Dystopian City Name Generator
Bleak megacities, walled districts, and ruined capitals
Generate dystopian city names in the styles that define the genre: bureaucratic designations like Sector 7 and District 12, corporate-owned arcologies, renamed old-world capitals, and grim survivor nicknames such as the Sprawl or Ashfall. Built for dystopian novels, cyberpunk settings, and post-apocalyptic RPGs.
About dystopian city names
Dystopian cities tend to be named by whoever controls them, and that tells the reader who is in charge before a single character speaks. Authoritarian states strip identity away with numbers - Orwell's Airstrip One, Judge Dredd's Mega-City One, the Districts of Panem - because a citizen who lives in Sector 12 is easier to manage than one who lives in Bristol. Corporate dystopias name cities after the company that owns them (Weyland Heights, Arasaka Tower District), or hide control behind real-estate cheer: Prosperity Gardens, Harmony Towers, Utopia Ward. Post-collapse settlements go the other way, taking honest names from what is left - Ashfall, Rustwater, Bartertown, Gastown.
A second common move is the 'New' or 'Neo' prefix. Neo-Tokyo (Akira), New Babylon, and New Detroit imply that an old city fell and something harder was built on the ruins, and biblical doomed cities (New Sodom, New Nineveh) add irony. Definite-article nicknames - The Sprawl, The Sump, The Stacks, The Undercity - are what residents actually say. The list also has ruler-named cities (Halvardgrad), climate-collapse towns (Tidewall), settlements at sea, in orbit and underground, and surveillance-state names like Panopticon.
The best dystopian city names are short and slightly wrong: a number where a name should be, a hopeful word in a hopeless place, or a bleak word said plainly.
How to choose dystopian city names
- Decide who named the city - the state, a corporation, or the survivors - and let that pick the style: numbers, brands, or blunt nouns respectively.
- Give your city both an official designation and a nickname the residents use ('Arcology 3, which everyone called the Hive'); the gap between them is where the dystopia lives.
- If you use numbers, keep the scheme consistent and small enough to remember; District 12 works because there are only thirteen.
- Ironically pleasant names (Serenity Ward, Elysium Fields) are more unsettling than obviously dark ones, especially for districts run by a smiling authority.
- Renamed real cities (Neo-Seoul, New Lagos) instantly locate your story on a recognizable map; use them when you want the reader to feel this could be their own city.
Frequently asked questions
What are famous dystopian city names?
Airstrip One (Nineteen Eighty-Four), Mega-City One (Judge Dredd), Neo-Tokyo (Akira), Night City (Cyberpunk 2077), the Capitol and District 12 (The Hunger Games), Libria (Equilibrium), Rapture (BioShock), Zalem and Iron City (Alita: Battle Angel), and Bartertown (Mad Max). Several are included in the list as reference points.
Why are dystopian cities so often just numbers?
Numbering strips a place of history and identity, which is exactly what a controlling regime wants. It also lets a writer imply a vast system with dozens of interchangeable cities without describing them all.
Can I use these city names in my own novel or game?
Most names here are invented in the genre's styles and you can use them in your own project; we have not checked them against trademarks or other works, so search a name before you publish with it. Names taken from existing works (Night City, Rapture, Midgar, Panem City, and similar) are listed as examples of the genre and belong to their creators.
How do I name districts inside a dystopian city?
Use a tiered scheme that mirrors the social hierarchy - Tier 4 near the top, Level 9 or the Sump at the bottom - and let the wealthy districts have real names while the poor ones get numbers or nicknames. That contrast does a lot of world-building on its own.
