Fantasy Name Generator — Names for Every Race and Realm

How to use the fantasy name generator

1. Under Generate, choose character names, kingdoms and worlds, or guilds and orders.
2. Pick a people: 20 peoples and roles, from medieval humans, Norse warriors and elves to giants, merfolk, angels and gods. Leave it on Any people for a mixed cast.
3. Choose a gender and a style: noble, common, heroic, dark or mystical. The style changes the length and feel of the first name, the family names, the epithets and any titles.
4. Pick a format: a full name, a first name only, a name with an epithet (Bramhild the Unbroken), or just the family or clan name.
5. Tap a name to copy it and tap ♥ to keep it in your favorites. Press Generate for a new list; a name never comes up twice during a visit.

Every list is written by hand: 1,949 first names, 1,025 family and clan names, 569 epithets and 413 word parts for family names like Stormforge and Moonpetal. Each people also has its own syllables, so the generator can build new names in the same sound. That adds up to many thousands of combinations, and the generator skips names that belong to well-known books and games.

Fantasy names by race

Each people in the generator has its own sound, so readers can tell an elf from a dwarf by the name alone. Below are a dozen examples for each one, made by the generator; choose the people in the menu above for more.

Female fantasy names

First names for heroines, queens, witches and goddesses from every people in the generator. Set the gender to Female and the format to First name only for more.

• Silbelle
• Tarra
• Thordis
• Rufina
• Thalassia
• Tidewyn
• Nimmie
• Halveig
• Narixa
• Vespenna
• Rukya
• Rusanne
• Jessamy
• Bimsy
• Aelwen
• Rhiannon
• Krimpa
• Irene
• Farina
• Gunnveig
• Everild
• Pima
• Uzona
• Nathara
• Ilsa
• Ixara
• Nuriela
• Ixashra
• Orvandra
• Katla

Male fantasy names

First names for heroes, kings, wizards and warlords. Set the gender to Male for more.

• Lucan
• Celadon
• Jalim
• Ysmaros
• Hrimvald
• Halius
• Hamza
• Hammar
• Vespis
• Rowred
• Hawthorn
• Sigden
• Amaury
• Mordun
• Pixwig
• Edgar
• Grunok
• Luarion
• Kulgoth
• Selandor
• Vibinus
• Silaeron
• Lumeon
• Fizzwick
• Branmund
• Valazar
• Gasharg
• Krulgor
• Coralin
• Obsius

Fantasy last names and family names

Not every fantasy people has surnames the way we do. Some inherit a family name, some take their father’s name, and some belong to a clan, a house or a court instead. The generator follows each people’s own custom. Choose Family / clan name as the format to see family names on their own.

A mixed list of fantasy family names to mix and match:

• The Gods of the Northern Winds
• Gemhoarder
• Fairfax
• Hollyhill
• Morningsong
• Rafavi
• The Clan of the Windy Falls
• Brackenhollow
• Swiftbrook
• Holloway
• Coralwhisper
• Ashenmoor
• Crowveil
• Duskmoor
• Hollycaller
• House of the Twin Court
• Coldbrook
• Direthorn
• Brightcastle
• The Gods of the Long Crossroads
• Thunderwick
• Skyshield
• Crowmoor
• Autumnbright
• Vipermere
• Dreamwillow
• Redcliffe
• Boulderback
• House Fernlight
• Highblade
• Marchbank
• The Murky Wrench Gang
• House Starbreaker
• The Choir of the Shining Sky
• Clan Boulderback
• The House of the Swift Shoals

Fantasy names by style

The style option works for every people. A noble dwarf and a common dwarf still sound like dwarves, but one rules a mountain hall and the other works in its mines.

Fantasy names with meanings

Most invented names have no meaning, and that is fine: what matters is the sound. The real names in the generator do have meanings, and a name that quietly fits a character is a nice touch. These 38 names all appear in the lists above.

Fantasy kingdom, realm and world names

Choose Kingdoms & worlds under Generate to name the lands your characters come from. Each realm is named in its people’s own sound, so an elven realm and an orc steppe never sound alike, and the style decides what kind of place it is: a noble kingdom, a free city, a fallen empire or a hidden realm. The names that stand alone, without a title, also work for whole worlds and continents.

