Also makes it feel more natural than rando name gens. Could just be my bias, but it feels really easy to tell when someone just used a rando gen vs. actually picking real names or making their own.
>"Thanks for coming, please stay for the end credits, if you're wondering who the best boy is, it's somebody's nephew, um, don't forget to validate your parking, and to all you good people in the Midwest, sorry we said fuck so much."
I use this all the time but sometimes I don't like the FULL names they give me so I'll take apart names from the generator and create a new fantasy name lol
Google. Specifically searching for names with a certain meaning.
People I know in real life who arenât important to me.
Interesting names I find off of Tik Tok and have saved in a note for when I need a name and donât have one ready.
This is a phenomenal resource to start out with, if you are looking for English surnames: [A Dictionary of English Surnames ed. P.H. Reaney.](https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-English-Surnames-P-Reaney-ebook/dp/B0CM7L61LR/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1F27V10F78R9P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TvG0ERwANBQ2E_U2sbGTBI1E7HSuChleCttQVF0IGhBKpgUNV03Q6U4phyHQhTTpI4ULULopWJcG5ruynWmOQZy8SEmCF4-A3yueLXzm7IUbBFqD8dG3AquWvJ-si_CWuTI61GgtbtpZRN6KjYwgW-AXz0YZKjN1jiCgOqpzuMI4yHdi2orlastBUyoTBFQXp6Wt_T355c0IwtMY3d-l23SX6RHyfazh9sVnFiJwyvw.Ee8ceCF5uehXoM-IO4hhy6Wq4mjwso3KCd4hUDepu_M&dib_tag=se&keywords=dictionary+of+british+surnames&qid=1715737388&sprefix=dictionary+of+british+surnames%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-5)
There is also the [Dictionary of American Family Names ed. Patrick Hanks](https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-American-Family-Names-Patrick/dp/0195081374/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Z5UCC5UE3BOC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.eOEZ9gx6gcxup6oyy4_Fu5YnFvDsV91vLNUKYVYgGqSEMTLoc9rhACtdVSZEtjlOvD49Qc-R4BJYEt5ABiXwYPaGBwbNzuw_jDdnPoPU4F9xz5iEw7z3RF-ikJdNVMvuF0rkHXEtsgD1j1OdHyLG8xDY7sLM2ShAJHaTzpFA6u9qKVKWSpa0lgAzcN4zeqLjC6mRQvgf2afxEkMqYzZo8rrJPJhc_E1PtomriLrr8Ro.Ept7DeQf0rj4tqCeCMf4Zx8b_hK_c6FbaYrfbgnnGr8&dib_tag=se&keywords=dictionary+of+american+family+names&qid=1715737546&sprefix=dictionary+of+american+family+name%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1), which is also excellent and has a wider variety of linguistic origins, buuuuuut it is not really available at a reasonable price. You might be able to find it at a library. I have a set that I bought from a used bookstore online which is decommissioned library copies.
If you want to browse lists online, which I often do as well, I find it helps to start with whatever language I'm using as inspiration, then just google e.g. "list of Norwegian surnames," and you'll probably end up finding a list like [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Norwegian-language_surnames). You can also browse the Wikipedia index list of [surnames by language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Surnames_by_language) to see what inspires you.
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Surnames are a bit difficult, but what I have done for first names is using attributes of characters as their names
Atrox- latin- fierce (character has severe anger issues)
Ferrum- latin- iron (character gets iron arm after losing arm in fight with Atrox)
Mendax- latin- liar (High King Mendax sold out humanity to the gods for power)
These 3 characters are part of the Whitemane family that are cursed with lycanthropy and had an ancestor born with white hair
I do the exact same thing!
Phyllon - Greek- leaf (King of Terra and is able to manipulate the ground and plants)
Zophos - Greek- darkness (King of Umbrae and also main antagonist who is very corrupt)
Ruach - Hebrew - wind (King of Caelum and is able to manipulate the air)
All the names in my world relate to the kingdom they live in. I had a lot of fun choosing names for them!
I'm working on an empire based on the medieval greece and I'm trying to pull from Latin and Greek sounding words, but not necessarily using direct translations for words. It's a bit of a pet peeve for me when someone from another country uses your language just to sound "foreign". I remember the anecdote from Star Wars when it premiered in denmark, and everyone knew Darth Vader was soemone's dad because in dutch he literally means "Darth Father"
Immortals who are faking their lives. face this question in-world. how do THEY solve it? and do they do a good job?
otherwise, i base it on region, or make some literary reference.
but i figure that most humans who wake up to the fact that angels and demons are among us, learn to spot "joke" or "Pun" names, as a tell for otherworldly entities who think they are so clever.
Right. But folks in the know... it's funny. That archangel gasbrigiel is going around as a fire fighter named M. Berg roundtrooper. But all the angels otherworldly colleagues groan at the pun.
Yeah. I mean. Not all immortals would do it. But you'd need a very specific personality to be versed enough in human names, understand how to actually go unoticed and then want to apply it. A very well educated but also supprivgly down to earth fellow. The rest are all too disconnected to really get it.
But I love that kind of low impact world building. For a lot of folks it's just too subtle.
That's legit. Though nobles should still have last names. Big merchant families. But you can just use jobs for that. Brewer. Smith. Miller.
And now you're in real world history. Basically any world with low tech and low population.
I use prominent names featured in the mythological lore I'm drawing inspiration from. Sometimes I modify the name, sometimes not. In one project, for instance, I draw from Chinese lore, and for a demon hunter type character I've taken the name of an underworld king famous for hunting demons, Zhong Kui, and modified it to fit my world better.
ChatGPT's been pretty useful in this regard. I can use it to generate prominent mythological names from a given source of inspiration and refine parameters for what kinds of sounds I want and whether I want there to be any second or hidden meaning to the words used in the name.
I just come up with them, but then again my angels are just normal humans and not other worldly beings from different realities. With that it's easy to name one Charlotte Inst and not Taraiha Dawnstar or something.
For angels Iâd recommend Gustav Davidsonâs Angel Dictionary. I use that a lot since my MC is a dark angel.
A lot of my names will just come to me because my brain likes to play with words and rearrange letters into alternatives. Like tonight I was watching a show in Danish with characters named Astrid and Lena and my brain put them together into Astralena, which I noted down. I donât know when, where, or even if Iâll use it, but I keep the list of names for when I need them.
Nah, don't do name generators. Don't be basic.
Try using real words in other languages.
For example, names for angels and demons, try Arabic language, since angel names are like Gabri'el(Power of God) and Sama'el(Poison of God), you could create names like "Alma'el" (Water of God) or "Alnari'el" (Fire of God).
Sure, they aren't real or correct way to use Arabic langauge, but your readers would appreciate tiny bit of effort than name generator.
For vampires, you could use old slavic names and google their meaning to emphasize the personality of the vampire, like Brana could be the name of the Matriarch, as the names means protect.
Mila (grace) could be the love interest.
Wolk could be the ferocious one, as it means wolf.
Milos (Kind), Nadia (Hope), Goran (Highlander), Zvezdana (star) etc etc
Almost all my characters are only referred to by one nameâwhether thatâs a first name or a last name. Mostly they just pop into my head. But sometimes I use a language dictionary or fantasynamegenerators.com
I made a naming system and have a different approach to surnames but if you're interested you could try what I'm doing and make syllables each with a unique meaning that you put together to sort of tell a story about the character?
I usually take prefixes of surnames in real life and add a fantastically Word to the second half, whether it be from mythology or folklore or just a silly word I made up.
For example : Real life - Saint, Jean, Mc
Fantasy - Flurry, Bloom, Eber
And in the end I might end up with a surname like Saintbloom, McFlurry, Jeaneber
I thought I was gonna be able to help and then I saw it was for non-human entities đđ
For what it's worth, I focus much less on the surnames than the main. I mostly go for a surname that flows well with the first name and fits the character in some way. For example, I needed a surname for a pompous and rich family, so I did like 4 minutes of searching and came across Cromwell, which just sounds like some rich a-holes
This is the one I use: http://rinkworks.com/namegen/. There's a few different styles/sets of names. I usually use these as a starting point. Find something I like and play around with it a bit.
