Appalachian Name Generator

Mountain names from the hollers of Kentucky to Carolina

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Generate authentic Appalachian names: old-fashioned first names like Jubal, Delphia, Enoch and Dovie, double names like Billy Ray and Ruby Nell, and the Scots-Irish, English and German surnames of eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee and the Carolina mountains.

About Appalachian names

Appalachian names sound the way they do because the mountains held onto things the rest of the country let go. The families who settled the hollows of eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee and western North Carolina were mostly Scots-Irish, English, Welsh and German, and their surnames still dominate the region: Caudill, Combs, Sizemore, Hensley, Mullins, Adkins, Blevins, Tackett, Sexton, Slone, Stamper, Fugate, Ratliff, Begley, Whitaker and Hatfield and McCoy. Many are clustered by county, so two people with the same last name in Letcher or Mingo County are often kin.

First names are where the region's character really shows. Old Testament names stayed in use long after they faded elsewhere (Jubal, Enoch, Hezekiah, Mahala, Obadiah), alongside nineteenth-century favorites like Delphia, Dovie, Idella, Hobart, Verlin and Elzie, and a fondness for unusual names that sound like places or virtues: Arizona, America, Pleasant, Easter, Commodore, Columbus. Double names are everywhere (Billy Ray, Ruby Nell, Ora Lee, Jimmy Dale), and grown men go by Bud, Junior, Sonny or Hob their whole lives.

The names here are built from those real patterns, for novels, screenplays, bluegrass and old-time personas, family history writing, or any character who needs to sound like they came from up the holler rather than from a Hollywood idea of it.

How to choose Appalachian names

  • Pair an old-fashioned or Biblical first name with a surname from the region's Scots-Irish and English stock (Jubal Caudill, Delphia Combs); a trendy modern first name breaks the spell immediately.
  • Use double names in full every time: Billy Ray, Ruby Nell, Ora Lee. In the mountains the second name is not a middle name, it is part of what people call you.
  • Give older characters a nickname the whole community uses (Hob, Bud, Dock, Sudie, Granny Sal) and save the formal name for the family Bible and the courthouse.
  • Set the period. Names like Hezekiah, Permelia and Cansada suggest 1850 to 1920; Delmer, Wanda, Kermit and Loretta Faye feel like the coal-camp generations of 1920 to 1960.
  • Keep surnames consistent within a family and a hollow; real Appalachian communities are dense with kin, so a story with a dozen different surnames on one creek reads wrong.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a name sound Appalachian?

Three things: an old-fashioned or Biblical first name that survived in the mountains after it faded elsewhere (Enoch, Dovie, Hobart, Mahala), often doubled (Billy Ray, Ruby Nell) or shortened to a lifelong nickname (Bud, Hob, Sudie); and a surname from the Scots-Irish, English, Welsh or German families who settled the region, like Caudill, Sizemore, Hensley, Tackett or Blevins.

Are these real Appalachian surnames?

Yes. The last names are drawn from the families most common in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee and western North Carolina, including Combs, Mullins, Adkins, Slone, Stamper, Fugate, Begley, Whitaker, Blankenship, Sturgill and many more. The first-and-last combinations are invented, not taken from specific people.

Can I use these names for a novel, film or music persona?

That is what they are for. They suit historical fiction set in the coalfields, contemporary Appalachian stories, bluegrass and old-time stage names, and tabletop or video game characters from a mountain setting. All names are free to use in personal and commercial projects.

Are Appalachian names the same as Southern names?

They overlap, especially in double names and nicknames, but Appalachian naming is more old-fashioned and more Scots-Irish, with fewer of the French Louisiana, Lowcountry planter and Deep South names you would hear in Charleston or New Orleans. For those, try the Southern name generator instead.

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All 500 Appalachian names

This is the complete list the generator above draws its random batches from, sorted A to Z and grouped by first letter.

Plain text, one name per line.

A: 39 names

  • Absalom Howard
  • Ada Belle Bumgarner
  • Ada Branham
  • Ada Lee Deskins
  • Ada Mae Bise
  • Adah Watts
  • Agnes Halcomb
  • Albert Reece
  • Alexander Meade
  • Alexander Sowards
  • Alford Martin
  • Alma Smallwood
  • Almeda Wallen
  • Almira Lawson
  • Alonzo Hamrick
  • Alta Fields
  • Alvin Begley
  • Alvira Williamson
  • Amanda Childress
  • Ambrose Day
  • America Watts
  • Amos Hurt
  • Ancil Pennington
  • Ancil Ray Deel
  • Andy Everidge
  • Annie Laurie Shortridge
  • Anse Cline
  • Ardella Neace
  • Arizona Bowling
  • Arlene Mullins
  • Arlie Sexton
  • Arminta Williamson
  • Arrie Hollifield
  • Artie Greer
  • Arvil Hay
  • Asa Keene
  • Astor Dixon
  • Aunt Dicie Ritchie
  • Avery Toler

