Hey, Im currently writing a timeline about Brigham Young and the Mormon leadership deciding to settle in British Honduras or modern day Belize and founding an eventually independent nation. I'm lost on what to call the country though. It seems every TL that even mentions the mormons refers to the term "Deseret" but it seems unoriginal and simply means honeybee. I would love your suggestions on what this nation would be called. I've came up with Nephia, Nephiland, Smithland, Moronia, and Zarahemla. Any input would be great. Thanks.
Names for Mormon Belize that are not "Deseret"
- Thread starter Historia
- Start date
I kind of like Moroni. A very important angel (IIRC he gave Smith the tablets) and located kind of close to Belize. Of course, if the word moron exists it might not be the best idea...
DISCLAIMER: not a Mormon.
DISCLAIMER: not a Mormon.
As a Latter-Day Saint myself, this is an interesting idea. I wouldn't see our church doing something like that (since I think they would stay in the US no matter what), but still interesting, seeing as they're basically where everything in the Book of Mormon took place. I wouldn't go with Nephiland or Smithland, those sound generic themselves. Zarahelma isn't bad, but better fitting for a name of a city rather than the country. Nephia and Moronia are also okay, but the adding of the "a" at the end confuses me somewhat, since in the BoM there is a person named Nephihah and a city called Moronihah and that could create some confusion as to why they named there country after someone without too much importance.
Here are some names I would suggest though. I've seen people have used names like Nephi and Bountiful to describe a Mormon nation, so you can do that. You could also do Lehi, who was the father of Nephi and a Prophet in Jerusalem and the one who got his family out of the city and eventually to the Americas. It's also possible though that they will just call the nation Belize, just to not complicate things, but you can still use those other suggestions.
Another thing: try not to make the country a theocratic state. I see more likely that it becomes a republic, since they like democracy and republicanism (not the party) more. Also, making it a theocracy is kind of generic in of it self.
Hopefully, I was able to help you out. Good luck on the timeline.
And by golly, this is a good map.
wadebirdwhistle
Banned
So, I grew up LDS, and it is important to understand for the sake of your timeline that the LDS Church has seriously restructured its claims regarding the Book of Mormon in the last century. At the time of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, the countries referred to in the Book of Mormon were believed to be around the Great Lakes, not in Mexico. So, calling it Zarahemla of Moronihah is probably out.
The Mormons came up with the name “Utah” from an indigenous language... have you looked into indigenous languages in Belize and tried to put some names together there?
The Mormons came up with the name “Utah” from an indigenous language... have you looked into indigenous languages in Belize and tried to put some names together there?
The word "moron" wouldn't exist yet unless it's past 1910 (and no butterflies, obviously, to make it come earlier or later). It was coined then by Henry Goddard, a psychologist of mental disorders - and anyway didn't have the pejorative meaning it does today.
I think nowadays it's generally believed to be in area as shown on the map, but I guess back then it was different train of thought.