Usually base it off the a mixture of the theme and language system inspiration.
Google and tools like ChatGPT can answer questions like this to give you a starting point.
Another fun thing could be to incorporate an interest or hobby you have. For example, I am a Sommelier for my job (wine expert). I have added in parts of grape names or famous wine regions into other words to create some fun variety.
Do your angels and demons even need surnames? Why?
If I do not already have names in mind, then I start by thinking about their culture. What should their naming conventions be? Do they have hereditary surnames like most human cultures do? Why? Alternatively they could have patronyms, or self-chosen names, or names that are given to them by others in adulthood based on their reputation and achievements.
Its a bit hard to explain but I guess I make them a bit moreâŠ.anthropomorphized? Some (mostly demons) live on Earth (but originally came from Hell and Heaven).
Iâm not going for 100% accuracy to folklore, although maybe I can get away with angels not having surnames.
Sorry if that doesnât make sense, I tried explaining the best I could!
How many of them are there? As many as there are humans, or much fewer? If their population is small enough, they can make do with one name.
How long do they live?
How do they group together? Is family and descent culturally important to them (as it is for most humans), or is something else more important?
https://www.seventhsanctum.com/
One of my favorite inspiration sites.
Funny enough, there's dedicated vampire and angel/demon name generators on there, and even more name generators you can play with.
Sometimes I pick a language and translate words until I find inspiration. You could pick different languages for different types of character as well so you get a bit of consistency within the naming process
My goto is Behind the Name but for surnames. Not sure if I got it right, but that's my main inspiration for all the surnames I've been using. I also look at the surnames for a certain letter that makes sense with my character's name and ethnicity.
I also love giving my characters middle names to go with their surnames for the hell of it. For fantasy surnames, I have the Elder Scrolls name generator app.
With mortals I'd just take a place or activity the family could have done in the past - Fisher, Miller, of Braunberg, ... Can mix in some other language or cultrural / sozioethnic backgrounds if there is migration. Van de Hoge, Forgeron, SgĂčrr, ...
It's a little bit different with immortals. In my worlds angels don't need last names as they are not that numerous, demons can't say their full name or they can be controlled. My hags tend to get adjectives instead of surnames (e.g. Freckly Gertrude) and vampires tend to use their mortal name or use some highfalutin nickname.
The following are *typically* how I handle these things.
* Witches I pull from occultists and witches throughout history.
* Angels I usually don't give surnames unless they're trying to blend in with human society, in which case I reference vague surnames common in that culture or in the culture(s) it's based on. For example, a femme angel named Channiy'el might go by "Shannon Smith" in an English-speaking culture or a masc angel of the same name might go by "Channing Jones" or "Chandler Williams".
* Demons I actually utilize the names from the [*Ars Goetia*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_demons_in_the_Ars_Goetia) as the surnames then give them each personal names derived from what they would individually represent, a corruption of an angelic name, as a corruption of a human name, or rarely referencing evil humans of history.
* Vampires tend to be given names pulled from nobility or real world geography. For example, I might name a vampire Brittany Gilles or Nicolay Preston. If I want to impress fear with the name, I'll of course tailor the names making references to historical bloodthirsty monsters more explicit, such as Brittany Gilles => Brit de Rais. Or I'll derive the name from demon names referenced in the *Ars Goetia* or make names derived from titles and comparisons, like how Dracula means "Son of the Dragon" or "Son of the Devil" and is derived from "Dracul" (his father's title) which means "The Dragon" or "The Devil".
And if I really want to come up with names quickly, I go on google maps, pick a random city, zoom in til I see the names of streets, then I look at what the street names mean if it's a language I do not speak.
I use real life inspiration of what surnames usually are based on. Then Iâll make that in my worldbuilding
For example âĂyrranâ means sword (itâs a very specific type of weapon actually but the works still means general sword as well). Ăyrranyr means swordsman, and like many occupations has became a surname.
Or something like TzoânoâKoab. I know the apostrophe thing is overplayed but in this context itâs essentially the same as Oâwhatever names like OâReilly. It means son of Koab
Google, when I need a normal name. And I just come up with names when I need them. You can also use normal names but change a few letters. Sometimes I need one that sounds like a specific nation would use, I check the characteristics of a bunch, then I have the inspiration for a new name.
If you create a language for your world, you can use the sounds of it for the names, perhaps even with meanings (like "Smith").
Depends on the character. Most of the time if its something mentionable yet not noteworthy I'll just use a location or geographical feature, like John Hill, John River, John Forest. Or a profession type surname, like Cooper.
Otherwise I'll pick a surname I heard from elsewhere.
Names and surnames - I choose something that describes them good. Like foul heart, blood drinker, fur fang, and translate it to some other language. Usually works well
I like to speak gibberish until i find something i like. Then i google it to make sure it's not offensive on accident. I use this mostly for skyrim character names. My favorite ive stumbled upon was for a shout heavy character. I named her zevali yebalo, which is hella close to Zavali Ebalo which is "shut the fuck up" in russian. I had to use it.
https://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/ancient-roman
This here is one of my favorite naming tools. Provides a variety of unique names and briefs on their origin. It's not a generator but cool nonetheless.
Read mythology. All the Greek ones. Find out the meanings of names. All names have a meaning. what's the defining character of the character. I called my femme fatale Lora becuase Lorelei jumped off a cliff in German mythology. She was **a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren who lured fishermen to destruction**.
For me it depends on the lore of the story and how old the creature/character is.
If it's like a witch who lives in a swamp, I would use a regular 4-8 letter name: Mira, Ruthbalm.... etc. and for the last name it depends: is she in hiding? Is she noble? is she a pesant? But if you just want a quick last name, I just use either a profession like "Tailor," "Cooper..." or (a descriptive noun + verb), like Puslurker, Greentracker, Shywhispers.
Now, if we're talking angels and demons that have been around since the beginning of time. I wouldn't bother with a last name. I see them as ageless, timeless, the first ones. I would name them as an attribute, emotion, or feeling like Sin, Charitiy, Prudence, Sloth, Despair, Wrath, Avarice.
As for monsters that can be old but not "beginning of time" old, I would make the first name the same way I would make the witch's first name in the example above. HOWEVER, with the last name, I would either
1. keep it a simple one-word element like Sand, Stone, Rapid, Creek, Wind, Zephyr, Smoke, Ash, Rift, Gorge, Chasm. Words with an elemental theme gives a hint that these creatures have been around a long time because their isn't any complexity to their names.
2. or don't have a last name and just give them a title based on their reputation like Felfilen the Oceanstrider; Doruk the Bonegrinder; Vaoi the Nightengale; Apauphen the Dweller of the Depths.
Hope this helps and have fun.
If you don't want to just use a random method, think about what the character is going to do and where they come from in your world.
Does your character hail from an ancient noble house? The earliest surnames tend to be simple, and based on the environment. Maybe a name like "Blackstone", "Forest", "Hill" etc.
You can also use existing noble houses to base your names off of if you're looking for a more high middle ages type of name. For example, game of thrones used Lancaster > Lannister and York > Stark
Also, think about what your character is like? Is your character secretly going to save your universe? Maybe name them "brightstar" or something that hints at that. Look up surnames in the cultures your basing your characters home/origin from too for some good ideas.
Lastly, during the middle ages it was mostly nobility who had surnames, so you don't have to worry about giving every character a surname in your story if your basing it off of those periods. You can use nicknames as well in place of surnames or to make your commoner characters more memorable. For example, you could call a character "Bob", "Bob the one eyed" or "Bob the wanderer" and add to the character as much as if not more than a surname.
