Behind the House of Night Names

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What’s in a name? Well, after reading how P.C. Cast discovered and wove the
Cruithne myths into her tales, you now know that much time and research has
gone into creating the intricate plotlines of the House of Night novels. The
same is true for the names of the characters.

Below is an appendix of the more intriguing names in the series. You won’t
find everyone’s here; with some names, like Heath Luck or Erik Night, what
you see is what you get. But for others, we’ve untangled the historical, mythological,
and pop culture ties–intentional and incidental–that give these
characters’ monikers a little extra magic.

The Fledglings

Zoey Redbird

Zoey (Greek) life; Redbird in Cherokee myth, the Redbird is the

daughter of the Sun

In the House of Night . . .

During their first meeting in Marked, Nyx calls Zoey u-s-ti Do-tsu-wa, or “little
Redbird.” Redbird is also the last name of Zoey’s grandmother Sylvia, and
when Zoey enters the House of Night, she takes this name as her own.

In mythology . . .

Jealous that the people
of Earth could look upon her brother the Moon
without squinting, the Sun sent down a vicious heat wave to kill them.
To stop
her, the people sent two snakes to attack the Sun during her daily visit
to her
daughter’s house in the middle of the sky. The copperhead snake failed,
but the rattlesnake, overly eager to complete the task, accidentally
struck the Sun’s
daughter and killed her. Grieved, the …