Single-source reference for naming devices across personal life and the homelab. Personal-device naming takes the front seat here — that’s when this doc actually gets opened (e.g. “what do I name the new MacBook?”). Homelab naming is descriptive and functional and is summarized for completeness.
TL;DR — the two systems
| Bucket | Style | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Personal devices | One-word, poetic, must sit comfortably next to the existing set without screaming the reference. Vibes-based picks from a few loose themes (celestial, stones/gems, nature, subtle Cosmere nods, computing wordplay) — but themes are not tied to a device class; any personal device can pull from any well. | Sunset, Starlight, Nebula, Dusk, Opal, Slate, Comet |
| Homelab | Functional / descriptive. Hostnames are role-named; physical boxes use a short identifier + number; VMs are named for the stack they serve. | core1, node0, blade1, media, proxy, auth |
The personal-device gate is the aesthetic, not the theme. Themes are common wells the existing names happen to fall into — any of them is fair for any device, and new wells are fine as long as the result still fits the aesthetic (one-word, poetic, doesn’t scream the reference). Comet was picked because the silver Ioniq 5 looks like a spaceship; the reasoning is one-off but the shape of the name still matches the family.
Personal Devices
Active inventory
| Device | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook | Sunset | |
| MacBook | Starlight | |
| Phone | Dusk | Double meaning: “dusk” the time of day and Dusk from Isles of the Emberdark (Sanderson). |
| Phone | Nebula | |
| Phone | Desert Rose | Two-word exception. |
| Watch | Bit | Computing wordplay (and tiny, like a bit). |
| Watch | Byte | Pair with Bit. |
| Watch | Sac | Dusk’s aviar companion (Sanderson, Isles of the Emberdark). Originally going to be Chiri-Chiri but the name didn’t read well on a watch. |
| iPad | Slate | Pun: tablet = slate. |
| AirPods | Moonlight | |
| AirPods Max | Midnight | |
| 3D Printer (X1C) | Astra | Celestial, sharp, premium — fits the X1C’s “high-end sibling” energy. |
| 3D Printer (A1 Mini) | Opal | Sleek white, iridescent — matches the A1 Mini’s aesthetic. |
| Printer (Epson) | Deckle | Feathered edge of handmade paper — paper/craft well, quiet nod to the book namespace. |
| Car | Comet | Silver Ioniq 5 — kinda looks like a spaceship. |
| Gaming PC (living room) | Aurora | AD name: AURORA-PC. |
| Desktop (main) | — | Hostname MDBOOK-DESKTOP / desktop.mdbook.one. Reimaged often enough that it doesn’t get a personal name; treated like infrastructure. |
Windows / AD wackiness: some Windows boxes show up in AD with
<NAME>-PC(e.g.AURORA-PC) instead of the plain hostname. That’s a quirk, not the convention — ideally everything is just<name>.mdbook.onelike the rest. Don’t perpetuate the-PCsuffix on new machines if you can avoid it.
Headphones and Bluetooth devices get named too — same conventions, no separate class. Not every wireless thing gets a name; only ones that feel like a device worth naming. Vibes call.
Themes / vibe wells
These are the wells the existing names happen to cluster in. Any device can pull from any well — themes aren’t class-locked (phones aren’t “celestial-only,” watches aren’t “computing-only,” etc.). New wells are fair too if the result still fits the aesthetic gate above. Use these as inspiration, not as a checklist.
- Celestial / sky / light / time-of-day
- In use: Sunset, Starlight, Nebula, Astra, Dusk, Moonlight, Midnight, Aurora, Comet, Vega
- Open candidates (from prior brainstorms): Nova, Vega, Lyra, Zenith, Aster, Vesper, Halcyon, Lumen, Eclipse, Solstice, Orion, Pulsar
- Stones / gemstones / minerals
- In use: Slate, Opal
- Open candidates: Sapphire, Kyanite, Quartz, Onyx, Obsidian, Pearl, Alabaster, Ivory, Basalt, Granite
- Nature / landscape / weather
- In use: Desert Rose, Forest (storage — see homelab below)
- Open candidates: Driftwood, Glacier, Frost, Cinder, Ember, Clay, Hearth, Canyon
- Cosmere / Sanderson (subtle nods only)
- In use: Dusk, Sac
- Open candidates from prior chats: Rysn, Akinah, Thaylen, Canticle, Dawnshard, Taldain, Azure, Kalak
- Sanderson is the biggest single media well — this is the highest-volume reference bucket.
- Other fantasy (general fantasy vibes — not tied to one author)
- In use: (none yet)
- Candidates: Rune, Sigil, Aether, Wraith, Glamour, Sable, Vesper, Ember, Brand, Vow, Hollow
- Use when something feels mythic / magical / “fantasy paperback cover” but isn’t a specific reference.
- Other media / books (anything else you consume that’s name-worthy)
- In use: (none yet)
- Arcane is the obvious second well after Cosmere — viable picks that don’t scream the reference: Hex, Shimmer, Piltover-adjacent words. Most character names (Jinx, Vi, Ekko) would scream too loud.
- Other fandoms / shows / books slot in here as they come up.
- Computing wordplay (accessories, small devices, “companion” gear)
- In use: Bit, Byte
- Open candidates: Nibble, Pixel, Cache, Prism
All reference wells (4, 5, 6) follow the same rule: if a non-fan would say “weird name” before “neat reference,” it’s too on-the-nose. The name has to work as an ordinary poetic word first.
The aesthetic (the actual rule)
One-word, poetic, must sit comfortably next to the existing set without screaming the reference.
That’s the gate. Everything below is supporting detail.