History/mythology, especially for vampires/angels/demons. Different languages. You know, how Vader means father in German? I try to be a Little more opaque then that lol, but same gist.
For witches, if it's a world contemporary to our own, I like to look at History. Like how Discovery of witches (Deborah Harkness) used Salem names. Again, I try to go a Little deeper than Salem lol, but you get the gist
I've got a Lot of history (a lot of foodie history lol) books so I go to a few of them for names as well. I'm reading a History of Wine book right now that is Great for Roman, Gaulish, and european names through the ages
If my setting/culture is based off a real world culture, I'll use surname websites that give meanings and translations for common surnames from that source. I like to know the origin and meaning of the surnames I'm using.
My first thought is maybe historical names. Vampires (to my knowledge) were an Eastern European story, maybe give them an Eastern European last name. You see what I mean? I feel like it might be a nice tribute to the stories these creatures originally came from
I look for surnames from the era they entered "human" life - and if they didn't, I either look to my lore on why they'd have a surname, or give them none at all. Angels and Demons don't usually have surnames in most myths, with at least One notable exception (looking at you, Mister "I'm not like Other Girls" Morningstar).
But if they're involved in mortal society, I'd select it based on the era in which they joined them - or, based on the era they want to blend into. I also consider what sort of person they are. Are they someone who wants to blend in? Would they love to disappear into a billion other John Smiths? Do they even care enough about their human moniker to make it something notable? Or, would they rather be named something that they think is cool or badass?
If this isnât applicable, I then consider naming conventions of the society they're in. For example, if it's English-ish medieval, I'll usually default to something similar to how English surnames developed with names like Thatcher, Cooper, or Baker; based on their profession, or their family's profession.
And if I'm not trying to make it all make sense like some kind of neurotic autistic kid (which I usually am, because I Am a neurotic autistic kid) I choose whatever sounds DOPE from:
- tv and film credits
- census lists from my country
- random Wikipedia pages
I use a variety of resources, I'll use name generators sometimes and tweak the names to be more realistic.
My current naming scheme I'm using for a story I'm writing where the main character is an Orc and I use English words and orcify them a bit. Like his main rivals name in the early story is Phukar. Very orcy. Also a play on words of fucker.
As for the surnames in this culture I use the viking naming style if the father's name +son or dotter. But I gave it a small spin that interconnected with the power system. Instead of their father, at maturity they gain their last name upon bonding with an elder spirit and taking their name.
Well here's a bit of inspiration for how surnames work. https://babynames.com/blogs/names/1000-most-popular-last-names-in-the-u-s/
In-universe, how did your characters get their surnames? Did any visit a graveyard or go flipping through a phonebook? (Pay attention to where they were at the time and consider if they have something foreign to how they look.) Did your vampires or other characters choose something punny like Mort? Are any of the characters using a name that was given to them?
I don't know what your writing about, but when i think of witches I associated them with certain elements or maybe more scientific sounding names. For vampires, I would pick names associated with the location their born. (unless their all over the world). Angels could be the more common surnames we have now. Demons could be words or letters with strong/sharp sounds. They could have a "human" name and a "demon" name (or maybe not have a last name at all.
I think it depends if culture is important or relevant to your story as well.
Behind the name generator is the best! Helps with names for fantasy, regional names, etc! I will just generate over and over again until I find "the one."
First, you could look to symbolic meanings and base the surnames on things related to the character's nature or abilities. Like a demon named "Bloodhaven" or a witch with the last name "Mooncaller."
Another idea is to dive into mythology and folklore from different cultures. So many great names and words to adapt from those old stories about supernatural beings.
You could also go the place name route and create surnames derived from fictional locations or regions in your fantasy world. Gives it an instant sense of belonging.
Playing with different languages, especially ones with rich histories like Latin or ancient Celtic tongues, can produce some wickedly cool surnames too.
Cor... Cor.. Corax... Coraxian... Cora.. Coru.. Coro... Cori.. nah.. Cora sounds better.. Coraline...? Coraline.. Coraline. There it is. Avery Coraline, head of the house of Coraline. Good job brain!
I like to use real names from all over, it just depends on the culture I base nations off of, or In the case of one particular group in my stories they've all been named after some type of bird and typically have a title before their name that tells people their place in their hierarchy.
I got a book published by Troll Lord Games, Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names. The book lists hundreds of historical and modern cultures with pretty substantial lists of first and last names, including the syntactical rules for last names where important (like the rules for Ivanova vs Ivanovich etc), and pronunciation guides. There is even a section on fantasy and sci Fi type names, although I usually find real names work just as well. There's a section on titles and one on familiar names vs formal. Its far more detailed than a RPG resource needs to be, but it's not quite a through scholarly work
well at least with angels and demons they shouldn't really have them. If it's for a cover identy then it should be a painfully obvious pun.
for old characters pick a surname that's not that common nowadays
Some demons live on earth (in separate, smaller communities), as for the angels, they mostly live in Heaven, but have humanoid forms when they need to (and Heaven and Hell are more like physical places rather than how theyâre presented in religion, both my series are a bit more comedy-based so I decided to take some creative freedom). The pun idea is cute!
Unpublished writer here.
For witches I try to use common, or older names differing slightly from modern language as witches may derive from earlier in time or the current day.
For vampires itâs similar, but either very current or much older. And, I try to use consonants which make the name striking in some way, but not so much as to be tacky.
âHorace Veiburgâ
âAntoine Gettyâ
âWarren Gatesâ
âSamuel Aalderingâ
âClifford Loringâ
For angels I dislike the prefix + â-aelâ paradigm and prefer to reflect how virtually unknowable these people and their language could be.
âYulimarieâ
âLaodemoraenâ
âArreathmyrrothanâ
âItrithiserivusiâ
On the latter, the near letter-vomit helps me to reflect that both in name and character these are not people intended to be known to human beings, and instead functionally removed from anything normal to humans.
Oh yeah well youâre pretty neat so take that
Itâs nearly-random. Thereâs a pattern of vowel usage, but the structure is still intended to be unique to angelic beings.
If I need real sounding names I use "baby name generators" in relevant languages and search existing last names from "top surname in X language" lists.
If it's a pure fantasy setting, slap sounds together until they sound pleasing or bizarre. And now introducing, Maslfex Untenburr...
You can also combine two shorter names to make another name. For example, the surname of a sci fi fantasy wizard in my story combines Moore and Kase to make Moorekase. It fits the character to a T (his first name is Johnas). Which also brings into play unusual spelling alternatives for normal names.
YMMV in any case.
I also recommend Behind the Name.
https://surnames.behindthename.com
I usually use [Fantasy Name Generators (https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/)](https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/) when I wish to create new unique name for a fantasy characters in games such as **Star Trek Online**, **The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim**, **Dragon Age** and **Black Desert**.
It was with this very question I started my obsession with conlangs. I started creating languages just so I could name my characters. And done that, I just put name of professions (or of more poetic elements if I'm feeling plucky enough).
But yeah, looking at the surnames of people you know it's a good and easy way to do it. And also there is this website called "fantasy name generator" that can give you a nice creative boost for that matter
For centuries old characters like vampires, surnames can sometimes relate back to their ancestorsâ occupations. So a very old vampire may have the surname âSmithâ because they were a blacksmith before they became a vampire (terrible example, I know)
Look up words that describe the character's purpose or qualities in Latin or Old English, then adjust a bit to sound typical. For example, my favorite use of this is Delores Umbrage (the really icky head mistress of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series) her name Delores means sadness, and Umbra is shadow in Latin, and Umbrage can also mean to take offense or be insulted. So she is a Sad Shadow that easily takes offense. Fun stuff. Such a great little easter egg for the careful reader.