B: 26 names

  • Ballard Bias
  • Banjo Bill McKinney
  • Bascom Stamper
  • Becky Kincaid
  • Berlin Damron
  • Bertha Goins
  • Bertie Buchanan
  • Bessie Thacker
  • Betty Jo Greer
  • Beulah Whitaker
  • Billy Ray Moretz
  • Birdie Mae Triplett
  • Birdie Napier
  • Bobbie Jean Hinkle
  • Bobby Gene Hagy
  • Bobby Joe Ritchie
  • Bonnie Hackworth
  • Bonnie Lou Setzer
  • Boone Johnson
  • Boyd Combs
  • Brother Lafe Hurd
  • Buck Lusk
  • Bud Nantz
  • Buford Ledford
  • Burgess Belcher
  • Burl Maggard

C: 30 names

  • Cansada Younce
  • Carrie Cassidy
  • Carrie Lee Sigmon
  • Catfish Viers
  • Cecil Fugate
  • Cecil Reece
  • Charlie Ray Deel
  • Chester Napier
  • Claiborne Hobbs
  • Clara Mae Blair
  • Claude Wike
  • Cleda Cox
  • Clem Hensley
  • Clementine Childress
  • Cletus Osborne
  • Cleveland Risner
  • Clovis Trivette
  • Clyde Dunford
  • Coleman Spurlock
  • Columbus Short
  • Commodore Sparkman
  • Conley Wiseman
  • Cora Lee McKinney
  • Cordelia Burke
  • Cordie Reedy
  • Coy Tolliver
  • Creasy Heafner
  • Creola Miller
  • Curtis Stumbo
  • Cynthia Howell

D: 28 names

  • Daisy Mae Keith
  • Dale Gragg
  • Danny Ray Counts
  • Delbert Queen
  • Delilah Castle
  • Della Jo Hay
  • Della Mae Rowe
  • Delmer Dotson
  • Delphia Ann Younce
  • Delphia Combs
  • Denver Wooten
  • Dessie Kilgore
  • Dessie Mae Hicks
  • Dewey Ray Rasnick
  • Dewey Tuttle
  • Dewitt Haney
  • Dicie Chaffin
  • Dillard Wells
  • Dillie Collins
  • Doc Amos McPeak
  • Docia Sigmon
  • Dock Ollis
  • Dollie Tackett
  • Dora Mounts
  • Dorcas Hall
  • Dorothy Sexton
  • Dovie Begley
  • Doyle Amburgey

E: 44 names

  • Earl Church
  • Easter Runyon
  • Edith Chapman
  • Edna Earl Parsons
  • Edna Varney
  • Effie Adkins
  • Elbert Asher
  • Eli Bentley
  • Elihu Compton
  • Elijah Burleson
  • Eliza Browning
  • Ellen Hatfield
  • Ellie Mae Boggs
  • Elmer Blankenship
  • Elmer Pruitt
  • Elmo Presley
  • Elsie Click
  • Elva Burke
  • Elwood Coffey
  • Elzie Burchett
  • Elzina Biggerstaff
  • Emeline Lambert
  • Emma Lou Yates
  • Emmaline Collins
  • Emmett Bolling
  • Enoch Sizemore
  • Enos Helton
  • Ephraim Cornette
  • Ernest Feltner
  • Ersel Ison
  • Essie Conley
  • Estel Whitaker
  • Estill Brewer
  • Ethel Cox
  • Ethelene Hinkle
  • Eula Pruitt
  • Eunice Chapman
  • Eustace Campbell
  • Eva Boggs
  • Everett Childers
  • Everett Huffman
  • Ewell Clay
  • Ezekiel Coffey
  • Ezra Hamby

F: 12 names

  • Farris Coleman
  • Fern Messer
  • Festus Coleman
  • Fiddlin' Ab Whitt
  • Fielding Webb
  • Flora Breeding
  • Florence Yonts
  • Flossie Gillespie
  • Floyd Coomer
  • Forest Arnett
  • Forrest Greene
  • Frona Stollings

