Words, Words, Words....

[beanish]

So, here's the deal. I'm fleshing out some ideas for a world to write stories in, but one of the things in this world is that certain "supernatural" elements exist -- the usual vampires, ghosts, werewolves, etc. -- but unlike most modern takes on these things, these supernatural elements have been out in the open for some time and people know

Comments

[gryphonrose]

Arcanes. As opposed to the Mundanes.
Others is a classic.
Empowered.

[knitmeapony]

I think it depends on the tone you want to take with them. Out, yes, but are they loved? Hated? Formerly feared, now accepted? You can spit or sing any word, but the tone matters. If they're hated, maybe they only really have a nastyish name.

There's also the 'race' concept; if they're clearly humanish, we've done a lot of damage to the idea of what a race really is and isn't. So there's just treating them like a nation/ethnicity.

If they're less than human, go Latin/traditional taxonomy. We call mammals what we do because they are 'of the breast', they feed their young. So use the Latin; magus or veneficus probably for roots, if you want to use 'magic' as the core of the genus; you might want to write up some kind of history for them, too, and have the name come from that. If ancient folks thought they got their gifts from the sky, then caelum would be another root word to use.

Try looking at other authors...

[anonymous]

Didn't Laurel K. Hamilton's series about "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter" have this idea? There was a great reveal, but then the undead just became part of society (with some resistance). Also take a look at the Sookie Stackhouse books (not the True Blood HBO show...). I'm not sure what the term is other than "the People" for the vampires, and "weres" for the lycanthropes.

[xochitl42]

Well...if these "others" have been around visibly for a while, they might have had some kind of name that derives from supernatural, but now they'd just be species, or subspecies. Just another branch on the evolutionary tree. Start looking for nifty stuff in Latin?