Arcane Name Generator

"Arcane" comes from the Latin arcanus, meaning hidden or secret, and the best arcane names carry that scholarly, slightly forbidding tone. Think of the wizards who stuck in readers' minds: Gandalf, Raistlin Majere, Elminster, Prospero, Ged. None of them are called Shadowflame or Voidmaster. They have names that sound like real people, often with a title, an epithet, or a place of origin attached. Arcane naming favors old-world roots (Latin, Greek, Old English, Welsh, Hungarian) and words associated with study: codex, lector, magister, athenaeum, glyph.

A good arcane name usually takes one of a few shapes. Given name plus surname works when both feel weathered: Alderic Vane, Ilsabet Morrow. Title plus name signals rank in a magical hierarchy: Magistra Ilsabet, Archmagus Theodric. Name plus place or epithet suits legendary figures: Theron of Ephyra, Hypatia of the Nine Circles. Orders and towers follow their own conventions, usually The [Adjective] [Collective Noun] or a place name plus an institutional word, like the Collegium Arcanum or Blackstaff Hall.

The names here mix character names, titles, secret societies, towers, and grimoire titles, so you can build a whole magical milieu from one page: the mage, her order, the tower she studies in, and the book she is forbidden to open.