Carthaginian Name Generator

Carthaginian names are Phoenician names, written in the Punic dialect and almost always built around a god. The recurring pieces are easy to learn: Abd- ('servant of'), Bod- ('in the hand of'), Ger- ('client of'), Hanni-/Hanno ('grace'), Azru- ('help'), Yaton ('he gave'), Shafat ('he judged') and Mattan ('gift'), joined to Baal, Melqart, Eshmun, Astarte, Tanit, Sakon or Pumay. So Hannibal is Hanni-Baal, 'Baal is gracious'; Hasdrubal is Azru-Baal, 'Baal helps'; Hamilcar is Abd-Melqart, 'servant of Melqart'; Bomilcar is Bod-Melqart. Women's names use the same gods with Amot- ('handmaid of'), Bat- ('daughter of') or Arishat ('desired'), and Dido's Phoenician name was Elishat.

Because Carthage's own records were destroyed in 146 BC, most names reach us through Greek and Latin writers, which is why the same man can be Himilco, Himilcon or Imilkon, and why a Punic Abdmelqart looks like Hamilcar on a Roman page. Carthaginians had no family names; a person was 'X son of Y', sometimes with a nickname such as Barca ('lightning') or a city of origin like Utica, Gades or Lilybaeum.

This list mixes the famous generals, suffetes and explorers with inscription-style Punic names, women's names, patronymics and Romanized Neo-Punic forms like Iddibal and Namphamo, so you can name a whole fleet, a merchant house or a single rival for Rome.