"I was thinking of having a "soft" beginning consonant denote a "non-useful" gendered word, but that means, I think, that Lyuda's parents decided she was a non-useful child."
Was she a firstborn during a patriarchal period? (I can't recall.) Because that would make it make perfect sense. You know how patriarchal societies feel about daughters. /cue eyeroll
How about male names tend to end in consonants, and female in vowels? Rin's nickname would then be entertainingly and ICly somewhat masculine, as well as decidedly not royal.
Another observation I've noted, which may be due to skewed sample data, is that your royalty seem to have longer names than your commoners. That could be an angle to look at and see how/if you want to run with it.
no subject
Was she a firstborn during a patriarchal period? (I can't recall.) Because that would make it make perfect sense. You know how patriarchal societies feel about daughters. /cue eyeroll
How about male names tend to end in consonants, and female in vowels? Rin's nickname would then be entertainingly and ICly somewhat masculine, as well as decidedly not royal.
Another observation I've noted, which may be due to skewed sample data, is that your royalty seem to have longer names than your commoners. That could be an angle to look at and see how/if you want to run with it.