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Halloween Name Generator
Are you a creature of the night? Do you look hot as hell in black? Does hanging around in a graveyard on Halloween sound like the best time? If so, then it's time to embrace your inner goth and create a new identity with our Halloween name generator!
Regarding Halloween
Halloween is a celebration that's been around in one form or another for hundreds of years. It's largely viewed as originating from the Celtic pagan tradition of Samhain, one of four seasonal festivals that were celebrated throughout the year (the others being Imbolc, Beltaine, and Lughnasadh). Samhain marked the end of harvest and the start of the darkest time of the year, and was also seen as a point where the boundaries between reality and the mystical Otherworld would grow thin, and spirits or fairies would walk the land. (This was also seen as a time when Druids would find it much easier to make accurate predictions about the future.)
Various traditions grew up around this celebration, including the idea of leaving offerings out in tribute to any wandering spirits, but these pagan traditions began to transform thanks to outside influences. Firstly, by the end of the first century A.D., the Romans had conquered or settled a large variety of Celtic-speaking countries, and ended up combining two of their own festivals with the day of Samhain – Feralia, a celebration of the spirits of the dead, and a day to honour the goddess Pomona, who represented fruitful abundance.
These traditions were combined over the four centuries of Roman rule, and were then in 835 when Pope Gregory IV switched the day of the Christian celebration of All Hallows Day to November 1st, the same day as Samhain. As with the previous combined festivals of the Romans, this is often interpreted as a way of quietly merging the two faiths, preserving pagan traditions by folding them into Christian doctrine, and with November 1st now a day to celebrate all Christian saints, whether known and unknown, October 31st became All Hallows Eve. This time of the year had already become when many Germanic and Celtic-speaking peoples celebrated their dead (as the beginning of Winter was often seen as nature starting to 'die', only to rise again in spring), and all these traditions became the foundations of what we know today as Halloween.
During the Middle Ages, All Hallow's Eve and All Hallow's Day had become holy days of obligation, and customs like souling – baking and sharing 'soul cakes' to honour all souls who have been christened – are often interpreted as being the initial seed of what eventually grew into trick-or-treating. Another custom that evolved around this time was the idea of wearing costumes or masks on All Hallow's Eve. This was because it was largely believed that the spirits of the dead walked the Earth until All Hallow's Day; thus Halloween was the sprits' last chance to gain revenge on any enemies, and anyone wearing a costume or mask could disguise their identity and prevent any vengeful spirits from tracking them down.
Halloween traditions evolved again during the English Reformation in the 16th Century, when England broke away from the doctrine of Catholic Church and the Protestant branch of Christianity was created. As a result of this shift, belief in the idea of Purgatory and wandering spirits being largely peaceful turned into the idea that all spirits that walked abroad on Halloween were evil and threatening. Halloween traditions actually ended up losing a lot of their popularity in most of Britain (with the exception of Scotland), with many of the celebratory aspects of the night being co-opted by the newly celebrated Guy Fawkes Night on November the 5th.
However, across the Atlantic in the newly founded colonies of Maryland and New England, it was a very different story, especially once large-scale immigration from Ireland and Scotland began in the 19th Century. While the tradition of Halloween remained largely celebrated in US immigrant communities for much of the 19th Century, the holiday was gradually adopted by mainstream culture, and by the beginning of the 20th Century it was being celebrated across every state by people of all social and religious backgrounds. Halloween became a firm part of American culture, especially its popular culture, and thanks to this it has had a major impact across the world, and will continue to be a strange and eerie holiday that is celebrated and enjoyed for many years to come.
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