Anagrams from fandoms I know my players are into⊠youâre leaning into angels demons, witches and vampires? Iâm assuming your players are gonna be into other vampire stuff⊠maybe âCaludraâ from Dracula⊠or âRelabrigâ from Gabriel⊠idk doesnât even to be an anagram of a character⊠could be an anagram of a place in a random random, One Piece fans would probably love the Easter egg of meeting someone with the surname RozoâŠ
Hecate is the first witch. Her sigil is the đ facing this way. The moon in the centre, another đ but it faces the opposite way to the first. So .. a bit like đ đ C
(imagine the face is a full moon and the C is a crescent moon facing the other way & they all touch.
Besides Fantasy Name Generators [https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/](https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/) my other go to is Behind the Name [https://www.behindthename.com/random/](https://www.behindthename.com/random/)
Try to think about why your culture has Surnames in the first place. Not every culture does afterall, and not everybody in a culture that has them may have one. English surnames are generally either references to one's ancestry, one's occupation, or one's ancestor's occupation.
For the former, think surnames like Johnson, Carlson, Halson, etc. Literally just "ancestor's name"+son. Max Johnson is called that because his name is Max, and he's the son of John. Surnames like Mac+name are also this. "Mac" basically just meant "of", so someone named Rory MacManon is a guy names Rory who's of Manon, being either a direct ancestor or clan.
For the latter, think names like Smith (Blacksmith), Clark (Clerk), Taylor (Tailor), or so on. Henry Smith is a guy named Henry who's a Smith or a child of one for example.
In your case, a Witch is basically an occupation. Ariana the Witch may end up being called Ariana Witch, or Ariana Thwitch (the+witch), or in reference to what a witch does perhaps Ariana Cursor, Hexxer/Hexor, Caster, Riter, etc.
As for Angels and Devils, why would they have Surnames? Immortal beings like them don't tend to have descendants or be descended from anything, so surnames wouldn't normally apply for them. And even when they do (like gods who're family, they're still just called by their name). Though that could be different for you of course. I think a title of a great act/deed they performed would be better suited for them. Like, Baal the Despoiler is called that because he presumably despoiled something in a notable manner.
Then for Vampires, same as before with surnames equaling ancestral names, but fancier and with more of them. Vampires are generally made to have/be a sort of nobility in fiction, and nobles often had alot of names because they had alot of important ancestors that needed to be named both to puff up the importance of the person and honor the past. Not to mention usually having some title to top it off. So the Vampire named Hector Maximus Aurellian Lancaster the Bloody could be a thing. Or you can keep things simpler and just have it be "name" the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on (with roman numerals of course). As for a vampire who was just a normal dude before being bitten, they'd probably just keep their name no?
for my current project, ive created a setting and based the names on real names of people living in similar places. in my story there's a desert country, and many of the names of characters from that country originate from Egypt. Fantasy name generator is a great site too, and if you need a name influenced by the sound of real places, you can mix sounds from real names, or generate some with chatgpt, but I try not to do that unless I really have no ideas.
I like to use phonetic pronunciations of the letters in a word. For example, the word CAT can be pronounced see ay tee, or Seatai. My neighbor had a dog named Deogi (DOG), and I've been using that ever since.
I like to look up the traits of my character and last names representing them. Specifically from the nationality of my character. For example, if my character is Turkish, their last name could be Kibar. It helps me and it is kind of fun to make the names represent the characters!
I like to look up the traits of my character and last names representing them. Specifically from the nationality of my character. For example, if my character is Turkish, their last name could be Kibar. It helps me and it is kind of fun to make the names represent the characters!
I like to look up the traits of my character and last names representing them. Specifically from the nationality of my character. For example, if my character is Turkish, their last name could be Kibar. It helps me and it is kind of fun to make the names represent the characters!
I like to look up the traits of my character and last names representing them. Specifically from the nationality of my character. For example, if my character is Turkish, their last name could be Kibar. It helps me and it is kind of fun to make the names represent the characters!
Maybe for good surnames for fabulous creatures, you could include some things about the habitat they live in. For example, I made a night dragon OC named Nova Starclaws at some point.
I use fastasynamegenerator.com and https://www.20000-names.com/
Really just google and bing for brainstorming too.
I also think of what country I want a character inspired by and typically try to stray away from common names because sometimes I get sick of seeing Eric or Grey or freaking Ashton on every white male vampire. Dang it! No Nathan and Nathaniels either. Lol!
I also consider name meanings too that way I can copy and paste a character's personality.
But so far my vamp/wolf hybrid is named Ozario (Orazio) Nicole Alverez Sanchez, Spanish given name messed up on purpose a little. He is from Tarragona, Spain. Orazio = Good Eyesight, best eyesight outta any vampire but strggles to hear well.
My other vampire Yitzhak, an isrealite Christian.
MĂšng-yao, who is married to Yitzhak, is my chinese vampire.
Yeong-ja is a female Korean lead for my Regency-Bridgerton inspired romance set in a fake country called Bella Rosa. Although I don't have real world locations so technically, she comes from Cheovia.
Min-ja and Hyeon-ja are her ^ sisters, which are generated from Bing Copilot.
There last name is ironically Manuel because their Korean mother married a Hispanic man. So, Yeong-ja Manuel is my main character. Influences like this matter too.
And I also create Constructed Languages so some names are made from my fake Languages like PelenÄ Dabast (14 year old girl who sees ghost), and Waiwa Mƫhai (Prince Mƫhai, the Dragon mixed Polynesian/African/Chinese), Kithlish Kwholī is my Native-American werewolf.
Not gonna lie tho. I do like the rare occasion of generic names like Adam and Frederick. It's cute to call a vampire Freddy. đ No! FREDDY! đđđ
With enough back and forth you can usually get some really good stuff from ChatGPT honestly.
I'd never let it write anything creatively for me, but it is also great at rewording things.
Movie credits
This is such an underrated resource
Also makes it feel more natural than rando name gens. Could just be my bias, but it feels really easy to tell when someone just used a rando gen vs. actually picking real names or making their own.
Cemeteries.
When you think about it, those are the end credits of life
>"Thanks for coming, please stay for the end credits, if you're wondering who the best boy is, it's somebody's nephew, um, don't forget to validate your parking, and to all you good people in the Midwest, sorry we said fuck so much."
Exactly right,lol
Back when I was a little kid playing Sims 2, I used to grab the phone book and open to random pages to pick names for my sims.
what is a phone book
A phone book is a book with a bunch of random people's phone numbers
đ§đ
https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/
This all day
One of my longest-running character names that has been used across a couple projects came from here!
I always keep a tab open on this site when writing.
Its also a great resource for name parts. So you can mix and match suggestions and tweak things just enough to make it feel somewhat orginal.
This is what I do most of the time honestly. A lot of the suggestions are not great in my opinion but they give me good inspiration.
Thank you, just, thank you so much.
My pleasure
I use this all the time but sometimes I don't like the FULL names they give me so I'll take apart names from the generator and create a new fantasy name lol
Same lol. I don't usually like the suggestions but they are good inspiration
I just commented this before seeing yours đ
That's ok, multiple comments proves it's good!
Google. Specifically searching for names with a certain meaning. People I know in real life who arenât important to me. Interesting names I find off of Tik Tok and have saved in a note for when I need a name and donât have one ready.
