Character name generator
Real first names and surnames from 30 cultures, some by era, and invented names in ten fantasy and science fiction styles. Star the ones that fit your cast to keep them on a shortlist.
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How to choose a character name
A name is the first thing a reader learns about a character and the word they will read most often. It can tell them when and where someone was born, what their parents hoped for, and how they sit in the world of the book, before the character says a word. Work through these checks, roughly in this order.
Start with the year and place of birth
Names follow births, not stories. A woman born in Ohio in 1952 is far more likely to be a Linda or a Susan than a Harper, and a boy born in London in 2020 is more likely an Oliver than a Gary. Pick the culture and the era in the generator for the year your character was born, not the year the book is set. For a closer check, the US Social Security baby name lists go back to the 1880s, and the Office for National Statistics publishes rankings for England and Wales from 1996.
Let class, family and faith show
Parents name children after grandparents, saints, film stars and footballers. A family that names every eldest son William tells you something; so does a girl called Hope in a hard year. Decide who chose the name and why, even if the book never says. A nickname, a confirmation name or a name a character later changes can carry a whole backstory.
Say the full name out loud
Read the name in dialogue, shouted across a room and whispered. Rhythm matters: a short given name with a longer surname (Jane Eyre, Jay Gatsby) usually reads cleanly, and two names that rhyme or run together (Ann Nash, Rose Moss) can sound comic when you did not mean them to be. If you can't tell how to pronounce it, neither can your reader.
Give every main character a different first letter
Readers skim names by their shape. Jenna, Jenny and Jen in one cast will blur, and so will Mark and Mike. Write your cast list from A to Z and avoid two main characters who share a first letter, a sound or a length. Save the similar names for minor characters, or for twins on purpose.
Check what the name means, and who already has it
Search the full name before you commit. A famous person, a brand, a well known character in your genre or an unfortunate meaning in another language is better found now than by a reviewer. For invented names, check that no common word hides inside them.
Write other cultures with care
Use names the way people from that culture use them: a given name and a family name that belong together, the right order, and the accents kept (Siobhán, Łukasz, Nguyễn). Avoid giving one culture's names only to villains or servants. If a character's background is not your own, ask a reader who shares it whether the name rings true for their age, region and family.
In fantasy, set the sound rules once
Each people in your world should sound like itself. Decide which letters and endings belong to which culture and write the rules down, as the styles below do. Keep names pronounceable on first sight, and give an apostrophe a job (a glottal stop, a clan marker) rather than using it for decoration.
What each fantasy style sounds like
The fantasy and science fiction names are built from syllables and sound rules, not picked from a list, so most of them have never been printed before. Here is what each style is made of. The examples came from the generator.
Elvish
Soft consonants (l, r, n, m, th, v) and open vowels. Feminine names tend to end in -iel, -wen or -ith, masculine in -ion, -dir or -or, with a flowing family name.
Saelia Yllawyn, Aradir Evedor, Galandil Fenariel
Dwarvish
Short, closed syllables with hard stops (b, d, g, k) and dark vowels (a, o, u). Family names are clan bynames made from stone, metal and craft.
Fargrid Blackhammer, Gorim Slatetongs, Ulmund Slatefist
High fantasy human
Familiar medieval roots with slightly altered endings, and family names built like English place names (-ford, -wick, -dale, -mere).
Kereth Blackhart, Alden Westerdale, Torine Marcombe
Dark and villainous
x, z, v, k and hissing s, with endings that close hard (-ax, -oth) or trail away (-yra, -issa). Many carry a byname instead of a surname.
Morena the Faithless, Xanoth the Kinslayer, Veskara Bloodveil
Norse-inspired
Two Old Norse name elements joined, the way real Norse names were built (Thor and stein, Sig and run). The surname comes from the father, or is a byname.
Geirrun Gunnfinnsdottir, Valgeir Eysteinsson, Arnfinn Ironside
Celtic-inspired
Gaelic and Welsh sound patterns (gw, rh, ch, -an, -ach, -wen) on invented names. Gaelic mac and nic, and Welsh ap and verch, mean son of and daughter of.
Rhiwyn verch Lirur, Belach mac Tegwyn, Fionmar mac Gwynin
Desert realms
Bright open vowels with sh, kh and z, endings that ring (-ira, -esh, -im), and bynames taken from wells, roads and markets. Invented, not borrowed from a real language.
Irala of the Salt Road, Talar of the White Oasis, Zahla Yaseshi
Sea-faring
Open, rolling names that carry over wind, and family names from the trade: tide, salt, keel and rope.
Marella Fogborn, Saleth Fogward, Calia Brinerunner
Sci-fi colonist
Real given names from many languages and a few star and myth names, with family names that mix and sometimes join after generations of crews marrying across cultures.
Nadia Kovacs-Osei, Orion Kerrigan, Idris Okafor
Alien
Clusters English avoids (xh, zh, sz, rzh), doubled vowels and at most one apostrophe for a glottal stop, so the name looks unlike any human language.
Ythyss Ses-vaal, Rzhul Thul-zar, Nyr'kath Ohr-ka
Questions writers ask about names
Can I use these names in a book I publish?
Yes. You don't need anyone's permission, and in the United States names, including the name of a character, are not protected by copyright (US Copyright Office, Circular 33). A name used as a trademark is a different matter, so search the name before you build a series or a brand on it.
How does the generator pick names?
Realistic names come from curated lists of real given names and surnames, checked for each culture, split by gender and, where the records allow it, by era. Fantasy and science fiction names are assembled from syllables by each style's sound rules, with filters that skip clumsy letter clusters, unpleasant words and famous names from existing books.
Is anything I type or save sent to Feldar?
No. The generator runs in your browser. Names you keep are stored in this browser's local storage, on your device, and nowhere else. Clearing your browser data removes them.
How do I keep a first name and change only the surname?
Press Keep given on any name card, or type the name into the Keep given name field. Every new set then varies only the surname. Keep surname works the same way the other way round. Clear the field to vary both again.
How do I share a set of names with my writing group?
Press Copy a link to these names. The link holds the style, the options and a seed, so anyone who opens it sees the same names in the same order.
Why do some names show the family name first?
Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese names are written family name first, and the generator shows them that way. In English prose many writers put the given name first for Japanese characters; choose one order and keep it through the book.
How do I make a fantasy name easy to read?
Spell it the way it sounds, keep main characters to two or three syllables, and use apostrophes and unusual letters sparingly. If three friends say it three different ways, simplify the spelling or give readers the pronunciation early, in dialogue.
Keep your cast beside the manuscript
Once a name sticks, it needs somewhere to live. In Feldar each character can be a card on the Canvas, linked to the places, factions and plot beats around them, next to the pages you are writing. When Feldar helps you write, it draws on those cards, so its suggestions use the names you chose.