I have a handfull of companions now. my question is, Is it an issue to share the name of your compaions or any other information with trusted individuals or is will this cause issues or a lack of trust with compaions?

I'd go with a hard no. A hard no, as in do not share their names.

I'm not the authority on this, by any means.

But names were always a private thing. Full true names are a powerful thing, as I've always understood it. Think rumplestiltskin.

Think asian cultures where only close friends and family were allowed to call people by their given name, and all others were required to use their family name or be considered disrespectful.

Think how a great deal of people actively guard or hide their middle names. It seems almost instinct.

No, don't give out their names.

I don't know any spirit keeper that gives out their companions names to anyone and this is something I was taught not to do many, many years ago. You can say the species/race or state the first letter of their name but that is as far as it goes.

I would first check with the spirit and see how they feel about it on a case by case basis. Like others said I would err on the side of caution.

The problem with trust is it can be broken and if you have any conflicts with people, especially those involved in the meta, they could attempt to interfere with you and your spirit companions.

There's only two people I have shared the names of a few of my companions with and I know both are ethically sound and even if we had a conflict they wouldn't do anything to amuse that knowledge. But I have no intention of sharing with anyone else, and certainly not everyone's names.

I think it's really a personal preference. Many people don't/won't give out their spirits names, it's sort of a tradition, especially in this community.
Personally my BFF and I talk about our companions by name (to each other) all the time. It's really all up to you and the people you want to share with (and your companions of course).

I echo previous thoughts;

Only if the spirit is comfortable with the person you are sharing their name with would I ever share the name with, and even then I'll give great consideration to that person. Personally, I'd rather just stick with given nicknames if I am to refer to a specific spirit of mine, or just stick to the initials of the spirit by referring them as (X) or (XX). And never ever share it anywhere online as you don't know who could take advantage of it. There's a few spirits of mine who never want their actual name shared, and others who don't really mind it as long as the person is trustworthy and I know they'll never use their name. There is probably only 2 or 3 people I've shared actual names with, and not everyone's name has been shared. ^^

For sure, the recommendation for the forum is to err on the side of caution and follow the custom here of not giving our spirit's names - sometimes initials are given. Every post here is Googleable.

Personally I can't think of a circumstance in which I'd want to share my bound spirits' names with people irl.

I still go with a hard no. If that entity wants to share their name with another person, they will.

All due respect. But it's like telling someone else's secret to anyone else. Even with permission. I see it as speaking out of turn.

I usually only share my spirit or being's names if it's with a trusted person/spirit worker and if the spirit or being doesn't mind + you have their consent. It has to hit this criteria for me. Though even IF I loosely trust the person I still may use an alias or initial. Some of my spirits don't mind, but that doesn't mean I will just share it with just anyone even if they are okay with it. I don't really share mine on a public sphere generally and I don't know of any other spirit worker who does that either. I can only count 3-4 people who are both a spirit worker and friend to me that I've shared the names of less than 5 of my spirits with, honestly. I have more than 50 in my spirit family and so it's always been those few spirits I've ever really talked about to these same individuals. On one of my social medias I do share only one of my spirit's names publicly whenever I post about them, and they don't mind.
Just a thought - maybe the other person may seem well-dispositioned to you, but who knows, maybe the spirit may have a higher awareness of that person. So yeah I can see there potentially being an issue. (It's just an example but you probs get the idea) THOUGH on the flip side of it...I still say exercise your best judgment with the people you think you "trust" even if the spirit gives you their permission.

InfernalNachos wrote:I'd go with a hard no. A hard no, as in do not share their names.

I'm not the authority on this, by any means.

But names were always a private thing. Full true names are a powerful thing, as I've always understood it. Think rumplestiltskin.

Think asian cultures where only close friends and family were allowed to call people by their given name, and all others were required to use their family name or be considered disrespectful.

Think how a great deal of people actively guard or hide their middle names. It seems almost instinct.

I'm new to spirit keeping so I was also curious about the "names having power" thing. I assumed as much because it's similar with servitors and faeries in lore, but do we know the specifics of what risks actually come with giving names? I know bound spirits are "protected" by both the cloaking and whatever binding agreement they agreed to, so I was wondering if those would perhaps cancel out any attempts to use names against them? (Either way, I'm sticking with just the first letter to be safe on the safe side...)