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All 1,000 dystopian city names
A: 36 names
- Abundance Plaza
- Abyssal Station
- Accra Arcology
- Adit
- Administrator's Keep
- Airlock
- Airshaft
- Airstrip One
- Aldermannstadt
- Allegiance
- Allocation Center 3
- Ambrosia Towers
- Annex 4
- Anniversary City
- Anthem
- Antwerp Freeport
- Apex Charter Town
- Apogee
- Arasaka Tower District
- Archive City
- Arcology 12
- Arcology 3
- Arcology Prime
- Ark Seven
- Arx Ultima
- Ash City
- Ashcroft Basin
- Ashfall
- Ashford Consolidated
- Ashgate
- Ashhaven
- Ashmoor
- Atlanta Perimeter
- Atonement Reach
- Aurora Arcology
- Azure Canopy
B: 53 names
- Ballast
- Baltimore Harbor Wall
- Bandwidth
- Banner Square
- Barcelona Supergrid
- Barcode
- Barge City
- Barracks Town 5
- Barrowfield
- Bartertown
- Basin 46
- Bathysphere Row
- Beacon Dome
- Beloved Founder City
- Belyarsk
- Benthic City
- Bilgetown
- Billboard Mile
- Biometric Ward
- Bitterstead
- Blackdamp
- Blackfen
- Blackhaven
- Bleakmoor
- Bleakwater
- Blessed Acres
- Blight County
- Blightmere
- Blindcorner
- Bliss Point
- Bloc 5
- Block 27
- Block 300
- Block 44
- Block 999
- Blue Light Ward
- Boltwell
- Borehole
- Borough 22
- Borough Sigma
- Brackish
- Breakwater
- Brickdust
- Brightside Freeport
- Brightwell Commons
- Brinefield
- Brisbane Floodline
- Broadcast Hill
- Buffer Town 1
- Bulkhead
- Bunker 7
- Burn Scar
- Busan Seawall
C: 83 names
- Cablegate
- Caisson
- Camp Delta
- Camp Zulu
- Cankerfield
- Canton 31
- Canton 6
- Capitol City
- Capitol Prime
- Carbon Sink
- Carrier Wave
- Cascade Arcology
- Castellan Holdings Tower
- Castellane City
- Castra Nova
- Cavern City
- Cell 19
- Census Town
- Central City
- Chairman's Rest
- Chalk City
- Chancellor's Mile
- Checkpoint 28
- Checkpoint Echo
- Checksum
- Chemvale
- Chennai Stilt Quarter
- Chimneyfield
- Chokepoint
- Chongqing Stack
- Cinder Town
- Cinderhold
- Cinderpoint
- Cinderwick
- Cistern City
- Citizens' Reach
- Civitas Obscura
- Civitas Prima
- Clagmoor
- Cleared Zone 3
- Clearwater Residences
C, continued
- Cleveland Reclamation
- Clinkerton
- Cloudline Residences
- Cluster 12
- Coal City
- Coldforge
- Coldharbor
- Coldkettle
- Coldstore
- Collective 37
- Colony 6
- Columbia
- Comfort Ridge
- Commissariat
- Commune 8
- Company Town 3
- Complex 12
- Compliance Zone 12
- Compound 51
- Concord Biodome
- Concord Heights
- Conformity
- Consensus
- Consolidated Habitat West
- Consolidation Point
- Containment Area 7
- Contentment Ward
- Continuity
- Contrition
- Cordon City
- Correction
- Corridor 10
- Coruscant Lower Levels
- Corvex Plaza
- Council Ward
- Counterweight
- Cracked Basin
- Credit Line
- Culvert
- Curfew
- Custody Block 80
- Cyclone Shelter 9
D: 51 names
- D-Ring
- Datahaven
- Daybreak Commons
- Dead Aquifer
- Dead Channel
- Deadfall
- Deadwater
- Debtor's Rise
- Deck 15
- Deck Zero
- Decree
- Deep Shelter
- Denver Stronghold
- Depot 7
- Derrick Town
- Diamond City
- Diligence
- Dimhold
- Director Lindholm Reach
- Director's Causeway
- Directorate City