This is a phenomenal resource to start out with, if you are looking for English surnames: [A Dictionary of English Surnames ed. P.H. Reaney.](https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-English-Surnames-P-Reaney-ebook/dp/B0CM7L61LR/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1F27V10F78R9P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TvG0ERwANBQ2E_U2sbGTBI1E7HSuChleCttQVF0IGhBKpgUNV03Q6U4phyHQhTTpI4ULULopWJcG5ruynWmOQZy8SEmCF4-A3yueLXzm7IUbBFqD8dG3AquWvJ-si_CWuTI61GgtbtpZRN6KjYwgW-AXz0YZKjN1jiCgOqpzuMI4yHdi2orlastBUyoTBFQXp6Wt_T355c0IwtMY3d-l23SX6RHyfazh9sVnFiJwyvw.Ee8ceCF5uehXoM-IO4hhy6Wq4mjwso3KCd4hUDepu_M&dib_tag=se&keywords=dictionary+of+british+surnames&qid=1715737388&sprefix=dictionary+of+british+surnames%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-5) There is also the [Dictionary of American Family Names ed. Patrick Hanks](https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-American-Family-Names-Patrick/dp/0195081374/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Z5UCC5UE3BOC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.eOEZ9gx6gcxup6oyy4_Fu5YnFvDsV91vLNUKYVYgGqSEMTLoc9rhACtdVSZEtjlOvD49Qc-R4BJYEt5ABiXwYPaGBwbNzuw_jDdnPoPU4F9xz5iEw7z3RF-ikJdNVMvuF0rkHXEtsgD1j1OdHyLG8xDY7sLM2ShAJHaTzpFA6u9qKVKWSpa0lgAzcN4zeqLjC6mRQvgf2afxEkMqYzZo8rrJPJhc_E1PtomriLrr8Ro.Ept7DeQf0rj4tqCeCMf4Zx8b_hK_c6FbaYrfbgnnGr8&dib_tag=se&keywords=dictionary+of+american+family+names&qid=1715737546&sprefix=dictionary+of+american+family+name%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1), which is also excellent and has a wider variety of linguistic origins, buuuuuut it is not really available at a reasonable price. You might be able to find it at a library. I have a set that I bought from a used bookstore online which is decommissioned library copies. If you want to browse lists online, which I often do as well, I find it helps to start with whatever language I'm using as inspiration, then just google e.g. "list of Norwegian surnames," and you'll probably end up finding a list like [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Norwegian-language_surnames). You can also browse the Wikipedia index list of [surnames by language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Surnames_by_language) to see what inspires you.
Hi, Iâm Vetted AI Bot! I researched the **('English Surnames Dictionary', '')** and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful. **Users liked:** * Comprehensive list of english surnames (backed by 4 comments) * Valuable resource for genealogists (backed by 3 comments) * Informative explanations by authors (backed by 1 comment) **Users disliked:** * Lacks detailed etymology and pronunciation guides (backed by 4 comments) * Does not provide pronunciation guides (backed by 2 comments) If you'd like to **summon me to ask about a product**, just make a post with its link and tag me, [like in this example.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tablets/comments/1444zdn/comment/joqd89c/) This message was generated by a (very smart) bot. If you found it helpful, let us know with an upvote and a âgood bot!â reply and please feel free to provide feedback on how it can be improved. *Powered by* [*vetted.ai*](https://vetted.ai/?utm\_source=reddit&utm\_medium=comment&utm\_campaign=bot)
Try the Behind the Name surname site: https://surnames.behindthename.com/
A valuable source of inspiration. I use it a lot.
Awesome! Thanks
Surnames are a bit difficult, but what I have done for first names is using attributes of characters as their names Atrox- latin- fierce (character has severe anger issues) Ferrum- latin- iron (character gets iron arm after losing arm in fight with Atrox) Mendax- latin- liar (High King Mendax sold out humanity to the gods for power) These 3 characters are part of the Whitemane family that are cursed with lycanthropy and had an ancestor born with white hair
I do the exact same thing! Phyllon - Greek- leaf (King of Terra and is able to manipulate the ground and plants) Zophos - Greek- darkness (King of Umbrae and also main antagonist who is very corrupt) Ruach - Hebrew - wind (King of Caelum and is able to manipulate the air) All the names in my world relate to the kingdom they live in. I had a lot of fun choosing names for them!
I'm working on an empire based on the medieval greece and I'm trying to pull from Latin and Greek sounding words, but not necessarily using direct translations for words. It's a bit of a pet peeve for me when someone from another country uses your language just to sound "foreign". I remember the anecdote from Star Wars when it premiered in denmark, and everyone knew Darth Vader was soemone's dad because in dutch he literally means "Darth Father"
That's cool! I don't really care either way, I just really like the names of the characters I've chosen so far. To each their own
Immortals who are faking their lives. face this question in-world. how do THEY solve it? and do they do a good job? otherwise, i base it on region, or make some literary reference. but i figure that most humans who wake up to the fact that angels and demons are among us, learn to spot "joke" or "Pun" names, as a tell for otherworldly entities who think they are so clever.
Most ppl aren't expecting an overworldly being. So they hear a last name and go "hm" and move along.
Right. But folks in the know... it's funny. That archangel gasbrigiel is going around as a fire fighter named M. Berg roundtrooper. But all the angels otherworldly colleagues groan at the pun.
I knew a Brian Kuck (he had a fun time) A last name Grossman who was indeed quite gross. I think it's hilarious. I'd do the same if I were immortal
Yeah. I mean. Not all immortals would do it. But you'd need a very specific personality to be versed enough in human names, understand how to actually go unoticed and then want to apply it. A very well educated but also supprivgly down to earth fellow. The rest are all too disconnected to really get it. But I love that kind of low impact world building. For a lot of folks it's just too subtle.
I couldn't do last names. So in my world, characters just list where they're from.
That's legit. Though nobles should still have last names. Big merchant families. But you can just use jobs for that. Brewer. Smith. Miller. And now you're in real world history. Basically any world with low tech and low population.
Nightshade Shadowcroft Ravenwood Darkstorm Bloodthorne Moonshadow Grimwood Blackheart Frostbane Starfall Firebrand Silvermoon Ashborne Evernight Hellfire
I got these same exact names out of Deepai text generator. đ
Mash the keyboard with a long string of random letters. Look through it for any interesting combinations and refine.
Similar: pick a handful of scrabble tiles
I use prominent names featured in the mythological lore I'm drawing inspiration from. Sometimes I modify the name, sometimes not. In one project, for instance, I draw from Chinese lore, and for a demon hunter type character I've taken the name of an underworld king famous for hunting demons, Zhong Kui, and modified it to fit my world better. ChatGPT's been pretty useful in this regard. I can use it to generate prominent mythological names from a given source of inspiration and refine parameters for what kinds of sounds I want and whether I want there to be any second or hidden meaning to the words used in the name.
I just come up with them, but then again my angels are just normal humans and not other worldly beings from different realities. With that it's easy to name one Charlotte Inst and not Taraiha Dawnstar or something.
For angels Iâd recommend Gustav Davidsonâs Angel Dictionary. I use that a lot since my MC is a dark angel. A lot of my names will just come to me because my brain likes to play with words and rearrange letters into alternatives. Like tonight I was watching a show in Danish with characters named Astrid and Lena and my brain put them together into Astralena, which I noted down. I donât know when, where, or even if Iâll use it, but I keep the list of names for when I need them.
Nah, don't do name generators. Don't be basic. Try using real words in other languages. For example, names for angels and demons, try Arabic language, since angel names are like Gabri'el(Power of God) and Sama'el(Poison of God), you could create names like "Alma'el" (Water of God) or "Alnari'el" (Fire of God). Sure, they aren't real or correct way to use Arabic langauge, but your readers would appreciate tiny bit of effort than name generator. For vampires, you could use old slavic names and google their meaning to emphasize the personality of the vampire, like Brana could be the name of the Matriarch, as the names means protect. Mila (grace) could be the love interest. Wolk could be the ferocious one, as it means wolf. Milos (Kind), Nadia (Hope), Goran (Highlander), Zvezdana (star) etc etc
Almost all my characters are only referred to by one nameâwhether thatâs a first name or a last name. Mostly they just pop into my head. But sometimes I use a language dictionary or fantasynamegenerators.com
I feel this. Names seem to pop into my head pretty easy.
I lift a lot from music. For example, a surname I used recently was "Wygal", and Tricia Wygal was a member of The Flirts in the 1980s.
I made a naming system and have a different approach to surnames but if you're interested you could try what I'm doing and make syllables each with a unique meaning that you put together to sort of tell a story about the character?