• The Abyssal Halls of Foamhold
• The High Throne of Kesara
• The Volcano Coast of Sorrion
• The High Kingdom of Walland
• The Gray Realm of Korane
• Bixburrow
• The Sunless Halls of Lightmoor
• The Night Throne of Grimris
• The Lion Kingdom of Eshir
• The Lands of Velgrave
• The Realm of Snikburrow
• The Order Lands of Olmere
• The Dragon Throne of Vorrakh
• The Mage Kingdom of Renmere
• The Borderlands of Autumndeep
• The Northlands of Audnes
• The Sun Throne of Darum
• The Ashen Realm of Wrenmarch
• The Spirit Marshes of Holmoor
• The Crystal Deeps of Kraghold
• The Muck Caves of Glibbog
• The Sunless Warrens of Fidgepit
• The Lands of Reefvale
• The Lands of Thorgard

For the towns, cities, villages and taverns inside those kingdoms, use the Town Name Generator.

Fantasy guild and order names

Choose Guilds & orders for knightly orders, mage circles, merchant guilds and secret societies. The style sets the mood, from the honest Lamplighters’ Guild to a cabal with no name, and choosing a people now and then gives an order of their own, such as a dwarven company.

• The Shields of the Anvil
• The Conclave of the Black Banner
• The Shields of the Midnight Scroll
• The Order of the Gilded Key
• The Coven of the Old Dawn
• The Lamplighters' Guild
• The Brotherhood of the Copper Kettle
• The Keepers of the Broken Banner
• The League of the High Tower
• The Guild of the Crimson Moon
• The Order of the Thundering Horn
• The Unbroken Lantern Sisterhood
• The Society of the Flame
• The Society of Lost Maps
• The Shadowed Thorn Order
• The Guild of Ropemakers
• The Conclave of the Patient Thorn
• The Company of the Azure Wheel

Where fantasy names come from

Fantasy names sound the way they do because they borrow from old languages. Old English, Old Norse, Welsh, Irish, Latin and Greek all shaped what readers now hear as “fantasy.” Many of the best-known dwarf names in modern fantasy were taken from a list of dwarves in the Old Norse poem Völuspá, and Latin and Greek endings like -ius and -ora still make a name sound ancient and learned.

You can use the same trick on purpose. Give a people the sounds of one real language and keep to them: soft vowels and l, r and n for elves, hard consonants and short syllables for dwarves and orcs, and long Latin endings for an old empire. That is how this generator works too: every people has its own starts, middles and endings, so even the names it builds from scratch belong together.

How to come up with a good fantasy name

• Give each people its own sound. If elves use soft vowels and dwarves use hard consonants, readers can tell who is who without being told.
• Start your main characters with different letters. Two heroes called Aldric and Aldwin will blur together; Aldric and Tamsin will not.
• Vary the length. Mix short names with longer ones. Save the four-syllable names for elders, gods and nobility.
• Say it out loud. If readers cannot guess how to pronounce a name, they will skip over it. Keep apostrophes and hard clusters for minor characters and ancient beings.
• Let the family name tell a story. Ironside, Fletcher and Haraldsdottir each say something about where a character comes from before they say a word.
• Use meanings quietly. A name that means “she-wolf” (Ylva) or “star” (Seren) is a lovely detail, but most readers will never know, so choose for sound first.
• Search it before you commit. The generator skips names from well-known books and games, but always check that your favorite is not already a famous character.

Naming tips for game masters

Players ask for names at the worst moment: the innkeeper, the guard at the gate, the merchant they decided to follow. A few habits make it easy.

• Make a list before the session. Generate a dozen names for each people in your setting, tap ♥ on the ones you like, and copy your favorites into your notes.
• Give memorable characters an epithet. Players forget “Korvald” but remember “Korvald the Graybeard.” The Name & epithet format does this in one click.
• Reuse family names. When the blacksmith and the bandit share a clan name, players start looking for the connection.
• Match places to peoples. Name a dwarf hold with the dwarf setting and an elven forest with the elf setting, so the map and the cast feel like one world.
• Write down every name you use. Your players will remember the innkeeper long after you have forgotten him.

More fantasy name generators

For more names, try the Elf Name Generator for high, wood and snow elves, the D&D Name Generator for adventuring parties, the Dragon Name Generator for the dragons themselves, the Fairy Name Generator for flower and forest fairies, and the Character Name Generator for modern, historical and sci-fi stories.