When you’re writing about modern times in the real world, it’s easy to find names for your characters. Just open the television or think about people you went to school with. But when you’re writing a fantasy story, you need character names that are somehow otherworldly, kind of oldtimey, or perhaps both.
I’ve written a post about the right way to name your characters and about different types of character name ideas, but I thought it would be fun to dedicate a whole post to fantasy character names. I’m going to give you some ideas for good character names but also show you how to find more of them for your story.
You can use any and all of these ideas in your story, and you could use different types of names to show that your characters are from different geographical areas or from different classes. Just have fun and be creative.
PLEASE NOTE: Most of my ideas in this post are either in English or generally inspired by Western cultures and languages, and that’s not because I think other cultures are inferior or can’t be used in fantasy fiction, it’s because I’m a Finnish person with an understanding of only a handful of European languages. If you’ve got a post about Asian or African fantasy name ideas, let me know and I’ll add a link to it here.
Related reading: How to name your characters the right way – Name ideas for unforgettable characters – Fantasy writing tips
Don’t make this fantasy character name mistake
It’s a common joke that fantasy novel characters have far too many letters and a sprinkling of unnecessary apostrophes in their names, and while I’m not going to tell you what to do, I’m just saying you might not want people to make fun of your character names. Those kinds of names are also kind of cliché by now and they could distract from the story you want to tell.
Sure, apostrophes can be fun, and I’m absolutely not going to judge you for having a D’Arcy or D’Aniel in your story, but I just don’t want you to go crazy with extra punctuation, okay?
And please, when you make up completely new names, it’s really helpful for your readers if they can have some idea of how to pronounce it inside their heads. Flageena or Yorgimund might sound a little loopy, but at least they’re not Fl’xcenthjarg or Ngezzvye, you know? Again, you’re free to do what you want, but please think of your readers.
Now that we’ve got that warning out of the way, we can start coming up with different kinds of fantasy character names.
Real-world names
Although you can definitely make up names of your own, it’s still a perfectly viable option to use actual names for your fantasy novel characters. There are a lot of wonderful names in the world and so many of them could fit with the vibe of your story.
What kind of real names you want to use could depend on where you’ve drawn inspiration from for your story. For example, if you had modelled your fantasy world after Medieval England, then you could look at old English names for your story. If you’re going for a more central European vibe, then you could look at old German and/or French names, for example.
I’m not going to give you name examples specifically for this category, because you can find a lot of real-world names in this entire post, but I just wanted to put this option out there so you don’t forget to consider real names as well. Nobody should judge you for calling your wizarding apprentice Mary. I’m also not ashamed to admit I once wrote down a random ice hockey player’s name because I thought it sounded like a fantasy protagonist name.
Real names with a twist
What if you used a real name… with a twist? This is not an uncommon technique for naming fantasy characters, and when done right, it gives the air that your story takes place in a different world without being too distracting. Just be careful not to sound like a 21st century mum trying to give their baby a unique name!
What if you end up picking a name from your language or culture and you end up using a spelling that is common in some other language? For example, Marja might sound like an exciting twist on Maria, but it’s actually a very common name in Finland. You could always google the name you come up with, but I wouldn’t get stressed about it. Like I said earlier, it’s totally fine to use real names as well.
First names with a twist
- Yulizabeth
- Saria
- Lugas
- Endrew
- Glorija
- Sophiad
If you think these examples are silly, that’s fine! I’m sure you can come up with better ones. I also don’t recommend doing this for ALL the names in your fantasy novel, because that’s another thing that might pull your reader out of your story instead of immersing them in it.
Instead of taking some random name and changing it, you could think of names that are common in different languages with different variations, and then create your own variation. Here are some examples:
- Margaret and Marguerite could become something like Marguerinya or Margetska
- Elizabeth and Elisaveta come from the same root as well, but you could go for Eliseta or Elizadret
- Catherine and Katariina are just two of the MANY versions of the same name – just look at yours truly – so it can be hard to come up with all new versions, but what about Kateris or Cathazel?
Again, you’re free to think my examples are the worst names ever, but I hope I’ve at least given you some inspiration here. You don’t need to use Elizadret if you don’t want to.
Last names with a twist
I couldn’t first decide whether to put these last names here or to give them their own section, because my idea for last names with a twist is a little different from the first names.
Instead of adding, removing or switching letters, we’re using real family names as templates for our fantasy family names. For example, instead of Churchill, your character’s last name could be Crypthill. And you know those Scandinavian -son and -daughter names? Use your made up fantasy name with that suffix.
