Guides & worldbuilding tips
Practical advice on naming characters, places and everything else in your world, plus how to get the most out of the generators.
How to name a fantasy character
A repeatable method for names that fit your world and stick in readers’ heads.
Read the guideCharacter & creature naming
Give the people and beasts of your world names that fit and stick.
How to name a villain
Sound, meaning, titles and restraint: building an antagonist name that lingers.
Read the guideElf naming conventions
The sounds, surnames and house names that make a name feel elven, and how to keep it sayable.
Read the guideDrow names and houses
Dark-elf names and the noble houses of the Underdark, from sinister priestesses to exiled outcasts.
Read the guideDwarf names and clans
Stout first names and clan or craft surnames, and the logic of dwarven lineage.
Read the guideHuman fantasy names
Believable names by culture, era and station: the trick to sounding real, not invented.
Read the guideHalf-elf names
Leaning elven or human, and how the blend quietly tells your character’s story.
Read the guideHalfling names
Warm, homely first names and homestead surnames with proper cosy charm.
Read the guideGnome names
Bright, springy first names and inventive workshop and clan surnames.
Read the guideTabaxi names
Poetic cat-folk descriptive names, the nickname drawn from each, and clans.
Read the guidePirate names
Given names plus monikers, epithets and titles, for captains and cutthroats.
Read the guideNecromancer names
Gothic given names with withering epithets, grim titles and dark surnames.
Read the guideBarbarian names
Hard given names with battle bynames, totem clans and fierce epithets.
Read the guideKnight names
Chivalric Sir and Dame names with virtues, holdings and knightly orders.
Read the guideViking names
Old Norse given names, -sson and -sdottir patronymics and earned bynames.
Read the guideMedieval names
Period given names with trade, holding, patronymic and byname surnames.
Read the guideFantasy username ideas
How to build a gamertag or handle that reads well and lasts.
Read the guideOrc names and war-names
Guttural first names and earned war-names like Skullsplitter, across four kinds.
Read the guideDragon names and epithets
One grand invented name plus a dread epithet, matched to the dragon’s element.
Read the guideDemon names
Invented infernal names and dread titles, across five breeds of fiend.
Read the guideAngel names
Theophoric -el names with choirs, epithets and domains, light or fallen.
Read the guideMermaid names
Melodic merfolk and siren names with aquatic epithets and song-names.
Read the guideGiant names
Big Norse-style names with frost, fire, stone and storm bynames and titles.
Read the guideTiefling names and traditions
Chosen names across four traditions: infernal heritage, Common-tongue virtue, human and self-forged.
Read the guideAasimar names and traditions
Celestial heritage, Common-tongue virtue, human and self-forged names, the luminous mirror of the tiefling.
Read the guideDruid names and circles
Nature-rooted given names, the bynames druids earn from the wild, and circle titles like the Green.
Read the guidePaladin names and oaths
Given names, sworn epithets, holds and sacred orders, and matching a paladin name to an oath.
Read the guideSorcerer names and bloodlines
Arcane given names, bloodline epithets for fire, chaos, storm and shadow, and matching a name to its origin.
Read the guideVampire names
Elegant, immortal names across four bloodlines, with aristocratic surnames.
Read the guideWerewolf names
Feral pack and lycan names across four lineages, with earned beast names.
Read the guideFairy names
Tiny, melodic, invented fey names across five courts, with nature epithets.
Read the guideGoblin names
Sneaky, scrappy, invented names across five breeds, with grubby nicknames.
Read the guideHow to Name a Kobold
Short draconic names, warren and scale lines, and the trap-cunning bynames that make a kobold feel real.
Read the guideHow to name a wizard
Scholarly mage and sorcerer names across four arcane traditions, with titles and earned epithets.
Read the guideHow to name a witch
Hedge, coven, wild and hex witch names, with craft surnames and spoken bynames across four traditions.
Read the guideHow to Name a Dragonborn
Proud given names and sweeping clan names, with the chromatic, metallic, gem and ashen lines explained.
Read the guideWorldbuilding & places
Name the places, factions and things your story is built from.
How to name a fantasy world
A method for place-names that hang together, from realms down to taverns.
Read the guideNaming tips for dungeon masters
Improvise NPC names, keep a region consistent, and never stall at the table.
Read the guideKingdom names
Realm, empire and dominion names across five kinds, with crowned forms.
Read the guideCity and town names
City, town, port and village names across five kinds, with settlement forms.
Read the guideTavern names
Inn, tavern and alehouse names across five kinds, from cosy to eerie.
Read the guideForest names
Forest, wood and grove names across five kinds, from ancient to haunted.
Read the guideMountain names
Peak, range, pass and summit names across five kinds, from alpine to frozen.
Read the guideRealm and plane names
Plane, realm, void and reach names across five cosmic kinds, from celestial to dream.
Read the guideGuild names
Order, guild and company names across five kinds, from knightly to sacred.
Read the guideClan names
Clan, house and tribe names across five kinds, from highland to ancient.
Read the guideShip names
Ship, warship and airship names across five kinds, from naval to ghostly.
Read the guideWeapon names
Blade, axe and bow names across five kinds, from heroic to cursed.
Read the guideSpell names
Hex, incantation and ritual names across five kinds, from elemental to druidic.
Read the guidePotion names
Draught, elixir and brew names across five kinds, from healing to witchbrew.
Read the guide