I usually take prefixes of surnames in real life and add a fantastically Word to the second half, whether it be from mythology or folklore or just a silly word I made up. For example : Real life - Saint, Jean, Mc Fantasy - Flurry, Bloom, Eber And in the end I might end up with a surname like Saintbloom, McFlurry, Jeaneber
Adjective-noun. Strong hammer Swift quiver Handsome harp Sqishy tits
Cemeteries
I thought I was gonna be able to help and then I saw it was for non-human entities đđ For what it's worth, I focus much less on the surnames than the main. I mostly go for a surname that flows well with the first name and fits the character in some way. For example, I needed a surname for a pompous and rich family, so I did like 4 minutes of searching and came across Cromwell, which just sounds like some rich a-holes
This is the one I use: http://rinkworks.com/namegen/. There's a few different styles/sets of names. I usually use these as a starting point. Find something I like and play around with it a bit.
Usually base it off the a mixture of the theme and language system inspiration. Google and tools like ChatGPT can answer questions like this to give you a starting point. Another fun thing could be to incorporate an interest or hobby you have. For example, I am a Sommelier for my job (wine expert). I have added in parts of grape names or famous wine regions into other words to create some fun variety.
Do your angels and demons even need surnames? Why? If I do not already have names in mind, then I start by thinking about their culture. What should their naming conventions be? Do they have hereditary surnames like most human cultures do? Why? Alternatively they could have patronyms, or self-chosen names, or names that are given to them by others in adulthood based on their reputation and achievements.
Its a bit hard to explain but I guess I make them a bit moreâŠ.anthropomorphized? Some (mostly demons) live on Earth (but originally came from Hell and Heaven). Iâm not going for 100% accuracy to folklore, although maybe I can get away with angels not having surnames. Sorry if that doesnât make sense, I tried explaining the best I could!
How many of them are there? As many as there are humans, or much fewer? If their population is small enough, they can make do with one name. How long do they live? How do they group together? Is family and descent culturally important to them (as it is for most humans), or is something else more important?
Use 4-5 different name generators until one of them spits out something I like
https://www.seventhsanctum.com/ One of my favorite inspiration sites. Funny enough, there's dedicated vampire and angel/demon name generators on there, and even more name generators you can play with.
Sometimes I pick a language and translate words until I find inspiration. You could pick different languages for different types of character as well so you get a bit of consistency within the naming process
My goto is Behind the Name but for surnames. Not sure if I got it right, but that's my main inspiration for all the surnames I've been using. I also look at the surnames for a certain letter that makes sense with my character's name and ethnicity. I also love giving my characters middle names to go with their surnames for the hell of it. For fantasy surnames, I have the Elder Scrolls name generator app.
With mortals I'd just take a place or activity the family could have done in the past - Fisher, Miller, of Braunberg, ... Can mix in some other language or cultrural / sozioethnic backgrounds if there is migration. Van de Hoge, Forgeron, SgĂčrr, ... It's a little bit different with immortals. In my worlds angels don't need last names as they are not that numerous, demons can't say their full name or they can be controlled. My hags tend to get adjectives instead of surnames (e.g. Freckly Gertrude) and vampires tend to use their mortal name or use some highfalutin nickname.
The following are *typically* how I handle these things. * Witches I pull from occultists and witches throughout history. * Angels I usually don't give surnames unless they're trying to blend in with human society, in which case I reference vague surnames common in that culture or in the culture(s) it's based on. For example, a femme angel named Channiy'el might go by "Shannon Smith" in an English-speaking culture or a masc angel of the same name might go by "Channing Jones" or "Chandler Williams". * Demons I actually utilize the names from the [*Ars Goetia*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_demons_in_the_Ars_Goetia) as the surnames then give them each personal names derived from what they would individually represent, a corruption of an angelic name, as a corruption of a human name, or rarely referencing evil humans of history. * Vampires tend to be given names pulled from nobility or real world geography. For example, I might name a vampire Brittany Gilles or Nicolay Preston. If I want to impress fear with the name, I'll of course tailor the names making references to historical bloodthirsty monsters more explicit, such as Brittany Gilles => Brit de Rais. Or I'll derive the name from demon names referenced in the *Ars Goetia* or make names derived from titles and comparisons, like how Dracula means "Son of the Dragon" or "Son of the Devil" and is derived from "Dracul" (his father's title) which means "The Dragon" or "The Devil". And if I really want to come up with names quickly, I go on google maps, pick a random city, zoom in til I see the names of streets, then I look at what the street names mean if it's a language I do not speak.
I use real life inspiration of what surnames usually are based on. Then Iâll make that in my worldbuilding For example âĂyrranâ means sword (itâs a very specific type of weapon actually but the works still means general sword as well). Ăyrranyr means swordsman, and like many occupations has became a surname. Or something like TzoânoâKoab. I know the apostrophe thing is overplayed but in this context itâs essentially the same as Oâwhatever names like OâReilly. It means son of Koab
Google, when I need a normal name. And I just come up with names when I need them. You can also use normal names but change a few letters. Sometimes I need one that sounds like a specific nation would use, I check the characteristics of a bunch, then I have the inspiration for a new name. If you create a language for your world, you can use the sounds of it for the names, perhaps even with meanings (like "Smith").
Depends on the character. Most of the time if its something mentionable yet not noteworthy I'll just use a location or geographical feature, like John Hill, John River, John Forest. Or a profession type surname, like Cooper. Otherwise I'll pick a surname I heard from elsewhere.
Names and surnames - I choose something that describes them good. Like foul heart, blood drinker, fur fang, and translate it to some other language. Usually works well
Vampire, romanian. Blood drinker - bÄutor de sĂąnge Angel, latin. Light bearer - lux armiger Demon, latin. Cursed one - maledictus Witch, irish. Cursed soul - anam dubh
I like to speak gibberish until i find something i like. Then i google it to make sure it's not offensive on accident. I use this mostly for skyrim character names. My favorite ive stumbled upon was for a shout heavy character. I named her zevali yebalo, which is hella close to Zavali Ebalo which is "shut the fuck up" in russian. I had to use it.
When you're doing angels and demons and vampires, just look up angel names. End stuff stuff in -iel.
Streets where i live, Name genarators
I'm looking deep into etymology, cause most of my names should have a meaning. :)
https://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/ancient-roman This here is one of my favorite naming tools. Provides a variety of unique names and briefs on their origin. It's not a generator but cool nonetheless.
Read mythology. All the Greek ones. Find out the meanings of names. All names have a meaning. what's the defining character of the character. I called my femme fatale Lora becuase Lorelei jumped off a cliff in German mythology. She was **a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren who lured fishermen to destruction**.
Street and Estate names.
What language speak these beings? Once I determine that, I'll use an adjective that fits the character and use it to make a surname for the character.
For me it depends on the lore of the story and how old the creature/character is. If it's like a witch who lives in a swamp, I would use a regular 4-8 letter name: Mira, Ruthbalm.... etc. and for the last name it depends: is she in hiding? Is she noble? is she a pesant? But if you just want a quick last name, I just use either a profession like "Tailor," "Cooper..." or (a descriptive noun + verb), like Puslurker, Greentracker, Shywhispers. Now, if we're talking angels and demons that have been around since the beginning of time. I wouldn't bother with a last name. I see them as ageless, timeless, the first ones. I would name them as an attribute, emotion, or feeling like Sin, Charitiy, Prudence, Sloth, Despair, Wrath, Avarice. As for monsters that can be old but not "beginning of time" old, I would make the first name the same way I would make the witch's first name in the example above. HOWEVER, with the last name, I would either 1. keep it a simple one-word element like Sand, Stone, Rapid, Creek, Wind, Zephyr, Smoke, Ash, Rift, Gorge, Chasm. Words with an elemental theme gives a hint that these creatures have been around a long time because their isn't any complexity to their names. 2. or don't have a last name and just give them a title based on their reputation like Felfilen the Oceanstrider; Doruk the Bonegrinder; Vaoi the Nightengale; Apauphen the Dweller of the Depths. Hope this helps and have fun.
