You’ve probably grown up thinking of fairies as tiny, glittering women with butterfly wings who live in the bottom of the garden and fix broken toys. That’s the Disney version. It’s cute. But if you look back at the actual folklore of the British Isles, France, or Scandinavia, you’ll realize that calling them "fairies" was actually a bit of a gamble. People were terrified of them. Seriously.
The history of different names for fairies isn't just about linguistics or flowery poetry. It was a survival tactic. In places like Scotland and Ireland, saying the word "fairy" was thought to attract their attention, and usually, that attention resulted in your cows drying up, your bread failing to rise, or your infant being swapped for a wooden log. So, people got creative. They used euphemisms.
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The Gentry and The Good Neighbors
If you were a farmer in 17th-century Galway, you didn't talk about fairies. You talked about The Gentry. It sounds respectful, right? Like you’re talking about the local landowners who might evict you if you don't pay the rent. That was the point. By calling them The Gentry or The Good Neighbors, humans were basically sucking up to a supernatural force that could ruin their lives on a whim.
It’s a linguistic shield.
British folklorist Katharine Briggs, who is basically the GOAT of fairy research, spent decades documenting how these names functioned. In her A Dictionary of Fairies, she notes that the term The People of Peace (or Sith in Scots Gaelic) didn't mean they were peaceful. It meant they lived in a "peace" or a hill. But the double meaning was intentional. If you call someone "peaceful" enough times, maybe they won’t kidnap your wife.
Honestly, the sheer variety of these nicknames is staggering. In Wales, they were the Bendith y Mamau, which translates to "The Mother's Blessing." Again, it’s total flattery. If you were walking home in the dark and felt a cold breeze or heard a faint whistling, you didn't scream "Fairy!" You whispered about the "Blessing."
Why Geography Changes Everything
The name changes depending on where you stand. It’s not a monolith.
In Cornwall, they have Pixies (or Piskies). These aren't your graceful, ethereal beings. Pixies are often described as wrinkled, red-haired, and incredibly annoying. They love "pixy-leading" travelers, which is basically just making you walk in circles in a field you’ve known your whole life until you drop from exhaustion.
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Go further north to the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and you encounter the Trow. These are a darker, more subterranean version of the fairy. They’re shy, they hate the sun, and they have a weird obsession with music.
Then you have the Tuatha Dé Danann in Ireland. These are the "People of the Goddess Danu." They aren't tiny. They aren't "cute." They are fallen gods. They are tall, regal, terrifyingly beautiful, and they live inside the ancient burial mounds (sidhe). This is where we get the word Sídhe (pronounced shee). When you hear about a Banshee, you’re hearing about a Bean Sídhe—a woman of the fairy mounds.
The "Fair Folk" and the Danger of Politeness
The most common collective name you’ll find in old texts is The Fair Folk.
It’s a trap.
In Middle English, "fair" didn't just mean pretty. It meant beautiful in a way that was dangerous. Think of it like a predatory cat. A tiger is beautiful, but you don't want to pet it. The Fair Folk were the same. They were "fair" to look at, but their morality was completely alien to ours. They didn't have a concept of "good" or "evil" in the Christian sense. They had "contracts" and "offenses."
If you broke a fairy hedge or built your house on a "fairy path," no amount of calling them "The Good Neighbors" would save your roof from blowing off.
A Few Oddballs You Might Not Know
- The Grey Neighbors: This was a specific term used in the Northern Isles. It implies a sort of drab, shadowy existence.
- The Wee Folk: Mostly a Scottish and Irish colloquialism. It’s diminutive, almost patronizing, which is risky.
- The Hidden People: (Huldufólk) This is the Icelandic term. Even today, road projects in Iceland are sometimes diverted to avoid disturbing the rocks where the Hidden People live.
- The Strangers: A more ominous term used in parts of Western England.
The Nomenclature of the Seelie and Unseelie
In Scotland, they took categorization a step further. They divided the different names for fairies into two distinct courts: the Seelie and the Unseelie.
The Seelie Court (the "Blessed" Court) were the ones who might actually help you. They’d give you bread or help with chores if you were kind. But "blessed" is a relative term here. They were still prone to taking offense if you stared at them too long.
The Unseelie Court were the ones who didn't need a reason to mess you up. They were the "unblessed." They flew through the night in "The Host" (Sluagh) and were said to kidnap the souls of the dying. If you heard the sound of hunting horns in the sky, you stayed inside. You didn't look out the window. You definitely didn't call them by name.