Here are some other ideas (with their inspiration):
- Soulstrong, Fangstrong (Armstrong)
- Vixendale (Baxendale)
- Killworth, Mageworth, Grimsworth (any -worth name)
- Mortumridge, Veilridge (any -ridge name)
- Northlake, Southmire (Eastwood)
Old names
Unless you’re writing urban fantasy, chances are that your fantasy setting is somehow like an alternative version of a real historical period. If you’re writing historical fantasy, you definitely need to keep real names of that period in mind.
When you choose really old names for the characters in your fantasy story, it helps with that whole “this takes place in a magical past” thing, but when those names aren’t familiar to your readers, it can also make them feel the otherworldliness of your story. Win-win, right?
You can also give these types of names the twist treatment, so you can always remove or add parts of the name to make it more fantasy-like. Remember, you can mix and match any ideas from this post.
Here are some old first names you can use in your fantasy story, chosen from a variety of languages:
- Mechthild (this is a variation of Mathilde even though it sounds like a name for a mechatron)
- Isolda
- Golda
- Eulalia
- Sten
- Ulf
- Mieli
- Bartholome
- Gisalheri
- Adalhard
Where can you find really old names?
If this is accessible to you, I always recommend going to the cemetery to find cool name ideas. Yeah you probably won’t find Medieval names in a graveyard where the oldest graves are from the 1950s, but if you can get all the way to the 1800s, there could be some decent inspiration there. Middle names can often be more “out there” than first names, which is one of my favourite things about old people’s names,
Of course, you could just google “13th century names”, and if you’re writing historical fantasy and want to have some level of historical accuracy, you’ll definitely want to do something like that. I just don’t think that’s particularly inspiring, and there could be some really interesting names beyond those lists of popular names.
Another fun way to find good old-timey names is to go on Wikipedia and look for people who lived centuries ago. Saints in particular could give you fun ideas for names, and along with actual historical monarchs, you could use those names for people in power in your story.
Nature-inspired names
Fantasy worlds are often closer to nature than modern worlds, and typically even closer than scifi worlds, so it can be a good idea to look into the natural world if you need inspiration for your fantasy characters. You can use names you already know of, or come up with nature names of your own.
When you’re choosing these types of names, you can think of what your character is like and what do they do. Like earlier, you can also use these names to show your character’s social class or ethnicity.
Birds are a good place to start from, and Wren and Lark are already existing names, as well as different versions of raven, like Ravenna. Plant names like Marigold and Lily are very normal in the real world, but you can choose flowers that aren’t as common.
Any category of nature could give you good fantasy name ideas. Just recently, I wrote down the word feldspar in my notes because I really wanted to include it here. Again, keep your mind open and be creative.
This time, we’re looking at both first names and last names. Fun!
Nature-inspired first names
- Tern
- Guillemot
- Larkspur
- Acanthus
- Latite
- Mire
- Catkin
- Nepenthe
Nature-inspired last names
- Bittern
- Dotterel
- Firecrest
- Harebell
- Shale
- Rivulet
- Alpenglow
- Nightshade
Last names that are professions
You know last names like Carter, Thatcher and Smith? They got turned into names because those people were doing those jobs, and then they stuck. Your fantasy character who’s a smith doesn’t have to be called Smith because it could have been their ancestor that they got named after, so don’t get stuck thinking you need to match the name and the character exactly.
What kind of jobs do the characters in your fantasy novel have? You know the best, but here are some ideas you can use:
- Stonebearer
- Vipercatcher
- Fleshbringer
- Cauldroner
- Ropetwister
- Cursemonger, Spiritmonger (any kind of -monger)
- Wandwright
- Poulticer
- Spellsmith, Wardsmith
Names made with words
Isn’t it fun to make up new names just by combining words? I certainly think so, and here are some ideas I made up for you. You can use them for first names and last names.
- Ebonylace
- Wolfswidow
- Nightwren
- Joydrop
- Bearluck
- Meresoul
- Lorewall
- Earthtouch
- Paintree
If you’d like more fantasy story character name ideas, rest assured I’ll be adding more to this post! In the meantime, why not check my fantasy worldbuilding template or these fantasy writing prompts?
Protagonist Crafts is a blog about writing fiction, written by a published author and creative writing teacher. You can find more writing tips and inspiration in the blog and you can get the best author tools at Writer Lifestyle on Etsy.
