Aristocrat Name Generator

An aristocratic name is really three names stacked together: a title, a given name and a family or territorial name. The title is the quickest way to place a character in the pecking order, and the order runs roughly duke, marquess, earl or count, viscount, baron, then knights and baronets, with "Lord" and "Lady" covering most of the upper ranks in English speech. Given names among the old families are deliberately conservative: Augustus, Percival, Cordelia and Georgiana recur because they were handed down from grandparents and godparents. Family names often come from a place the family once held (Ashcombe, Montclair, von Hohenwald), and double-barrelled surnames usually mark two estates joined by marriage.

Each country has its own grammar. French nobles use "de" before the estate, Germans "von" or "zu", Spaniards "de" with a second surname after "y", Italians "di" or "della", and the Dutch mark untitled gentry with Jonkheer. Russian princes and counts inherited titles for every child, which is why Russian novels are crowded with them. Fantasy aristocracy usually borrows these markers and adds a House name or a territorial tag like "of Westhold".

The list mixes genuine historical formats with invented names that simply sound old-money, so you can pick a register and stay in it.