- Displacement Camp 3
- District 1
- District 11
- District 12
- District 13
- District 19
- District 4
- District 42
- District 77
- District 9
- District Zero
- Dividend Park
- Dormitory 60
- Dossier
- Downwell
- Dravikstadt
- Drearwick
- Dredgeport
- Driftwood City
- Drone Alley
- Drossbury
- Drowned Miami
- Dry County
- Drywell
- Dubai Remnant
- Dublin Sea Gate
- Dullwater
- Dunefall
- Duskhollow
- Dust City
E: 14 names
- Eden Ridge
- Edict Square
- Efficiency Block 9
- Elysium Fields
- Ember City
- Emberdown
- Emptyquay
- Enclosure 9
- Endstop
- Equity Springs
- Eternal Chairman City
- Evaporation Flats
- Evergreen Reserve
- Exemplar City
F: 25 names
- Facility 9
- Fairview Habitat
- Fallow
- Farside
- Felicity Park
- Fidelitas
- Fidelity Square
- Firebreak
- Firedamp
- Firewall
- First Citizen Square
- Flintlock Yard
- Floodgate
- Floodlight Row
- Flue End
- Fort Maddox
- Fortress Zurich
- Fortune Heights
- Founder's Rest
- Founders Landing
- Founding Day
- Franchise Row
- Fraternity Yards
- Fumeridge
- Furnace Row
G: 34 names
- Gallery Nine
- Gantry
- Gaslight Row
- Gastown
- Gate 7
- Gauntmere
- General Kessel Barracks
- Genesis Biodome
- Geofence
- Girderton
- Glasgow Containment
- Glass Houses
- Glasshaven
- Gloamstead
- Glorious First of Frost
- Goldleaf Crescent
- Governor's Hold
- Grand Consolidated
- Grand Union City
- Gratitude Terrace
- Gravelpit
- Gravity Well
- Greasetrap
- Greasewick
- Greater Lahore Sprawl
- Greater Metropolis
- Greenhouse Nine
- Greyhaven
- Greywall
- Grid 19
- Grid 7
- Grimeford
- Grimshaw Flats
- Grindstone
H: 29 names
- Hab-Block 12
- Hab-Cluster 9
- Hab-Tower 41
- Habitat 21
- Habitat 6
- Halcyon Estates
- Halfway
- Halvardgrad
- Halvorsen Arcology
- Hamburg Sub-Levels
- Hanoi Floodplain
- Harbinger Wharf
- Hardpan
- Hardscrabble
- Harmony Towers
- Harvest Dome
- Heat Dome
- Heatsink
- Helix Atrium
- Helsinki Deep Levels
- High Anchor
- Highcity 1
- Highground
- Highwater
- Holding Area 12
- Hollowmarket
- Hologram Row
- Housing Bloc 33
- Hyperion Block
I: 10 names
- Icebreak City
- Idris-Thane Reserve
- Inspectorate Row
- Intake Station 5
- Interim City
- Iron City
- Iron City Below Zalem
- Ironhaven
- Ironmarrow
- Ironvale
J: 4 names
- Jakarta Seawall
- Johannesburg Deep
- Jubilee Square
- Jurisdiction 36
K: 10 names
- K-Block
- Kessington Estates
- Kessler Arcology
- Keystone Charter City
- Kiln 13
- Kilnhaven
- Kinshasa Megablock
- Kolkata Levee
- Kreuzerstadt
- Kuala Lumpur Canopy
L: 32 names
- Labor Borough 10
- Labor Camp 19
- Lagrange Colony
- Lamp District
- Last Harbor
- Last Orchard
- Last Reservoir
- Lastlight
- Laurel Court
- Leadwater
- Leanmarket
- Lens City
- Levee Town
- Level 9
- Level Sub-3
- Liberation Day
- Libria
- Lightbox
- Lightless
- Lindqvist Atrium
- Lisbon Under Glass
- Listening Post 4
- Liverpool Dockwall
- Loudspeaker Square
- Low Orbit Annex
- Lowcity 9
- Lower Deck 50
- Lower Mexico City
- Lowlight
- Lowmarsh
- Loyalty Ward 9
- Lumina Court
M: 43 names
- Madrid Dry Zone
- Magistrate's Quarter
