Town Name Generator

Towns grow at fords, bridges and markets, and their names say so. Every result comes glossed, so a town called Saltminster already has a history.

Generate town names

Heronbridge
Mistgate
Wolfbury
Greyton
Stonebury
Mistbridge
Heronton
Saltbury
Oakbridge
Longton
Stagminster
Elmford

How these town names are built

A town is a village that got a bridge, a market charter or a wall, and English town names record which: -ton (enclosed settlement), -bury (fortified place), -bridge, -market, -minster (great church), -haven (harbour), -mouth (river mouth). This generator compounds thirty-six glossed descriptors with fourteen town endings weighted toward the common ones.

Old-tongue towns use an invented language with endings glossed as home, gate, by the water, enclosure or valley (-heim, -dor, -mar, -gard, -thal). Elvish towns compound two nature roots with -lond (haven), -ost (fortress) or -dor (land).

Descriptive names (Golden Crossing, Bishop’s Gate, Kings Market) suit towns that grew around one thing everyone knows.

Example town 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.

Redhaven
Kingswick
Millhaven
Blackford
Highcombe
Millbridge
Coldfield
Kingscombe
Elmgate
Heronwick
Stoneton
Brangate
Kingsminster
Coldbury
Wolfbridge
Hollowbridge
Deepmouth
Longhurst
Hollowhaven
Saltton
Oakmere

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to what players and writers ask us most

How do I make town 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: Ravenbury is ravens plus fortified place; Coldbridge is exposed to wind plus bridge. 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.