Barbarian Last Name Generator

Barbarians rarely carry inherited surnames. The peoples fantasy borrows them from, the Norse, Goths, Celts, Huns and steppe riders, identified a person by deed, parentage or tribe, so a barbarian last name is usually one of four things. The first is a byname earned in life, which is the richest vein: Eirik Bloodaxe, Harald Hardrada (hard-ruler), Ragnar Lodbrok (hairy-breeches), Ivar the Boneless. Many real bynames were unflattering, which is exactly why they feel authentic; Flatnose and Slow-Anger tell you more than Strongarm ever will. The second is a patronymic, Ragnarsson or Ulfsdottir, which marks lineage without being a family name. The third is a clan or tribe, Celtic Mac and Ó forms, Welsh Ap, or Germanic clan names like Wulfing and Scylding from Beowulf. The fourth is the compound surname of tabletop fantasy, Ironbrand, Thunderhoof, Bearkiller, which D&D gives to goliaths, Uthgardt humans and Reghed tribes.

The list runs through all four so you can match the register of your setting. Hyphenated deed-names (Wolf-Eater, Hundred-Scars, Breaker-of-Chains) suit a saga tone; single compounds suit a quick NPC; 'the' epithets work as a second name in play and can be swapped as the character's legend grows.

Pair any of these with a short, hard given name from the barbarian name generator and the combination will read like it belongs to one people.