Small Names for Small Problems
Not every fairy was a god-like being from a mound. Some were just... roommates.
The Brownie is the classic example. In Scotland and Northern England, a Brownie was a household spirit. You didn't call it a fairy. You called it "the lad" or just "the brownie." If you left a bowl of cream out, it would clean your kitchen. If you gave it clothes, it would get offended and leave forever.
In Scandinavia, you have the Tomte or Nisse. Same vibe. They look like little old men with beards and red caps. They protect the farm. But if the farmer is lazy or treats the animals poorly? The Tomte will literally beat the farmer up. It’s a very direct form of spiritual management.
The Evolution into "Fay" and "Faerie"
We also have to look at the linguistic roots. The word "Fairy" comes from the Old French faerie, which comes from fae. And fae comes from the Latin fata, or "The Fates."
This is crucial.
It connects different names for fairies directly to the idea of destiny. The Fates were the ones who spun, measured, and cut the thread of your life. When you call something a "fay" or a "faerie," you are acknowledging that this being has power over your timeline. It’s not just a creature; it’s a force of nature.
By the time we get to the Victorian era, the spelling "Faerie" became popular again. This was a bit of a romanticized throwback. Writers like Edmund Spenser (The Faerie Queene) and later the Pre-Raphaelites wanted to distance themselves from the "nursery" versions of fairies. They wanted the grit and the ancient magic back.
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Common Misconceptions About These Names
Most people think "Elf" and "Fairy" are the same thing. They aren't. Or at least, they weren't.
Originally, Elf was a Germanic term. Elves were often associated with illness—"elf-shot" was a real diagnosis for sudden pains or strokes. Fairies were more Romance-language based and associated with the land and the mounds. Over time, especially after Tolkien, the lines got blurred. Now, we think of Elves as tall archers and Fairies as small winged girls. In the 1600s, you could use the terms interchangeably, but "Elf" carried a much heavier connotation of physical malice.
Another big one: Goblins. People often think Goblins are a separate species. In many folklore traditions, "Goblin" was just a name for a "bad" fairy. A Redcap is a fairy. A Boggart is a fairy. They are just the ones who have opted for violence.
How to Respect the Names Today
If you’re interested in the folklore, or if you’re a writer trying to build a world, pay attention to the labels. Using the right different names for fairies changes the "flavor" of the magic.
- Use "The Sídhe" if you want something ancient, royal, and terrifying.
- Use "The Piskies" if you want something chaotic, earthy, and annoying.
- Use "The Hidden People" if you want something that feels like a secret part of the natural landscape.
Honestly, the best advice from folklore is to just not use a name at all. Use a description. "The ones who live under the hill." "The little friends." "The neighbors."
It sounds paranoid, but in the world of folklore, names have teeth. When you name something, you’re claiming to know it. And the one thing every culture agrees on is that you never truly know what a fairy is thinking.
Actionable Insights for the Folklore Enthusiast
If you want to dive deeper into this without getting lost in the "Disney-fied" versions of these beings, here is how you should approach your research:
- Read the Primary Sources: Skip the modern "field guides" for a second. Look at The Secret Commonwealth by Robert Kirk (1691). He was a Scottish minister who took fairies very seriously and wrote about them as real, biological entities.
- Follow the Geography: If you’re researching a specific name, look at the soil. Names like Knocker (Cornish mine spirits) make sense because they were heard "knocking" on the walls of tin mines. The name is tied to the labor of the land.
- Check the Etymology: Often, the name tells you the "weakness." The Kelpie (a water fairy) likely derives from the Gaelic 'calpa' or 'colpa', meaning heifer or steer—reminding you that it usually appears as a horse to lure you into the water.
- Respect the Silence: In many traditions, talking too much about them is the first step to being taken by them. If you’re visiting "fairy sites" in Ireland or Scotland, it’s still considered good manners to leave a small offering—a bit of butter, some milk, or even a shiny stone—and keep your voice down.
The names we give things reflect our relationship with them. We call them "fairies" because we’ve forgotten to be afraid. But the old names—the Gentry, the Strangers, the Sluagh—those names still hold the echo of a time when the world was a lot bigger and a lot more dangerous than it is now.
Source References:
- Briggs, K. M. (1976). A Dictionary of Fairies.
- Kirk, R. (1691). The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies.
- Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (1911). The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries.