What is the origin of the name Tibia?

Question

Why this game is called Tibia? Whats the reason behind this name?

I would like to know the history behind the choice of this name.

Comments

Interesting question. I've never wonder about that.

Answer 1

Not sure why they decided to use that name, but in the wiki I have found the below, which strengthens the theory of it being related to the bone bearing the same name:

Bone references

• The game's name Tibia is also a medical (Latin) name assigned to the shinbone.
• The Fibula is the bone placed behind the Tibia, and it is also known as the calf bone.
• Femor Hills is probably named after the Femur, the thigh bone.
• Mount Sternum refers to the Sternum, the breastbone.
• Villa Scapula is named after the Scapula, the shoulder blade.
• An island north of Fibula, called Calcanea, refers to the Calcaneus, the heel bone.

Again, the reason why they chose that name is not clear to me, but given the evidence above, it seems it clearly refers to the bone that has the same name, and it is not just a coincidence or a random name they picked. Maybe this hint helps unravel the decision of choosing that name.

Comments

In one of the interviews, someone from Cip revealed that they didn't know the word "tibia" refers to a bone. They only found out about it later and decided to name Fibula after a bone too. Unfortunately, I have no idea which interview or post that was.

Answer 2

Tibia was known as GIMUD (Graphical Interface Multi-User Dungeon) before it was named Tibia. Since GIMUD was deemed too technical for a game, they wanted a fresh and different name so they named our lovely game, Tibia! They didn't know what Tibia meant until after the fact. Please see below for the exact article quote and reference.

The three decided to join forces at least until a first playable public version of what they called GIMUD – an abbreviation for Graphical Interface Multi-User Dungeon, the working title they chose for it – was finished.

.....

GIMUD was a much too technical name, so they chose Tibia which, they were convinced, would be unique and fresh, and without any given meanings yet. Well, later they found out that Tibia is the Latin anatomic term for shinbone, and it became a running gag in the future development of Tibia to give some ingame areas anatomic names as well, like Fibula or Mount Sternum.

Source: https://www.tibia.com/news/?subtopic=newsarchive&id=1044