Character Naming Guides
The generators on this site produce the raw material; these guides cover the craft — where each naming tradition comes from, what its rules actually are, and how to turn generated candidates into names your table will still love at level 12.
- How to Name a D&D CharacterA practical method for choosing a character name you'll still like at level 12
- Elf Naming Conventions, ExplainedWhy elf names sound the way they do
- Orc, Goblin & Goblinoid NamesHow the growled half of fantasy naming works
- How to Use a Name Generator WellGenerators produce candidates, not names
Why conventions matter
The four guides above go deep on the questions players and writers actually ask. Start with the character-naming method if you're building a character tonight; read the elvish or orcish conventions if you want to understand a tradition well enough to invent names by hand; and read the worldbuilder's method if you're naming a whole cast and want them to sound like they come from the same place.
Why conventions matter
Random syllables can sound fantasy-ish, but real naming traditions have internal logic — elvish flows because Tolkien built it from meaningful roots, dwarf names bite because they descend from a Norse catalogue of dwarves, orc names growl because their register was engineered to. Every generator here documents its tradition's rules on the page, so you can take the generated name or use the rules to build your own. These guides go deeper on the most-asked questions.