- Mangrove Wall
- Marchetti Canopy
- Marseille Exclusion Zone
- Marshal Halvard City
- Marshal's Gate
- Mega-Bloc 7
- Mega-City One
- Mega-City Three
- Megacity Central
- Megacity East
- Megacity Seven
- Megalopolis Omega
- Megalopolis Prime
- Megaplex 3
- Meltwater
- Meridian Corporate Zone
- Merit Gardens
- Metroplex 1
- Metroplex 9
- Metroplex Prime
- Metropolis Nine
- Metropolis Ultima
- Midcity 4
- Midgar
- Mill Town 6
- Ministry Quarter
- Mirage
- Mirkdale
- Mirror Ward
- Model Town 1
- Mons Ferreus
- Monsoon Gate
- Montreal Underlevels
- Morningside Reserve
- Morozingrad
- Mortarfall
- Mortgage Hill
- Mother Ilse's Town
- Mudlark
- Murkwell
- Mutebridge
N: 128 names
- Nakatomi Sector
- Neo-Angeles
- Neo-Avalon
- Neo-Babylon
- Neo-Beijing
- Neo-Berlin
- Neo-Boston
- Neo-Cairo
- Neo-Chicago
- Neo-Delhi
- Neo-Eden
- Neo-Elysium
- Neo-Francisco
- Neo-Genesis
- Neo-Havana
- Neo-Houston
- Neo-Istanbul
- Neo-Karachi
- Neo-Kowloon
- Neo-Lima
- Neo-London
- Neo-Manila
- Neo-Nairobi
- Neo-Osaka
- Neo-Paris
- Neo-Polis
- Neo-Prime
- Neo-Rome
- Neo-Seoul
- Neo-Sparta
- Neo-Sydney
- Neo-Terra
- Neo-Tokyo
- Neo-Veniss
- Neo-Vienna
- Neo-Warsaw
- Neon Ward
- New Accord
- New Alexandria
- New Angeles
- New Avalon
- New Babel
N, continued
- New Babylon
- New Bangkok
- New Bastion
- New Beijing
- New Boston
- New Bounty
- New Buenos Aires
- New Bulwark
- New Byzantium
- New Cairo
- New Canaan
- New Caracas
- New Carthage
- New Chicago
- New Citadel
- New Coalport
- New Concord
- New Corinth
- New Damascus
- New Dawn
- New Detroit
- New Dhaka
- New Eden
- New Exodus
- New Golgotha
- New Gomorrah
- New Greyford
- New Harmony
- New Herculaneum
- New Horizon
- New Houston
- New Jericho
- New Kyiv
- New Lagos
- New Liberty
- New London
- New Manchester
- New Manhattan
- New Manila
- New Memphis
- New Mumbai
- New Nairobi
- New Naples
N, continued
- New Nineveh
- New Obedience
- New Order
- New Palmyra
- New Petersburg
- New Pompeii
- New Prospect
- New Prosperity
- New Providence
- New Purity
- New Reykjavik
- New Roanoke
- New Rome
- New Sanctuary
- New Sao Paulo
- New Seattle
- New Serenity
- New Shanghai
- New Sodom
- New Tehran
- New Troy
- New Unity
- New Ur
- New Vigilance
- New Warsaw
- New Zion
- Night City
- Ninth of Harvest
- Node 27
- Northgate Habitat
- Nova Cartago
- Nova Cinis
- Nova Concordia
- Nova Libertas
- Nova Meridian
- Nova Nox
- Nova Pax
- Nova Roma
- Nova Ultima
- Nowhere
- Nox Aeterna
- Nullhaven
- Nullmarket
O: 18 names
- Oath Hill
- Okonkwo-Reyes Spire
- Old Capital
- OmniCorp Plaza
- Optimum Village
- Orbital Nine
- Order's Rest
- Ordinance
- Ordo Novus
- Oslo Shelter City
- Osrikburg
- Ostrander Heights
- Outer Canton 13
- Outpost 5
- Output Sector 3
- Overcity 1
- Overflow Camp 25
- Overseer's Row
P: 47 names
- Pallorton
- Panem City
- Panopticon
- Paradise Falls
- Paragon Freehold
- Parcel 206
- Parcel 88
- Parch
- Patriarch's Hill
- Pax Aeterna
- Pelagic Station
- Penal Colony 7
- Penitence
- People's Rest
- Perigee Slums
- Perimeter 12
- Permafrost Landing
