most elves).

[Nomadic]

Gnomes were never a creature of any folklore. They were actually the personification of the Earth element in Alchemy, just as Sylphs represent Air, Salamander with Fire, and Nereids with Water. When books of alchemy became somewhat public, say the early 18th century, images and descriptions of Gnomes came to common knowledge, and only since then have they become indelibly connected with fey, which they never were before.

Perhaps this is why they are so ill-defined.  Without any extensive body of lore to draw upon, people end up looking at games like Warcraft or old cartoons to figure out just what a gnome is.  We just have this hazy idea of an earth-related midget that smiles too much and annoyes us on Travelocity commercials.

Thanks to norse mythology and JRR Tolkein, we all know what elves, dwarves, halflings, goblins, orcs, and trolls are like.  We know what most other fantasy creatures are like thanks to the large body of common folklore and mythology from which they are drawn.  But gnomes remain a comical mix of crap from other myths.  Perhaps someone should take the time to properly flesh out gnomes the way elves have been.  Then they might be more commonly excepted by the populous as a legitimate fantasy race meant to be taken seriously.

Well really the point with gnomes is that they aren't supposed to be taken seriously. They are the comic relief, the punchline, a little light-hearted spice thrown into the pot if you will.

[SDragon]

Wikipedia helps, but you need to do quite a bit of searching. Some possible options I've come up with are Duende, Vaettir, Tomte, Kabouter, Mandragora, and Saci.

As GP said, gnomes aren't traditionally mythological creatures. They're more neo-mythical (is that possible?) then anything else. Even if they were mythological, the D&D race they'd probably be closest to would be dwarves. It's not really easy finding counterparts to this sort of thing...

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Well really the point with gnomes is that they aren't supposed to be taken seriously. They are the comic relief, the punchline, a little light-hearted spice thrown into the pot if you will.

But why must we invent an entire race just for a joke?  It's just as funny if the dwarf or halfling accidentally blows himself up.  As they stand, I just don't see where they add much to a setting aside from that hackneyed joke.

[Nomadic]

Well really the point with gnomes is that they aren't supposed to be taken seriously. They are the comic relief, the punchline, a little light-hearted spice thrown into the pot if you will.

But why must we invent an entire race just for a joke?  It's just as funny if the dwarf or halfling accidentally blows himself up.  As they stand, I just don't see where they add much to a setting aside from that hackneyed joke.

And dwarves don't add much to a setting aside from ale, beards, and forges. Likewise elves add little outside nature and mysticism. Gnomes as I see them are light hearted and technically brilliant. The Gnomes I have used in the past were respectful of nature but lovers of technological innovation. They blended the dwarven inventor attitude with the elven natural outlook without becoming something just in between the two. The thing I think that helped them stay away from being the missing link was that light-heartedness. They were carefree, not taking life too seriously. On that note I think that you can't always have a serious and/or dour setting. Sometimes a joke is good, life isn't all grime and filth (and gritty doesn't equal realistic regardless of what some people claim). A Gnome is that anchor to the less serious side, a good way to remind people who take the game too seriously that it is still just a game. They are also great for playing the aspiring creator or the curious explorer. I think in a word for me gnomes are curiosity. That their curiosity often lands them in trouble (usually of the humorous nature) in my opinion adds to them as a group, makes them more real.