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City Name Generator
A city name has to carry a skyline. Choose the style of the culture that built it, and read under each name what kind of city the parts describe.
- Branhaven
- Bramblekeep
- Heronhold
- Greenmouth
- Ravencrown
- Oakkeep
- Branbridge
- Longfall
- Coldcrown
- Saltmarch
- Millhold
- Hollowgate
How these city names are built
Cities are named for what made them great: a harbour (-haven, -port), a fortress they grew around (-keep, -hold), a border they guard (-march), a river they command (-reach), spires, a cathedral (-minster), a royal seat (-crown). This generator compounds glossed descriptors with fourteen city endings, so Ravenhaven, Kingsreach and Saltminster each arrive with a reason to exist.
Old-tongue capitals use an invented language with grand endings glossed as golden city (-oria), ancient (-anth), walled (-garde), seat of kings (-ithar) and fortress (-dûn). Elvish cities compound two nature roots with -lond (haven) or -ost (fortress).
Descriptive names (Last Harbour, Queen’s Gate, Silent Reach) are what sailors and traders call a city, and often outlive the official name.
Example city names
A fixed sample from the generator above, so you can see the range before you press the button. Every list you generate is different; every link you copy reproduces its list exactly.
- Mistbridge
- Coldport
- Elmhaven
- Greenkeep
- Sorrowmouth
- Blackgate
- Stoneport
- Thornminster
- Bishopshold
- Wendport
- Millbridge
- Oakhaven
- Heronport
- Wolfhold
- Ashreach
- Blackkeep
- Bishopswatch
- Bramblehold
- Hollowminster
- Branmarch
- Amberminster
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to what players and writers ask us most
How do I make city names fit one region?
Stay in one style. English-style names share a vocabulary of real place-name elements, so a map full of them reads as one country. Old-tongue names share a sound system for a foreign region, and Elvish names mark elven lands. Mixing styles is how you show a border.
What do the hints under each name mean?
They gloss the parts the way a place-name dictionary would: Ravenhaven is ravens plus great harbour; Valdoria is an old-tongue root plus golden city. Use them to decide what the place is like before you draw it.
Are these real places?
No. They are built from the elements real place names are built from, which is why they sound plausible, but none is on a map. A few coincidences with real hamlets are possible; that is true of any English compound.
Free to use?
Yes, freely.