- Permanence
- Permit Area 45
- Perseverance
- Pier 90
- Pioneer Township
- Pitchwell
- Pittsburgh Foundry Zone
- Platinum Tier
- Pleasant Meadows Complex
- Pledge
- Pod Cluster 26
- Pontoon City
- Population Center 12
- Port Aurelian
- Port Lysander
- Prague Lower City
- Precinct 33
- Prefecture 20
- Premier Sarn Township
- Premier's Landing
- Pressure Dome
- Processing Center East
- Prosperity Gardens
- Prosperity Zone 12
- Protector's Hold
- Protectorate City
- Province Nine
- Provisional Capital
- Pylon Cross
- Pyre Hill
Q: 5 names
- Quadrant 3
- Quarantine Block 9
- Quarrytown
- Quillon Mutual Campus
- Quota Town 4
R: 33 names
- Radiance Park
- Raincatch
- Rapture
- Ration District 30
- Ration Point 9
- Ravencorp Spire
- Ravenholm
- Reassignment Hub 2
- Reclamation City
- Rectitude
- Redaction
- Reeducation Township 2
- Reform Township
- Regent's Wall
- Region 5-North
- Registry
- Regolith City
- Rehabilitation Village
- Relocation Center 9
- Requisition Yard
- Resettlement Village
- Residence Tract 32
- Restoration Zone
- Rig City
- Ring Eleven
- Ringcity 7
- Rivetside
- Roll Call
- Rubble Row
- Rust City
- Rustgate
- Rustmarch
- Rustwater
S: 99 names
- Sacramento Levee City
- Saint Corvin's Gate
- Sallowmere
- Salt City
- Saltmarrow
- Saltpan
- Sanctuary Hills
- Sandbag Row
- Santiago Smog Basin
- Scaffold
- Scantling
- Score City
- Scourfield
- Scrapline
- Searchlight
- Seastead Nine
- Second Capital
- Sector 101
- Sector 12
- Sector 17
- Sector 23
- Sector 4
- Sector 404
- Sector 41
- Sector 7
- Sector 88
- Sector 9
- Sector Alpha
- Sector Null
- Sector Omega
- Serenity Biodome
- Serenity Ward
- Server Farm 31
- Settlement 14
- Shaft 29
- Shaft Town 2
- Shalebank
- Shareholder Row
- Shelf 8
- Shelter 40
- Shenzhen Works
- Shiverton
- Signal
- Silentium
- Silo 18
- Silt Landing
- Silverline Concession
- Singapore Vertical
- Sinking Shore
S, continued
- Siren Hill
- Site 12
- Skygarden Tier
- Skyhook Terminal
- Slag City
- Slagheap
- Slagport
- Sleep Block 12
- Sludgewater Bend
- Smog City
- Smogholm
- Smokestack
- Solaris Corporate Zone
- Solidarity Reach
- Sootfield
- Sootpile
- Sorrowgate
- Sparkfall
- Spindle City
- Sponsor Square
- Sprawl 12
- Sprawl East
- Stability
- Stack 75
- Stakeholder Village
- Static
- Station 9
- Steadfast
- Sterile Zone 12
- Sterling Heights Enclave
- Stillwharf
- Stilt Town
- Stockholm Ice Harbor
- Stormdrain
- Stormwall
- Stratum 2
- Stratum 40
- Sub Rosa
- Sub-Level 4
- Sub-Sector 9
- Subscriber Hills
- Summit Reserve
- Sumpwell
- Sunken Rotterdam
- Sunless Deep
- Sunrise Terrace
- Sunward Estates
- Surge Barrier 4
- Surveillance Grid 9
- Synergy Park
T: 192 names
- Tabula Rasa
- Tallowtown
- Tanaka-Brandt Complex
- Taproot
- Tarpit
- Tarrow
- Tenant Village
- Terminal 3
- Terminus
- Terra Clausa
- Tesseract Habitat
- Tether Station
- Thaw
- The Administrative District
- The Anthill
- The Anvil
- The Ash Belt
- The Backs
- The Badlands
- The Barrens
- The Bay Megaplex
- The Blackout
- The Blocks
- The Boilers
- The Bones
- The Breach
