Hero name generator

How superhero codenames are built

Most codenames follow one of five shapes. The generator uses all five, filling each from the word lists of the power theme you choose, so a fire hero gets cinders and kilns and a tech hero gets rivets and relays.

• A coined compound. A power word joined to an image or an action: Cinderwake, Rimebite, Heronheart. The most common shape, and the easiest to make unique.
• One word. Crosswind, Breakneck, Daybreak. Strong and short, but most plain words are taken somewhere, so these need the most checking.
• The, an adjective and a noun. The Silent Doorway, The Granite Wall. It sounds like a name the newspapers gave the hero, not one they chose.
• A title and a word. Captain, Doctor, Agent, Major, Lady, Kid. The title is a piece of backstory: a military past, a doctorate, a government badge, or a sidekick's youth.
• A word and a role. Harbor Keeper, Lumen Paladin. A job description, for heroes who see the work as a duty.

The civilian name

Each codename comes with a real name from one of 30 cultures, matched to the hero's gender, so your cast can live anywhere. Turn off Include a civilian name for codenames alone. Silver Age comics liked alliterative secret identities such as Peter Parker and Bruce Banner; if you want that period feel, regenerate until the initials match, or pick a codename here and a civilian name from the character name generator.

Examples by power theme

Naming a hero in a story

• Decide who chose the name. A codename the hero picked shows how they see themselves. One the press gave them shows how the city sees them. One a government agency assigned is a leash. The gap between those can carry a whole arc.
• Let the name change. Heroes often outgrow a first codename: Kid becomes Captain, a nickname becomes a title. Plan the second name before you need it.
• Make the civilian name ordinary. The secret identity is the part readers relate to. A plain, real name makes the double life believable.
• Test it in dialogue. Other characters will shout the codename across a burning street. If it takes three breaths, they will shorten it, so choose the short form yourself.
• Name the team too. Give a team's codenames something in common (all weather, all birds, all ranks) so readers can tell who belongs.

Pitfalls

• The famous names are trademarks. Marvel and DC protect their characters' names as trademarks, and decades of comics have used most plain power words. The generator skips several hundred published heroes and villains, but search any codename you keep before you publish.
• Power word plus -man or -woman. Fire-Man, Ice-Woman and their cousins are mostly taken and read as period pieces. Use them only if that is the point.
• A name that gives away the twist. If the hero's power or secret is a reveal, keep it out of the codename.
• Too literal. Fire Hero tells the reader nothing. Cinderwake tells them about aftermath, and Kindling about someone who starts things.