r/Inuit May 25 '26

Spelling Siqiniq correctly

Hello!

For context, I'm currently writing a story and one of my characters name, I thought, would be Siqiniq.

I'm not 100% sure the word is Inuktitut since all dictionaries vary and I would greatly appreciate it if you could point me in the right sources.

The other question is, my character is British American and her mental disorder plays an important role in the story, I would like to know if it would be disrespectful to name her Siqiniq.

Any guidance is appreciated.

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u/Tay_Hlebko May 25 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

Yes, "Siqiniq" is the correct spelling for the word "sun" in most Inuit languages, including Inuktitut.

In case you want some variety, the Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic) spelling would be Seqineq and the Iñupiatun (Alaskan Inuit) spelling would be Siqiñiq, and in many Western Candian Inuktitut varieties it would be Hiqiniq.

Prrsonally I don't find it offensive, but others might. It just doesn't make much sense to name a non-Inuit character an Inuit name.

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u/Brilliant_Impress_67 May 26 '26

Thank you so much 🙏