Name generator

Fantasy town and village name generator for maps and campaigns

Twenty town names per click, built the way real place names grew: a first part such as a plant, an animal or a founder, joined to an ending such as ford, wick or mere. Choose cosy, grim, noble, ancient or wild and fill a map in minutes.

These are 20 seeded examples. Press Generate for a new batch.

Lost Dunstan's SpringsLost founder's name's feature
Old RhuiloraOld old-tongue opening + old-tongue middle + old-tongue ending
Castle HangmanbyCastle first part + ending
Old NaralyraOld old-tongue opening + old-tongue middle + old-tongue ending
Mirefellfirst part + ending
Fair Quayfirst part + feature
Caelilathold-tongue opening + old-tongue middle + old-tongue ending
Dovemouthfirst part + ending
Fort MiremereFort first part + ending
Lost Merrit's FallsLost founder's name's feature
Little TorstowLittle first part + ending
Fort RooksteadFort first part + ending
New Dapplebridgeposition word + first part + ending
Lost Sibbe's CommonLost founder's name's feature
Dove Bend beyond the Weirfirst part + feature + where it lies
Sedge Hopefirst part + feature
Scree Crossingfirst part + feature
Merritburyfounder's name + ending
Castle SorrowmoorCastle first part + ending
Upper Dawngarthposition word + first part + ending

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Fantasy town and village name generator: example names by style

Each group below is a fixed batch made with this generator, with only the style filter changed. 50 names are on this page before you press anything.

Cosy and homely

Aldricholt
Lower Damsonmarsh
Little Bramblefield
Little Applemere
Dove Mill
Hazelworth

Grim and dark

Little Fennelmarsh
Rowanfield
Hangmanhurst Gibbet
Hilde's Steps
Hazelbridge
Bramblehurst

Noble and grand

Queen End
Wrenhurst
Cobblestead
Noblehaven Hope
Millersholt
Great Cloverbourne

Ancient and mythic

Middle Fennelbourne
South Fennelthorpe
Ivo's Lookout
Gorsestow
Ethanoth
Cobblemarket

Wild and rugged

Great Brackenstow
Sedgeden Outpost
Tolan's Green
Alderstead
South Steps
Dapplefield among the Oaks

How these town names are built

This generator draws from 200 hand-picked words in 9 lists and uses 20 naming patterns, plus 6 more that wrap around a keyword you type. The patterns can combine into up to 114,060 different names before filters. Every name in the list shows the pattern behind it, so you can see why it reads the way it does.

Word lists

List	Words	A few of them
First part	56	Lynx, Tor, Alder, Wren, Regal, Pebble, Hangman
Ending	30	dale, bury, wick, bourne, mere, combe, ham
Position word	16	South, Great, West, East, Hither, New, Greater
Where it lies	12	under the Ridge, below the Scar, on the Moor, by the Sea, at the Bend, on the Water, at the Ford
Feature	20	Rise, Green, Hollow, Mill, Wells, Lookout, Ferry
Founder's name	20	Dunstan, Hilde, Lowen, Ivo, Sibbe, Una, Benna
Old-tongue opening	20	Hal, Rhu, Ael, Sar, Vor, Tal, Dor
Old-tongue middle	10	il, ir, el, al, in, an, en
Old-tongue ending	16	yra, andis, orn, esk, ara, ost, und

Patterns

Pattern	Example	Used for
first part + ending	Hangmanfield	any style
position word + first part + ending	Far Sedgemarsh	any style
first part + ending + where it lies	Lindenfield beyond the Weir	any style
first part + feature	Heather Ferry	any style
founder's name's feature	Quenby's Common	any style
first part + ending + feature	Rookworth End	any style
position word + feature	East Hope	any style
founder's name + ending	Ivodale	any style
old-tongue opening + old-tongue ending	Caelund	any style
old-tongue opening + old-tongue ending	Falost	Ancient and mythic
old-tongue opening + old-tongue middle + old-tongue ending	Loralara	Ancient and mythic
Old old-tongue opening + old-tongue middle + old-tongue ending	Old Ulilost	Ancient and mythic
Little first part + ending	Little Noblegate	Cosy and homely
first part + feature + where it lies	Tansy Green on the Water	Cosy and homely
Lost founder's name's feature	Lost Edda's Mill	Grim and dark
first part + ending Gibbet	Regalwick Gibbet	Grim and dark
Castle first part + ending	Castle Amberstead	Noble and grand
Port founder's name	Port Edda	Noble and grand
Fort first part + ending	Fort Lindenbridge	Wild and rugged
first part + ending Outpost	Lancemarket Outpost	Wild and rugged
your keyword + ending	Alderworth	any style
your keyword + feature	Alder Bend	any style
your keyword's feature	Alder's Point	any style
position word + your keyword	Greater Alder	any style
your keyword + where it lies	Alder on the Water	any style
New your keyword	New Alder	any style

The words are written by hand for town names, not scraped. Pressing Generate runs the same seeded routine that built the names above, so the same seed always gives the same list.

Naming guide for your town

Most town names in this generator are two short parts pressed together, which is how a great many real place names were made. The first part says what stood there: a plant, a bird, a colour of stone, a family. The ending says what kind of place it was. A ford is a river crossing, a wick a farm or trading place, a ham a homestead, a holt a wood, a mere a lake, a combe a valley, a thorpe an outlying hamlet. Bramble and ford give Brambleford, and nobody needs it explained.

Because the endings mean something, they can do worldbuilding for you. Give the river towns ford, bridge and mouth, the hill villages combe, fell and tor, and the coast haven and quay, and the map starts to describe its own landscape. Lock an ending you like and re-roll to get a family of related names for one valley.

The ancient mood switches to a second recipe: an old-tongue opening, an optional middle and an ending, blended into one invented word. Use it for cities that were old before anyone spoke the common language, and keep it rare, because a map of plain compounds with one such name on it tells players at once where the ruins are. Founder names, as in Osric's Crossing, sit between the two and suit young settlements.

Before you commit to a name

Say the name aloud twice. If you stumble, your players or readers will too, and a name nobody can say gets replaced by a nickname.
Check that it does not sound like another name already in your campaign or story. Two places that start with the same letter and end the same way get mixed up at the table.
Search the web for it. The names are built from this site's own word and syllable lists, but a random blend can match a name from a published book, game or setting by chance. If it does, pick another.
If you plan to publish or sell your work, treat the name like any other: you are responsible for checking it is not a trademark or a well-known name from someone else's world.
Write it on the map or the character sheet and read it small. Long names get shortened in play, so check that the short form also works.

Questions

What do the endings such as wick, thorpe and combe mean?

They are old words for kinds of place. Wick is a farm or trading settlement, thorpe an outlying hamlet, combe a short valley, holt a wood, hurst a wooded hill, garth an enclosed yard, stow a meeting place and bourne a stream. The first guide paragraph lists more.

How do I name several villages so that they feel like one region?

Lock one ending and generate again. Every name in the new batch shares it, so a valley can hold Hazelcombe, Larkcombe and Thorncombe. The starting-letter filter gives a second way to tie names together.

Can I get names for a larger town or a city?

Use the noble mood for castle and port names, or the ancient mood for a single invented word, which suits a capital. For the streets inside the walls, use the city district and street generator.

Some compounds look odd where the two parts meet. What should I do?

Re-roll or smooth it by hand. Real names dropped or merged letters over time, so trimming a doubled letter makes a blend look more natural, not less.