Kybassian (Kye-BAS-ee-in)

Feminine names typically end in -e or -ye, though -esh, -ash and -ssa are not uncommon.
  Some of the most common Kybassian feminine names include Iye, Assabe, Imdresh, Kyash, Ossaye, Naye and Komgossa.

Masculine names typically end in -a or a hard consonant, and more strongly reflect class divisions, with lower status men frequently having names beginning with vowels, while consonants are traditionally reserved for men of higher birth.
  Some common low status names include Atera, Ibak, Oltep and Eyana, while Kassat, Breva, Garrak, and Vorta are favoured among the upper classes.

Unisex names are rare in Kybassian culture, and generally come from either the Maxian Dominion or cultures that were assimilated during imperial times, though it is fairly common for Kybassian immigrants to give their girls traditionally masculine Kybassian names, if those names better fit the local culture's naming traditions.

Kybassians are matrilineal, with family names being inherited from the mother, and given names requiring approval by the maternal grandmother (if she has passed, the paternal grandmother is favored, and if neither grandmother is still alive, the child must be given a name derived from one of the gods--names that neither approved nor holy are seen as bringing bad luck).
  Kybassian family names generally follow a simple format, consisting of a totemic prefix (such as Kal-, Ita-, Bash-, or Resh-) followed by either the mother's trade or her most significant achievement (traditionally in Eissam, though [Maxian] is becoming more common). For example, the name Reshgadom would indicate that a person belongs to the totem of Reshan, and that their mother was a tailor, while Gysspata would indicate that a person belongs to the totem of Gysim, and that their mother was a successful corsair, having achieved a "Spata," the sinking or capture of six enemy ships.   Orphaned children with no known parentage are simply given the name Ossan (after the goddess of hospitality and mercy, Ossa), and may attach their own trade or crowning achievement to it later in life.

The dominant language of the Empire of Kybassa was Eissam, and while the Maxian Dominion had mandated that all public dealings must be conducted in [Maxian] and outlawed the speaking of Eissam in public spaces, it has been unsuccessful in wiping the language out entirely, as most Kybassians still speak Eissam in their private residences. Still, if the degree of fluency most younger Kybassians maintain in it is any indicator, the language will be dead in just a few more generations.

The Kybassians are a diverse people, connected more by culture and imperial boundaries than any specific ethnic origins, but their beauty ideals still largely reflect the typical characteristics of the coastal Eissam people that founded the Empire of Kybassa, prizing dark, wavy hair, a deep coppery complexion, and a robust, burly figure, for both men and women. Above all, the Kybassians value the appearance of a perhaps idealized warrior, finding beauty in pronounced musculature, close-shorn and well kept hair (beards, if present, must be kept short enough that an enemy would be unable to grip them), and a steady, piercing gaze. Smaller scars are valued, but the sort of grevious, marring wounds battle is liable to actually leave are generally still stigmatized.
  While the image of the ideal Kybassian man has changed very little, in the years following the fall of the Kybassian Empire, ideals for women have changed drastically as the Kybassians were assimilated into the culture of the Maxian Dominion. While some Kybassian women choose to follow the old, more typically masculine ideals, shaving their heads and cultivating callouses and strength through their work, it is becoming increasingly rare, and the modern Kybassian woman is expected to have long, neatly-plaited hair, a softer figure, and paler, unweathered skin, like the women of the Maxian aristocracy.

Though the days of the Eissam's matriarchy are long since forgotten, and Kybassa had shifted towards a more patriarchal society long before Maxian influence came to play, women still hold higher regard and greater access to power in Kybassian culture than in many others. The years of warring against Maxian Conquest in particular rejuvenated interest in the Eissam commander queens of old, who sowed the seeds that would grow into the Kybassian Empire, allowing the woman warrior to once again become a respected archetype in Kybassian society. Though Maxian influence now dictates a more domestic role for Kybassian women, those who choose to follow the older, martial model are still well-regarded, and both are seen as respectable options. In some regards, Kybassian women have never enjoyed greater autonomy, free to choose their role in society according to their own inclinations and desires.
  Men, however, have been subject to a much more static and restrictive gender role. The ideal of a man as a self-sacrificing defender of his community has hardly budged since the matriarchal days, and indeed, only gained more prominence during both the wars of conquest that forged the Empire and the struggle against its Maxian conquerors. To be a Kybassian man has always been to live either a life of hard labor, building fortifications and tilling fields, or a life of bloodshed and danger, being called to arms for military duty. While men of high status were able to attain great power in the Empire of Kybassa, earning immense wealth and acclaim as generals, advisors, and Emperors, men from the lower classes received few such boons, and generally lived short, hard lives. Few crafts were traditionally open to men, limited mostly to those involved in the masculine trade of construction, such as brickmaking, logging, and carpentry, and while the legal status of this has changed with conquest, it is still seen as unmasculine for a man to participate in a more artistic or domestic craft, such as pottery, weaving, or goldsmithing.

For most of their history, Kybassians enjoyed a large amount of freedom in how they chose to pursue romance and family, with the only major restriction being that one must not marry someone from their same ancestral totem; it was only once migration and assimilation ground to a halt during the campaigns against the Maxian Dominion that such relationships began to be seen as a pragmatic societal contract, rather than a matter of personal emotional fulfillment. Needing to bolster the population, so as to maintain the necessary fighting and logistical manpower to forestall their imminent conquest, there was mounting social pressure for relationships to be heteronormative, and above all, childbearing, and while this social pressure has eased since the conquest, queer and childless partnerships still face far greater stigma than they did in earlier days.