G: 16 names

  • Gaither Back
  • Garland Compton
  • Garrett Cook
  • Geneva Daniels
  • Georgia Cantrell
  • Gertie Deskins
  • Gid Wiseman
  • Gilbert Damron
  • Gladys Dotson
  • Goldie Duff
  • Goldie Mae Blair
  • Gracie Plumley
  • Granny Sal Blackburn
  • Granville Harless
  • Green Kiser
  • Grover Day

H: 26 names

  • Hamilton Shrewsbury
  • Hamp Mosley
  • Harlan Dixon
  • Harley Edwards
  • Harve Ferrell
  • Harvey Dunn
  • Hassie Bumgarner
  • Hattie Elswick
  • Hattie Mae Kinser
  • Hazel Marie Caudill
  • Hedrick Hylton
  • Henderson Honaker
  • Hershel Everidge
  • Hester Boone
  • Hezekiah Feltner
  • Hiram Fletcher
  • Hobart Gibson
  • Hobart Stacy
  • Hobe Teague
  • Hobert Grigsby
  • Hollis Hale
  • Hollis Jay Baker
  • Homer Gilbert
  • Hosea Hammond
  • Hub Hale
  • Hulda Gibbs

I: 15 names

  • Icy Elkins
  • Ida Arnett
  • Ida Belle Boyd
  • Idella Stacy
  • Ila Lester
  • Ima Ensley
  • Ina Mae Blackburn
  • Inez Cassidy
  • Irvin Harless
  • Isaac Dingess
  • Isom Helton
  • Iva Chaffin
  • Ivory Cornett
  • Ivy Justice
  • Izora Plumley

J: 17 names

  • James Earl Baker
  • Jasper Hobbs
  • Jeff Maynard
  • Jeptha Honeycutt
  • Jerry Wayne Carrico
  • Jesse Horn
  • Jethro Crum
  • Jewell Farley
  • Jimmy Dale Cornette
  • Jo Ann Cantrell
  • Joe Bob McPeak
  • Johnny Lee Whitt
  • Josiah Howard
  • Josie Fields
  • Jubal Caudill
  • Judge Hiram Kinser
  • Junior Byrd

K: 2 names

  • Katie McCoy
  • Kelly Clay

L: 51 names

  • Lacy Byrd
  • Lacy Scoggins
  • Lafe Estep
  • Larkin Hylton
  • Larry Gene Musick
  • Lavada Gibbs
  • Leander Johnson
  • Lemuel Kiser
  • Lena Kennedy
  • Lenville Nantz
  • Leoma Hackworth
  • Leona Lilly
  • Leonard Lewis
  • Leroy Skeens
  • Lester Slone
  • Letha Hall
  • Lettie Mae Daniels
  • Lettie Mullens
  • Levi Martin
  • Lige Maynard
  • Lillian Hampton
  • Linville Lewis
  • Little Dewey Rowe
  • Liza Hoskins
  • Lizzie Hatfield
  • Lloyd Meade
  • Lona Hicks
  • Lonnie Kilgore
  • Lonzo Baldridge
  • Lonzo Bud Rasnick
  • Lonzo Fletcher
  • Lorena Ratliff
  • Loretta Faye Heafner
  • Lottie Holbrook
  • Lou Ellen Triplett
  • Louella Hamby
  • Louisa Propps
  • Louvenia Runyon
  • Lovina Lester
  • Loyal Mosley
  • Lucille Boone
  • Lucinda Hopkins
  • Lula Back
  • Lula Belle Pitman
  • Lum Presnell
  • Lum Shortridge
  • Lurana Lambert
  • Luster Bolling
  • Luther Swiney
  • Luvena Stamper
  • Lydia Ann Viers

M: 31 names

  • Mabel Spicer
  • Maggie Lou Reedy
  • Mahala Hoskins
  • Malinda Legg
  • Mamie Gibson
  • Manerva Hendricks
  • Marion Newsome
  • Mart Horn
  • Martha Ellen May
  • Martha Jane Beavers
  • Martha Lou Setzer
  • Marvin Patton
  • Mary Alice Isbell
  • Mary Etta Muncy
  • Mary Lou Hurd
  • Mattie Howell
  • Maude Browning
  • Maudie Slone
  • Melvin Phipps
  • Melvina Mace
  • Milburn Potter
  • Milford Burleson
  • Minnie Coots
  • Minta Elkins
  • Missouri Isbell
  • Mollie Pitman
  • Monroe Price
  • Mordecai Riddle
  • Morgan Haney
  • Mossie Castle
  • Myrtle Craft

N: 13 names

  • Nancy Jane Hopkins
  • Nannie Isaacs
  • Nannie Kate Fannin
  • Nell Fleming
  • Nettie Kincaid
  • Nettie Mae Amburgey
  • Nevada Absher
  • Nina Shuford
  • Noah Robinette
  • Noel Ballew
  • Nola Lawson
  • Nora Corn
  • Nora Lee Shuford