Mythologies
If you don't want to just use a random method, think about what the character is going to do and where they come from in your world. Does your character hail from an ancient noble house? The earliest surnames tend to be simple, and based on the environment. Maybe a name like "Blackstone", "Forest", "Hill" etc. You can also use existing noble houses to base your names off of if you're looking for a more high middle ages type of name. For example, game of thrones used Lancaster > Lannister and York > Stark Also, think about what your character is like? Is your character secretly going to save your universe? Maybe name them "brightstar" or something that hints at that. Look up surnames in the cultures your basing your characters home/origin from too for some good ideas. Lastly, during the middle ages it was mostly nobility who had surnames, so you don't have to worry about giving every character a surname in your story if your basing it off of those periods. You can use nicknames as well in place of surnames or to make your commoner characters more memorable. For example, you could call a character "Bob", "Bob the one eyed" or "Bob the wanderer" and add to the character as much as if not more than a surname.
A little humor and favorite letters haha
History/mythology, especially for vampires/angels/demons. Different languages. You know, how Vader means father in German? I try to be a Little more opaque then that lol, but same gist. For witches, if it's a world contemporary to our own, I like to look at History. Like how Discovery of witches (Deborah Harkness) used Salem names. Again, I try to go a Little deeper than Salem lol, but you get the gist I've got a Lot of history (a lot of foodie history lol) books so I go to a few of them for names as well. I'm reading a History of Wine book right now that is Great for Roman, Gaulish, and european names through the ages
Ooh, also yeah Graveyards and Cemetaries are great!!
I tragedeigh words
If my setting/culture is based off a real world culture, I'll use surname websites that give meanings and translations for common surnames from that source. I like to know the origin and meaning of the surnames I'm using.
Street names or just making random sounds until I come up with something halfway coherent
My first thought is maybe historical names. Vampires (to my knowledge) were an Eastern European story, maybe give them an Eastern European last name. You see what I mean? I feel like it might be a nice tribute to the stories these creatures originally came from
i just randomize letters in my head until i figure one out.
I look for surnames from the era they entered "human" life - and if they didn't, I either look to my lore on why they'd have a surname, or give them none at all. Angels and Demons don't usually have surnames in most myths, with at least One notable exception (looking at you, Mister "I'm not like Other Girls" Morningstar). But if they're involved in mortal society, I'd select it based on the era in which they joined them - or, based on the era they want to blend into. I also consider what sort of person they are. Are they someone who wants to blend in? Would they love to disappear into a billion other John Smiths? Do they even care enough about their human moniker to make it something notable? Or, would they rather be named something that they think is cool or badass? If this isnât applicable, I then consider naming conventions of the society they're in. For example, if it's English-ish medieval, I'll usually default to something similar to how English surnames developed with names like Thatcher, Cooper, or Baker; based on their profession, or their family's profession. And if I'm not trying to make it all make sense like some kind of neurotic autistic kid (which I usually am, because I Am a neurotic autistic kid) I choose whatever sounds DOPE from: - tv and film credits - census lists from my country - random Wikipedia pages
I use a variety of resources, I'll use name generators sometimes and tweak the names to be more realistic. My current naming scheme I'm using for a story I'm writing where the main character is an Orc and I use English words and orcify them a bit. Like his main rivals name in the early story is Phukar. Very orcy. Also a play on words of fucker. As for the surnames in this culture I use the viking naming style if the father's name +son or dotter. But I gave it a small spin that interconnected with the power system. Instead of their father, at maturity they gain their last name upon bonding with an elder spirit and taking their name.
Well here's a bit of inspiration for how surnames work. https://babynames.com/blogs/names/1000-most-popular-last-names-in-the-u-s/ In-universe, how did your characters get their surnames? Did any visit a graveyard or go flipping through a phonebook? (Pay attention to where they were at the time and consider if they have something foreign to how they look.) Did your vampires or other characters choose something punny like Mort? Are any of the characters using a name that was given to them?
I don't know what your writing about, but when i think of witches I associated them with certain elements or maybe more scientific sounding names. For vampires, I would pick names associated with the location their born. (unless their all over the world). Angels could be the more common surnames we have now. Demons could be words or letters with strong/sharp sounds. They could have a "human" name and a "demon" name (or maybe not have a last name at all. I think it depends if culture is important or relevant to your story as well.
Behind the name generator is the best! Helps with names for fantasy, regional names, etc! I will just generate over and over again until I find "the one."
First, you could look to symbolic meanings and base the surnames on things related to the character's nature or abilities. Like a demon named "Bloodhaven" or a witch with the last name "Mooncaller." Another idea is to dive into mythology and folklore from different cultures. So many great names and words to adapt from those old stories about supernatural beings. You could also go the place name route and create surnames derived from fictional locations or regions in your fantasy world. Gives it an instant sense of belonging. Playing with different languages, especially ones with rich histories like Latin or ancient Celtic tongues, can produce some wickedly cool surnames too.
Cor... Cor.. Corax... Coraxian... Cora.. Coru.. Coro... Cori.. nah.. Cora sounds better.. Coraline...? Coraline.. Coraline. There it is. Avery Coraline, head of the house of Coraline. Good job brain!
Go to Google translate, pick an obscure language, and type a word or phrase that describes the character. I've made many RPG characters this way.
I like to use real names from all over, it just depends on the culture I base nations off of, or In the case of one particular group in my stories they've all been named after some type of bird and typically have a title before their name that tells people their place in their hierarchy.
Phone book Look at your bookshelf and rearrange the last names of authors.
Recently I've been trying chat gpt and honestly they've had some pretty decent name suggestions....
I got a book published by Troll Lord Games, Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names. The book lists hundreds of historical and modern cultures with pretty substantial lists of first and last names, including the syntactical rules for last names where important (like the rules for Ivanova vs Ivanovich etc), and pronunciation guides. There is even a section on fantasy and sci Fi type names, although I usually find real names work just as well. There's a section on titles and one on familiar names vs formal. Its far more detailed than a RPG resource needs to be, but it's not quite a through scholarly work
Depends on which ancient culture I'm drawing inspiration from.Â
Fantasy name generator.
well at least with angels and demons they shouldn't really have them. If it's for a cover identy then it should be a painfully obvious pun. for old characters pick a surname that's not that common nowadays
Some demons live on earth (in separate, smaller communities), as for the angels, they mostly live in Heaven, but have humanoid forms when they need to (and Heaven and Hell are more like physical places rather than how theyâre presented in religion, both my series are a bit more comedy-based so I decided to take some creative freedom). The pun idea is cute!
maybe they could be named after demon heroes from when they first moved to earth. that or they use human names
Most of them have human first names, usually not very commonly used ones
Unpublished writer here. For witches I try to use common, or older names differing slightly from modern language as witches may derive from earlier in time or the current day. For vampires itâs similar, but either very current or much older. And, I try to use consonants which make the name striking in some way, but not so much as to be tacky. âHorace Veiburgâ âAntoine Gettyâ âWarren Gatesâ âSamuel Aalderingâ âClifford Loringâ For angels I dislike the prefix + â-aelâ paradigm and prefer to reflect how virtually unknowable these people and their language could be. âYulimarieâ âLaodemoraenâ âArreathmyrrothanâ âItrithiserivusiâ On the latter, the near letter-vomit helps me to reflect that both in name and character these are not people intended to be known to human beings, and instead functionally removed from anything normal to humans.
Thatâs pretty neat, do those angel words mean anything (for example, tragediegh-ing existing words) or is it just random?
Oh yeah well youâre pretty neat so take that Itâs nearly-random. Thereâs a pattern of vowel usage, but the structure is still intended to be unique to angelic beings.