- The Burrow
- The Cage
- The Capitol
- The Catacombs
- The Chain
- The Cinders
- The Citadel
- The Citadel of Immortan Joe
- The Clamp
- The Coffins
- The Combine
- The Compound
- The Containment
- The Cordon
- The Cradle
- The Crater
- The Dead End
- The Deadlands
- The Deeps
- The Dim
- The Dome
- The Drain
T, continued
- The Dregs
- The Drift
- The Drowned Quarter
- The Enclave
- The Exclusion
- The Fallout
- The Fold
- The Foundry
- The Furrow
- The Glasslands
- The Grey
- The Grid
- The Gutter
- The Hammer Yards
- The Haze
- The Heights
- The Hem
- The Hive
- The Holding
- The Honeycomb
- The Hulks
- The Hush
- The Husk
- The Interior
- The Kennels
- The Kiln
- The Ladder
- The Lanterns
- The Last Stop
- The Lean-Tos
- The Ledger
- The Leftovers
- The Line
- The Lockdown
- The Lockers
- The Long Dark
- The Long Shadow
- The Long Stair
- The Long Wait
- The Lower Sprawl
- The Mandate
- The Margin
- The Marrow
- The Mires
- The Murk
- The Nest
- The Ninth Ward
- The Outlands
T, continued
- The Overcity
- The Overflow
- The Overlook
- The Overwatch
- The Patchwork
- The Pens
- The People's Garden
- The Perimeter
- The Pit
- The Quarantine
- The Queue
- The Quiet Zone
- The Racks
- The Reclamation
- The Refinery
- The Remainder
- The Ring
- The Rookery
- The Roost
- The Rot
- The Ruins
- The Runoff
- The Salt Flats
- The Scar
- The Scrap
- The Sewers
- The Shade
- The Shanties
- The Shelves
- The Sieve
- The Silence
- The Sinkhole
- The Sinks
- The Slag
- The Smelt
- The Smoke
- The Soot
- The Spill
- The Spire
- The Sprawl
- The Stacks
- The Standstill
- The Stills
- The Sump
- The Surplus
- The Tally
- The Tangle
- The Tarps
T, continued
- The Thicket
- The Tin Roofs
- The Towers
- The Trench
- The Tunnels
- The Turnback
- The Undercity
- The Undercroft
- The Undergrid
- The Underhive
- The Undermarket
- The Underspire
- The Vantage
- The Vats
- The Waiting Rooms
- The Wall
- The Warrens
- The Wastes
- The Wire
- The Works
- The Wound
- The Wrecks
- The Wrong Side
- The Yoke
- Thinwater
- Third of Thaw City
- Thirst
- Thrive Campus
- Tidemark
- Tidewall
- Tier 12
- Tier 4
- Tin City
- Tolvangrad
- Toronto Dome
- Torus One
- Township 4
- Tracker's Mile
- Tract 11-B
- Tract 70
- Tranquility Towers
- Transit Camp 38
- Transit City
- Transparency
- Triage Ward 6
- Tribunal City
- Tribute Fields
- Tripwire
U: 12 names
- Undercity 4
- Underwell
- Union City
- Unit City 8
- Unity Block 3
- Unity Plaza
- Uplink City
- Upper Stratum 1
- Urbs Aeterna
- Urbs Cinerum
- Urbs Ferrea
- Utopia Ward
V: 12 names
- Vance-Tyrell Habitat
- Vancouver Terraces
- Vanguard City
- Vantage Point Habitat
- Vault 101
- Vault 13
- Ventilation Row
- Veridanopolis
- Vigil
- Vigilia
- Visibility Zone
- Voss-Calder Campus
W: 19 names
- Wanhope
- Ward 16
- Ward 5
- Warden's Reach
- Watchtower
- Waterline
- Weldmark
- Wellhead
- Wellness Campus
- Wellspring Enclave
- Wet Bulb
- Weyland Heights
- White Noise
- Whiteout
- Whitmore Gardens
- Windbreak
- Wirewood
- Work Zone 66
- Wretchmoor
Y: 1 name
- Year One