O: 26 names

  • Obadiah Shepherd
  • Ocie Crisp
  • Octavia Little
  • Odell Stanley
  • Odus Whisnant
  • Ol' Burl Keith
  • Ola Pennington
  • Ollie May
  • Onita Stollings
  • Opal Fay Lyall
  • Opal Gilliam
  • Opal Jean Skeens
  • Ora Click
  • Ora Lee Hamilton
  • Orbie Ratliff
  • Orlena Sutton
  • Orpha McCoy
  • Orval Gragg
  • Orville Tate
  • Oscar Stewart
  • Otho Blankenship
  • Otho Stiltner
  • Otis Blevins
  • Ova Grigsby
  • Oval Bentley
  • Owen Greene

P: 15 names

  • Pap Elzie Musick
  • Paris Cook
  • Parthena Plemmons
  • Paul Scoggins
  • Pearl Gayheart
  • Pearlie Hensley
  • Peg Leg Bise
  • Peggy Sue Biggerstaff
  • Permelia Miller
  • Pink Childers
  • Pinky Fuller
  • Pleasant Trimble
  • Polly Neace
  • Preacher Tom Moretz
  • Price Brewer

Q: 1 name

  • Quentin Vanover

R: 23 names

  • Raleigh Ward
  • Ransom Frazier
  • Rebecca Lilly
  • Red Whisnant
  • Reuben Webb
  • Rhoda Owens
  • Ricky Lee Tiller
  • Riley Meadows
  • Roby Bolick
  • Ronnie Hamrick
  • Rosa Lee Sutherland
  • Rosa Perry
  • Roscoe Breeding
  • Rosetta Cagle
  • Rosie Jent
  • Roxie Farley
  • Roy Lee Fuller
  • Ruby Jo Sizemore
  • Ruby Nell Hollifield
  • Ruby Reynolds
  • Rufe Shook
  • Rufus Wright
  • Ruth Conley

S: 24 names

  • Sabra Little
  • Sadie Lykins
  • Sallie Pigman
  • Sarah Jane Absher
  • Sarilda Stiles
  • Serepta Preston
  • Shade Wright
  • Sherd Hammond
  • Sheriff Wash Carrico
  • Sherman Burton
  • Sidney Campbell
  • Silas Dingess
  • Simeon Toler
  • Sister Ora Counts
  • Skeeter Bolick
  • Solomon Spurlock
  • Sonny Huffman
  • Squire Lusk
  • Stella Bowling
  • Sudie Bell Colley
  • Sudie Fugate
  • Susannah Mounts
  • Susie Holbrook
  • Sylvia Duff

T: 16 names

  • Tabitha Isaacs
  • Talmadge Sowards
  • Tandy Burton
  • Tater Tiller
  • Telitha Crisp
  • Tennie Puckett
  • Texanna Hurley
  • Texie Ensley
  • Thelma Roark
  • Thurman Honaker
  • Tilda Gillespie
  • Tilden Honeycutt
  • Tobe Carpenter
  • Tommy Lee Ring
  • Tressie Ring
  • Troy Dunn

U: 3 names

  • Ulysses Belcher
  • Uncle Hob Hamilton
  • Uriah Workman

V: 18 names

  • Vada Arrowood
  • Vallie Hampton
  • Vance Trivette
  • Vergie Blevins
  • Verlie Rose
  • Verlin Dee Yates
  • Verlin Mullins
  • Verna Ison
  • Verna Mae Mutter
  • Vernie Adkins
  • Vernon Ferrell
  • Vesta Lou Boyd
  • Vesta Spears
  • Vina Buchanan
  • Viola Noble
  • Virgie Stapleton
  • Virgil Justice
  • Virgil Lee Ollis

W: 16 names

  • Wade Meadows
  • Walker Cline
  • Wash Workman
  • Waylon Goins
  • Wayne Wike
  • Wendell Halcomb
  • Wilburn Nutter
  • Wilda Asher
  • Wiley Bias
  • Wiley Dean Beavers
  • Willard Shrewsbury
  • Willis Bragg
  • Wilma Stidham
  • Wilsie Arrowood
  • Woodrow Sturgill
  • Woodson Yonts

Z: 8 names

  • Zachariah Ramsey
  • Zeb Tackett
  • Zeke Kesterson
  • Zelda Salyers
  • Zella Trent
  • Zelma Hurley
  • Zona Turner
  • Zora Vance