Dwarf Fantasy Name Generator

Almost every fantasy dwarf name traces back to one source: the Dvergatal, the 'catalogue of dwarves' in the Old Norse Völuspá. Tolkien lifted Thorin, Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Durin and even Gandalf straight from it, and D&D, Warhammer and Warcraft have followed the same Norse trail ever since. That is why good dwarf names are short, one or two syllables, front-loaded with hard consonants and ending in -in, -ur, -ek, -ar or -rim: Brokk, Eitri, Thorek, Ulfgar, Durgan.

The second half of a fantasy dwarf name is the clan or family name, and it does the heavy lifting for character. Clan names are usually compound English words that celebrate craft, war or the mountain: Battlehammer, Ironfist, Bronzebeard, Oakenshield, Stonebrow, Rockseeker. Warhammer uses patronymics instead (Gotrek Gurnisson, son of Gurni), and Tolkien mostly does the same (Gimli son of Glóin), reserving titles like Oakenshield or Ironfoot for deeds. Female dwarf names lean on Norse women's names such as Dagna, Hilda, Sigrun, Brynja and Vigdis, or on the D&D 5e list (Vistra, Kathra, Riswynn, Helja).

The names collected here span canonical dwarves from Middle-earth, the Forgotten Realms, Warhammer, Warcraft and Dragon Age, real Old Norse given names for both sexes, ready-made 'given plus clan' combinations, and a bank of clan surnames you can attach to any first name.