Gremlin Name Generator

Gremlins are named for damage. Every result gives a small, clattering given name with a meaning and a second name recording the exact thing that stopped working.

Generate gremlin names

Tenkiska Cable-Cutter
Skwetwik Sparkstealer
Klisnizz Fusepopper
Zzikte the Backwards
Kezzazz Cable-Cutter
Zichik Axle-Bender
Tizik Fusepopper
Skrezzitz Ropefrayer
Kreskinx Windowcracker
Thwyzzy Axle-Bender
Klitiska Cable-Cutter
Zenging Nutdropper

How these gremlin names are built

The grammar is tuned to sound metallic. Clusters do the work: kl, tw, gr and kr anywhere, and the heavier skr, spr, thw and skw only at the start of a word, where a real language would allow them. Vowels are tight and front (i, e, y), and the codas clatter rather than click: -nk, -ng, -tch, -zz, -sk. Klitchik and Skrinky come out of that, and neither could be mistaken for a goblin.

That distinction matters, because goblins and gremlins get muddled. Goblin names are thin and spitting, built on sn and sk with endings that stop dead. Gremlin names ring: they end on a nasal or a buzz, and the whole word sounds like a spanner going into a fan. The two banks share almost no material.

Endings carry meaning: -ik (sharp-fingered), -itz (spark), -nit (fiddler) and -ek (pries things open) read masculine; -ika (quick-fingered), -inx (jinx), -zzy (buzzes) and -iska (slips loose) read feminine. The neutral -kin (little one) and -ing (the noise it made) fit any gremlin, and -ing is the usual ending for one nobody has caught yet.

The second name is always a specific failure: Boltloosener, Fusepopper, Clockstopper, Grit-In-The-Gears, the Leak. Gremlins are folklore about machinery that fails for no visible reason, so the names record the symptom rather than the creature. The gloss under each one tells you what stopped working, which is the useful half at a table: the party meets the fault before it meets the gremlin, and a name like Clockstopper or the Leak is already the clue.

Example gremlin 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.

Skwiskik Fuelsipper
Skrigrink Gearchewer
Gyngitz Ropefrayer
Greenkitz Fuelsipper
Ryget the Backwards
Skwitchika the Leak
Twezzitz Grit-In-The-Gears
Kryzzet Springthief
Tiflizz Screwswallower
Kreekin the Grounded
Itzek Nutdropper
Zekinx Fuelsipper
Rinking Windowcracker
Krigrit Screwswallower
Skrinkik the Leak
Krynkitz Springthief
Flynkinka Axle-Bender
Klitzinx Sparkstealer
Zzeenging Windowcracker
Gringti Axle-Bender
Sprizi Axle-Bender

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to what players and writers ask us most

What is the difference between a gremlin and a goblin?

In folklore a goblin is a household or wilderness trickster and a gremlin is specifically a saboteur of machines, from twentieth-century aircrew slang. The two generators reflect that: goblin names spit, gremlin names clatter, and the second name here is always a broken part.

Are these names from the 1984 film?

No. The generator draws on the older folklore of the mechanical gremlin, and the film’s characters are blocked so they cannot be generated.

Can I use these for a swarm of gremlins?

Yes. Generate a batch with Name only for the small ones, then give the ringleader a full name with an epithet. A named gremlin is the one the party remembers.

Can I use them in my own work?

Yes, freely. Everything is generated from original data.