Terra

Names for fantasy planets make no sense.

They are, of course, useful conventions for the author, so as to not have to say "this thing I'm working on" every time.

I've not named my world. I don't know who would have come up with that name.

In our own world, the words we use for the ball of dirt we live on come from various civilizations' words for just that - dirt. More importantly, the words I personally use, Earth and sometimes Terra if I'm fancy, come from the ancient cultures that have most created me, a European: Latin (terra) and Germanic (eorðe).

What do other people call the earth? The Chinese word is 地, which also means dirt. The Hebrew word ארץ, which can mean earth or land, is different from the word for dirt, אדמה. The Turkish word toprak apparently has no connection with that of soil.

I don't mean to produce a comprehensive etymology. But I think it sheds light on what these words would be in a fantasy world. Of particular note is the fact that by picking a single name for your con-world, you present yourself as decidedly culture-centric. You've picked a favorite.

If I insist on using the English word "Earth" in a conversation in Mandarin, I am making a very pointed (and offensive) statement about my opinion of the relative importance of each language. Proper names be damned! There are no proper names for Earth.

Nation names are a little bit easier, but not much. England, so called for the Angle peoples, was first called that (sort of) by Bede as "Engla londe." No one really knows where this word came from, but it refers to some aspect of the Angles (or their Germanic region) that someone else noticed. Rarely do you get to pick your own name.

So what on earth am I going to call this thing?