Dwarf Last Name Generator

Dwarf last names are really clan names, and the best ones sound like they were earned. The dominant fantasy convention, set by D&D and World of Warcraft, is a two-part English compound: a material or mountain word (Iron, Stone, Bronze, Crag, Coal) joined to a tool, body part, or deed (brand, helm, fist, beard, breaker). Battlehammer, Bronzebeard, Ironfoot, and Stonehelm all follow it, and the pattern reads instantly as dwarven because it describes what the family makes, mines, or has survived. The trick is to keep both halves concrete; Goldvein and Kegbelly sound like a family, while abstract pairings like Honorheart do not.

Tolkien's dwarves give two other options. In public they use Norse names and patronymics (Thorin Oakenshield, Gimli son of Gloin), so surnames like Thorinsson, Dainsdottir, or Halvorsen fit a Northern setting, and place-names such as Belegost or Dimrill work as 'of the hall' surnames. Their secret tongue, Khuzdul, supplies harsher words with k, z, and doubled consonants (Khazdum, Zirakbund, Azaghal) for settings where dwarves are old and secretive. Germanic smith-names like Steinhauer and Eisenfaust add a third flavor for Warhammer-style holds.

Pick one convention per clan and let rival clans use another, so players can tell a Thunderbrew from a Kraggenholt at a glance.