Town Name Generator

The town name generator is a free browser tool that makes invented names for hamlets, villages, towns and cities, ready for fantasy games, stories and maps. Choose one of eight culture styles and a settlement size, and every name in the list comes with its size, a population hint and its style. Set the size menu to Hamlet, Village, Town or City, or leave it on Any size, and the same page works as a village name generator, a city name generator, a fantasy town name generator and a place name generator.

It runs in your browser and nothing you set up is uploaded. Lock the names you like, reroll the rest, add a one-line hook about what the place is known for, and export the list when it is done.

How to use the town name generator

1. Open the Culture and style menu and pick a style such as Rolling countryside, Dwarven hold or Coastal port. Choose Any style to mix them.
2. Set Settlement size to Hamlet, Village, Town or City. It starts on Town, and Any size mixes all four.
3. Open How many and pick 5, 10 or 20. It starts at 10.
4. Optionally type up to two letters in Starts with to make the names begin with them.
5. Optionally tick Add a one-line hook for a sentence about what each place is known for, plus a worry.
6. Read the results. The first name appears as a large line with its size, population hint and style, followed by the numbered list.
7. Press the lock button on a name you want to keep. Use the reroll button to replace one name, or Roll again to replace every unlocked name.
8. Press the star to save a favourite. Copy link reproduces the names, locks and rerolls for anyone you send it to.

Favourites are saved in your browser only. Below the list you can use Copy text, Download CSV (columns name, size, population_hint, style, hook), Download TXT and Print. The first rows stay the same whatever count you pick, so raising 10 to 20 keeps the names you already have. For the people who live in these places, use the DnD name generator.

How is a town name different from a village name?

Size changes the name itself. A town name often carries civic or commercial overtones, such as markets, bridges or harbours, while a village or hamlet name sounds smaller and rural. This tool marks the difference with size-specific endings and population bands.

In the Rolling countryside style, each size takes its own ending:

The population hint is a number inside the size’s band, rounded to 5 under 100, 10 under 1,000, 50 under 10,000 and 100 above. The bands are D20 Desk’s own, the same as on the city generator, and are not rules of any game system. Two-word names use a size noun instead: Hollow or Rest for hamlets, Mill or Crossing for villages, Market or Bridge for towns, and Keep or Gate for cities.

What makes a good fantasy town name?

Good names are easy to say, easy to tell apart on a map and in keeping with their surroundings. The generator builds each name from one root and an ending that suits the size, which keeps a set of names consistent.

Say it aloud. A name your players must spell out will slow a scene down, so short names with a clear stress tend to work well at the table. Keep names distinct, too: two names that differ by one letter are easy to confuse, so scan your saved list for near twins before you put it on a map.

Reuse a root to make a region read as one area. From one seed the tool made Suttoncot, Suttonby, Suttonbury and Sutton Minster. The Coastal port style adds prefixes such as Port and Cape, as in Port Skerry, and the Dwarven hold style leans on words like Deephold and Grey Gate.

What are the culture styles?

There are eight styles, each with its own word lists: Rolling countryside, Dwarven hold, Elven wood, Coastal port, Northern and frozen, Desert and oasis, Orc frontier, and Grim and gothic. The names are invented for fantasy settings and are not taken from real places or cultures. Elven wood and Desert and oasis also use a Markov model trained on invented place names, so some of their names have no word parts at all.

Frequently asked questions

What is a town name generator?

A town name generator produces invented names for settlements, so you can name a town, city, village or hamlet without starting from a blank page. This one gives you a list shaped by a culture style and a settlement size, and it runs in your browser.

How do I pick a name that fits my setting?

Choose the style that matches your world, then set the size that matches how big the place should feel. Lock any name you like, reroll the rest, and tick the hook box to see whether the place already suggests a story.

Where do town names come from?

Real town names often grow from geography, history and the languages of the people who settled an area. The names here are not taken from real places. They are invented from word lists, and the Elven wood and Desert and oasis styles use a Markov model trained on invented place names.

Can I generate village names instead?

Yes. Set Settlement size to Village for village names, or to Hamlet for smaller rural places. In the Rolling countryside style, villages take endings such as -ham, -wick or -by. Leave the menu on Any size to get hamlets, villages, towns and cities in one list.

Can I use generated town names in commercial projects?

Yes. The names are free to use in any game, book or commercial product. A random name can still match a real place or a trademark, so search maps and existing works before you publish for profit.

Do the names have meanings?

No. The names are invented and the tool gives no meanings or translations. The hook option adds a sentence about what the place is known for, which is written to be used as an idea, not as a name meaning.

Does one page cover town, city and village names?

Yes. The Settlement size menu sets the size, and each size has its own endings and population hint, so there is no separate page for city or village names. Use Any size to mix them.

Can I get the same names again?

Yes. Type a seed into the Seed box or press Copy link. The link stores the seed, the settings, your locks and your rerolls, so the same list comes back.

Related tools

• DnD city generator: use it to build the rest of a place, such as its government, economy and shops, once you have named it here.
• Fantasy map generator: use it to place your towns and villages on a map.
• DnD name generator: use it to name the people who live in your settlements.
• DnD NPC generator: use it to create characters to meet in the towns you have named.
• DnD shop generator: use it to stock the markets, smithies and inns of a town.
• DnD quest generator: use it to find a job that sends the party to one of your settlements.
• Dungeon generator: use it for the ruins, caves or keeps just outside a town.