Voyager

Names are important symbols in Voyager and often highlight the ways characters like Claire and Jamie have to disguise their true selves. In the first novel in the Outlander series, Jamie didn’t tell Claire his full name (James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser) until they were married. Jamie was a known fugitive under his Fraser name and had been hiding within his mother’s MacKenzie clan, so telling Claire his full name was a sign of trust. Similarly, Claire uses her family name (Beauchamp) rather than her married name of Randall when she first meets Jamie and the MacKenzies to align her more with their French allies rather than their English adversaries. Throughout the novel, Jamie in particular is known by many names—Red Jamie, Mac Dubh, Alexander Morgan, Jamie Roy, Dunbonnet, and more. Each name signifies different roles he plays and different aspects of his personality. The use of multiple names becomes a survival tactic in a fractured political landscape, symbolizing Jamie’s fractured identity and the compromises required to stay alive.

Yet names are also a sign of affection, with many characters having nicknames for those they love. Jamie calls Claire “Sassenach” (which translates, literally, to “Outlander”) at first to tease her affectionately about her status as a foreigner in Scotland.