- One word. Two-word names (Desert Rose) are the rare exception.
- Poetic / evocative register. Soft, atmospheric, a little dreamy. Not punchy, not technical, not jokey (Y33tb0i would not fly today).
- Sits comfortably in the set. Read the inventory list together — a new name shouldn’t feel jarring next to the existing ones.
- Doesn’t scream the reference. Cosmere nods stay subtle; if a non-fan would say “weird name” before “neat reference,” it’s too on-the-nose. Same principle for any other reference.
- Color / physical traits / “what does it look like” are legit inputs. Comet for the spaceship-looking car. Opal for the sleek white printer.
- Pairs / companions can share a micro-theme. Bit + Byte. Dusk + Sac. If a device has a “buddy” role, naming the relationship is fair game.
- No clashes with established product names. Avoid words that are also major existing tech products (e.g. Echo → Amazon, Alexa, Siri). Confusion when speaking the name out loud is the smell to watch for.
Homelab
Conventions here are functional, not vibes. Cross-reference: Homelab Conventions.
Hostnames
- Per-host FQDN:
<hostname>.mdbook.one - Hostnames are short, lowercase, descriptive of the box’s role or physical identity.
Physical hosts
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| forest | Synology NAS (backup tier + Synology Photos / Drive / personal stuff). Doubles as the LAN search-domain shorthand. Personally-named on purpose — it’s half homelab, half personal. |
| vega | 2017 iMac (10.0.13.9). Dual-nature like forest — Mik’s personal iMac + a Jenkins macOS build agent + the BlueBubbles/iMessage relay. Personally-named (celestial, joins the Mac family Sunset/Starlight). |
| core1 | Main fileshare server (TrueNAS, primary bulk storage). |
| node0 | AI / GPU host (currently the only node). |
| blade1 / blade3 | Proxmox VM hosts (currently 1 online, 2–3 total). |
| cube1 | Proxmox host (cube form factor). |
| wallcal | Wall calendar kiosk (function + form). |
| piups | Pi-based UPS monitor (function + form). |
| travelpi | Pi Zero 2W USB travel router (function + form). |
Patterns
- Numbered prefix series — for hosts that may grow into a cluster. The prefix describes the physical class; the number is incremental and sticky.
node<N>— boxes with dedicated GPU(s) for AI workloads. Onlynode0exists currently.blade<N>— 2U VM hosts in the server rack. Currentlyblade1andblade3;blade0was skipped because the convention wasn’t standardized yet whenblade1was deployed. Numbering gaps are fine — don’t go back and renumber.cube<N>— cube-form-factor hosts. Currently justcube1.
- Function + form-factor compound — for single-purpose appliance-y boxes:
wallcal,piups,travelpi. Read as<what-it-does><what-it-is>. - Personally-named exception —
forestsits outside the functional convention. No hard rule for when this is allowed; it’s vibes, same as personal devices. If a host feels less like infra and more like “yours,” it’s fine to give it a personal-style name.
VMs / containers
VMs are named for the stack they host or the function they serve. Lowercase, short, no prefixes.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| media | *arr suite + media stack |
| dev | Development VM |
| proxy | Public edge / Caddy |
| auth | Authentik SSO |
| hub | Edge router glue |
| cloud | Self-service apps (GitLab, BookStack, Directus…) |
| metrics | Prometheus / Grafana / LibreNMS |
| bots | MCP / agents control plane |
| vpn | WireGuard / VPN egress |
| minecraft | Self-explanatory |
| game | Game server(s) |
| DND | D&D-related |
| vplex | Plex VM |
| AD, AD2, AD3 | Active Directory domain controllers (ad, ad2, ad3) |
| HAOS | Home Assistant OS |
LXC containers
Use the service name directly, lowercase.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| npmplus | Nginx Proxy Manager Plus |
| technitiumdns | Technitium DNS. Unconfigured leftover, slated for spin-down; not part of DNS |
| unifi | UniFi controller |
Pattern summary
- Physical host: form-factor + number (
blade1) or descriptive single word (wallcal). - VM: stack name (
media,auth,bots). - LXC: the software it runs (
npmplus,unifi). - No “vm-” / “lxc-” prefixes. The Proxmox UI already labels them.
Naming a new device — quick procedure
- Personal or homelab?
- If homelab: pick the role/stack/form-factor name. No vibes; just describe it.
- If personal: a. Sense the device’s vibe (color, role, sibling-of-what, what does it remind you of). b. Pull from any of the wells (celestial, stones, nature, Cosmere, fantasy, other media, computing) — or a new well if one fits. c. One word, poetic, hasn’t been used. d. Sanity check the aesthetic gate: sits comfortably in the set, doesn’t scream the reference, no clash with established product names.
- Add it to the inventory table above.
Historical / retired names
Worth recording so the same name doesn’t get recycled by accident.
| Name | Was | Why retired |
|---|---|---|
| Rysn | Briefly the new blue phone | Changed to Dusk to give the watch (Sac) a shorter companion name. |
| Chiri-Chiri | Considered for the watch | Didn’t read well as a watch name; Sac picked instead. |
| boulder | Old NAS hostname, mostly deprecated. | Predecessor to the current storage tier. Still referenced in some legacy paths across the homelab — e.g. Radarr’s bind mount maps /mnt/plex to the legacy boulder path. Don’t recycle the name. |
| Y33tb0i | Synology NAS that preceded forest. | Predates these conventions — naming wasn’t fleshed out yet. Not the kind of name that’d land today. |
Currently unnamed but maybe should be?
- The Samsung Galaxy S7 acting as IP webcam for the 3D printer timelapse. Never picked a name.