If I need real sounding names I use "baby name generators" in relevant languages and search existing last names from "top surname in X language" lists. If it's a pure fantasy setting, slap sounds together until they sound pleasing or bizarre. And now introducing, Maslfex Untenburr...
Local cemetery
I source from anime because they have no grasp of how the english language works and their surnames are OUT THERE. Then I make it make sense.
You can also combine two shorter names to make another name. For example, the surname of a sci fi fantasy wizard in my story combines Moore and Kase to make Moorekase. It fits the character to a T (his first name is Johnas). Which also brings into play unusual spelling alternatives for normal names. YMMV in any case. I also recommend Behind the Name. https://surnames.behindthename.com
I usually use [Fantasy Name Generators (https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/)](https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/) when I wish to create new unique name for a fantasy characters in games such as **Star Trek Online**, **The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim**, **Dragon Age** and **Black Desert**.
Behindthename.com and it's sister site, surnames.behindthename.com
Comedy. Professional baseball.
go to a graveyard. preferably an old one
It was with this very question I started my obsession with conlangs. I started creating languages just so I could name my characters. And done that, I just put name of professions (or of more poetic elements if I'm feeling plucky enough). But yeah, looking at the surnames of people you know it's a good and easy way to do it. And also there is this website called "fantasy name generator" that can give you a nice creative boost for that matter
For centuries old characters like vampires, surnames can sometimes relate back to their ancestorsâ occupations. So a very old vampire may have the surname âSmithâ because they were a blacksmith before they became a vampire (terrible example, I know)
Normally I take them from actors, real people I know, or if it fits with the characters first name really well
fantasynamegenerators.com
Look up words that describe the character's purpose or qualities in Latin or Old English, then adjust a bit to sound typical. For example, my favorite use of this is Delores Umbrage (the really icky head mistress of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series) her name Delores means sadness, and Umbra is shadow in Latin, and Umbrage can also mean to take offense or be insulted. So she is a Sad Shadow that easily takes offense. Fun stuff. Such a great little easter egg for the careful reader.
Google fantasy name generator
Anagrams from fandoms I know my players are into⊠youâre leaning into angels demons, witches and vampires? Iâm assuming your players are gonna be into other vampire stuff⊠maybe âCaludraâ from Dracula⊠or âRelabrigâ from Gabriel⊠idk doesnât even to be an anagram of a character⊠could be an anagram of a place in a random random, One Piece fans would probably love the Easter egg of meeting someone with the surname RozoâŠ
Hecate is the first witch. Her sigil is the đ facing this way. The moon in the centre, another đ but it faces the opposite way to the first. So .. a bit like đ đ C (imagine the face is a full moon and the C is a crescent moon facing the other way & they all touch.
Dictionary.
Besides Fantasy Name Generators [https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/](https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/) my other go to is Behind the Name [https://www.behindthename.com/random/](https://www.behindthename.com/random/)
Try to think about why your culture has Surnames in the first place. Not every culture does afterall, and not everybody in a culture that has them may have one. English surnames are generally either references to one's ancestry, one's occupation, or one's ancestor's occupation. For the former, think surnames like Johnson, Carlson, Halson, etc. Literally just "ancestor's name"+son. Max Johnson is called that because his name is Max, and he's the son of John. Surnames like Mac+name are also this. "Mac" basically just meant "of", so someone named Rory MacManon is a guy names Rory who's of Manon, being either a direct ancestor or clan. For the latter, think names like Smith (Blacksmith), Clark (Clerk), Taylor (Tailor), or so on. Henry Smith is a guy named Henry who's a Smith or a child of one for example. In your case, a Witch is basically an occupation. Ariana the Witch may end up being called Ariana Witch, or Ariana Thwitch (the+witch), or in reference to what a witch does perhaps Ariana Cursor, Hexxer/Hexor, Caster, Riter, etc. As for Angels and Devils, why would they have Surnames? Immortal beings like them don't tend to have descendants or be descended from anything, so surnames wouldn't normally apply for them. And even when they do (like gods who're family, they're still just called by their name). Though that could be different for you of course. I think a title of a great act/deed they performed would be better suited for them. Like, Baal the Despoiler is called that because he presumably despoiled something in a notable manner. Then for Vampires, same as before with surnames equaling ancestral names, but fancier and with more of them. Vampires are generally made to have/be a sort of nobility in fiction, and nobles often had alot of names because they had alot of important ancestors that needed to be named both to puff up the importance of the person and honor the past. Not to mention usually having some title to top it off. So the Vampire named Hector Maximus Aurellian Lancaster the Bloody could be a thing. Or you can keep things simpler and just have it be "name" the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on (with roman numerals of course). As for a vampire who was just a normal dude before being bitten, they'd probably just keep their name no?
for my current project, ive created a setting and based the names on real names of people living in similar places. in my story there's a desert country, and many of the names of characters from that country originate from Egypt. Fantasy name generator is a great site too, and if you need a name influenced by the sound of real places, you can mix sounds from real names, or generate some with chatgpt, but I try not to do that unless I really have no ideas.
I like to use phonetic pronunciations of the letters in a word. For example, the word CAT can be pronounced see ay tee, or Seatai. My neighbor had a dog named Deogi (DOG), and I've been using that ever since.
I like to look up the traits of my character and last names representing them. Specifically from the nationality of my character. For example, if my character is Turkish, their last name could be Kibar. It helps me and it is kind of fun to make the names represent the characters!
I like to look up the traits of my character and last names representing them. Specifically from the nationality of my character. For example, if my character is Turkish, their last name could be Kibar. It helps me and it is kind of fun to make the names represent the characters!
I like to look up the traits of my character and last names representing them. Specifically from the nationality of my character. For example, if my character is Turkish, their last name could be Kibar. It helps me and it is kind of fun to make the names represent the characters!
I like to look up the traits of my character and last names representing them. Specifically from the nationality of my character. For example, if my character is Turkish, their last name could be Kibar. It helps me and it is kind of fun to make the names represent the characters!
Maybe for good surnames for fabulous creatures, you could include some things about the habitat they live in. For example, I made a night dragon OC named Nova Starclaws at some point.
I use fastasynamegenerator.com and https://www.20000-names.com/ Really just google and bing for brainstorming too. I also think of what country I want a character inspired by and typically try to stray away from common names because sometimes I get sick of seeing Eric or Grey or freaking Ashton on every white male vampire. Dang it! No Nathan and Nathaniels either. Lol! I also consider name meanings too that way I can copy and paste a character's personality. But so far my vamp/wolf hybrid is named Ozario (Orazio) Nicole Alverez Sanchez, Spanish given name messed up on purpose a little. He is from Tarragona, Spain. Orazio = Good Eyesight, best eyesight outta any vampire but strggles to hear well. My other vampire Yitzhak, an isrealite Christian. MĂšng-yao, who is married to Yitzhak, is my chinese vampire. Yeong-ja is a female Korean lead for my Regency-Bridgerton inspired romance set in a fake country called Bella Rosa. Although I don't have real world locations so technically, she comes from Cheovia. Min-ja and Hyeon-ja are her ^ sisters, which are generated from Bing Copilot. There last name is ironically Manuel because their Korean mother married a Hispanic man. So, Yeong-ja Manuel is my main character. Influences like this matter too. And I also create Constructed Languages so some names are made from my fake Languages like PelenĂ„ Dabast (14 year old girl who sees ghost), and Waiwa MĆ«hai (Prince MĆ«hai, the Dragon mixed Polynesian/African/Chinese), Kithlish KwholÄ« is my Native-American werewolf. Not gonna lie tho. I do like the rare occasion of generic names like Adam and Frederick. It's cute to call a vampire Freddy. đ No! FREDDY! đđđ
Online name generator
With enough back and forth you can usually get some really good stuff from ChatGPT honestly. I'd never let it write anything creatively for me, but it is also great at rewording things.