The Names of the Great Houses of Westeros, Explored and Explained

House Baratheon and House Targaryen

Finally, there are the two great houses still around at the end of A Dance with Dragons whose names do not originate in Westeros: House Targaryen and House Baratheon. The name “Baratheon” has always confused me. We know it’s a Valyrian name, coming from Orys Baratheon, a rumored Targaryen bastard. But then what do we make of the name “Theon,” as in “Theon Greyjoy the Ironborn eunuch”? We have no evidence that “Theon” is a Valyrian name. We also know that the name “Theon” was known in Westeros before the Conquest and even before the Andal invasion. In our world, θεόν or theón is the accusative of the Ancient Greek word for “god” or “divine.”

In my opinion – if you can properly call it an opinion — it all comes down to personal associations. Both “Baratheon” and “Targaryen” sound Byzantine, which to me means Eastern Roman. While “Baratheon” has a distinctly Greek ring to it, “Targaryen” sounds more Armenian. Many Armenian names end on “-ian” which sounds a lot like the “-yen” in “Targaryen” in English. Armenia was a part of the Roman and later the Eastern Roman Empires for several hundred years and shared a lot of its culture. We can view the Valyrian Empire as an analogue to the Eastern Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, which drew on a magnificent past and enjoyed advancements in technology, knowledge and culture beyond that which most Europeans (Westerosi) enjoyed at the time. Meanwhile, both Empires bordered on more distinctly eastern cultures like the Persians on the one hand and the Ghiscari and Dothraki on the other.