Fantasy Nickname Generator

Bynames, street names and sellsword monikers

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Find 500 fantasy nicknames for rogues, mercenaries and tavern regulars, from Stormcrow and Two-Knives to Old Bess and The Hound. Every entry is a byname to hang on a character, not a full name.

About this generator

In most fantasy worlds a nickname is earned, not chosen. Before surnames settled in medieval Europe, people were told apart by bynames describing a feature, a habit, a trade or one memorable mistake. Rulers got them too: Edward Longshanks, Harald Fairhair and Sweyn Forkbeard are remembered by theirs. Fantasy keeps that habit alive in every thieves' den and mercenary camp, where nobody asks for your family name.

This list sticks to informal names: one-word compounds like Stormcrow and Rattlebones, plain street names like Fingers and Patch, counted tags like Two-Knives and Half-Ear, and the Old Bess pattern of a describing word before a short given name. There are also names such as The Hound and The Magpie, soldier slang like Ironjaw and Double-Pay, and crew words like Gaffer and Auntie Knives. There are no formal offices and no styles that name a realm or a seat, because those belong to a herald, not a drinking companion. A rank like Sarge or Bishop is what the company calls someone, not an office held, and grand ones like Duchess and His Nibs are mockery.

A good nickname tells a small story. It can be literal, ironic or an old joke the bearer wishes everyone would forget. Pick one, decide who gave it, and you have a piece of backstory for free.

Tips for choosing a name

  • Let other characters choose it. A nickname given by a crew, a sergeant or a rival sounds more natural than one the bearer picked for effect.
  • Try irony. Calling the biggest fighter in the company The Pebble or the noisiest thief Whisper is an old and reliable joke.
  • Keep it short enough to shout. One to three syllables works best in a fight scene or across a crowded tavern.
  • Pair the nickname with a plain given name for formal moments: Tam to his mother, Red Tam to the watch, and just Red to his friends.
  • In a tabletop game, write down how the name was earned. A one-line origin gives the game master a hook to use later.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good fantasy nickname?

A good one is short, visual and hints at a story. Examples from this list include Stormcrow, Nine-Toes, Quickfingers, Mother Crow and Last-to-Fall. Choose the one that makes you ask how the character got it.

How did people get nicknames in medieval times?

Bynames usually came from appearance, trade, home village, a parent or a notable deed, and they were given by neighbors, not chosen. Many later hardened into hereditary surnames, which is why names such as Armstrong and Little exist today. Fantasy settings borrow the same logic.

Can I use these for D&D characters and NPCs?

Yes. They work for player characters, guild contacts, bandit gangs and mercenary companies in any tabletop system. A quick trick for a gang is to give every member the same style, for example all animal names or all counted tags, so the group feels like it shares a history.

What is the difference between a nickname, an epithet and a title?

A nickname is informal and used face to face, like Patch or Knuckles. An epithet is a descriptive tag that can stand in for a name, such as The Quiet or Red-Hand, and it may be flattering or not. A title is a rank or office granted by some authority, which is why the ranks in this list are either camp slang like Sarge and Bosun or mock honors like Duchess and Your Grace.

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All 500 names

This is the complete list the generator above draws its random batches from, sorted A to Z and grouped by first letter.

Plain text, one name per line.

A: 11 names

  • Abbot
  • Alley Bess
  • Alleycat
  • Always-Late
  • Anvil Marta
  • Arrow Kate
  • Arrowbait
  • Ashes
  • Auld Jock
  • Auntie Knives
  • Axehandle

B: 38 names

  • Bairn
  • Bandylegs
  • Barefoot Dob
  • Barelegs
  • Barley
  • Barrel Hob
  • Barrelbelly
  • Beetle
  • Bell Dickon
  • Bellows
  • Big Noll
  • Bishop
  • Bitterroot
  • Black Bram
  • Black Hob
  • Blackthumb
  • Blink
  • Blisters
  • Bloodaxe
  • Bodkin
  • Bog Rafe
  • Bold Ibbot
  • Bolt
  • Bonebreaker
  • Bones
  • Born-in-the-Saddle
  • Boss
  • Bosun
  • Breakspear
  • Bridge Nell
  • Broke-Nose
  • Broken-Tooth
  • Brother Mouse
  • Brown Emmot
  • Buckler
  • Burnt-Fingers
  • Burr
  • Buttons

C: 23 names

  • Candle Meg
  • Candlewick
  • Cap
  • Cellar Joan
  • Chapel Noll
  • Cinderfoot
  • Cinders
  • Clatterpot
  • Closefist
  • Coal Ned
  • Cold-Feet
  • Cookie
  • Cookpot
  • Copper
  • Copper Ibb
  • Counts-Coins
  • Cousin Salt
  • Crooked Kate
  • Cross Jill
  • Crowbait
  • Crumbs
  • Curtmantle
  • Cutpurse

D: 24 names

  • Dancing Sal
  • Dark Alys
  • Deacon
  • Deadeye
  • Deadwood
  • Dearie
  • Ditch Robin
  • Dockside Moll
  • Dodger
  • Dogsbody
  • Doorkicker
  • Double-Pay
  • Dour Dobbin
  • Downriver Tam
  • Dregs
  • Driftwood
  • Drinkwater
  • Drizzle
  • Drum Ulf
  • Drumbeat
  • Duchess
  • Duckling
  • Dumpling
  • Dusty Ned

E: 5 names

  • Eagle-Eye
  • Early Essie
  • Eats-Twice
  • Eight-Bells
  • Elbows

F: 26 names

  • Fair Annis
  • Fairhair
  • Far Jock
  • Farthing
  • Father Flask
  • Featherfoot
  • Fen Poll
  • Ferret
  • Ferry Jon
  • Fingers
  • Firebrand
  • First-to-Run
  • Five-Dice
  • Flatnose
  • Flea
  • Fletch
  • Flintheart
  • Forgot-the-Rope
  • Forkbeard
  • Forlorn Hope
  • Forty-Marches
  • Four-Winds
  • Freckled Magda
  • Freelance
  • Friar
  • Furnace Bram

G: 26 names

  • Gaffer
  • Gallows Hal
  • Gallowsbird
  • Gammer
  • Gaptooth
  • Gauntlet
  • Gentle Maud
  • Ginger Jory
  • Gnat
  • Goldtooth
  • Golightly
  • Gosling
  • Grandda Flint
  • Granny Nettle
  • Gravy
  • Greenhorn
  • Greenthumb
  • Grey Perkin
  • Grey Ulf
  • Greycloak
  • Grimjaw
  • Groat
  • Gudgeon
  • Gutter Kit
  • Guttersnipe
  • Guv

H: 25 names

  • Halberd
  • Half-a-Loaf
  • Half-Ear
  • Half-Hand
  • Half-Measure
  • Half-Moon
  • Halfpenny
  • Hangnail
  • Harbor Jack
  • Hard-Luck
  • Hardknuckle
  • Hardtack
  • Harefoot
  • Hawk-Nose
  • Hedge Piers
  • Hedge-Knight
  • Helmsplitter
  • Her Ladyship
  • Hilt
  • His Nibs
  • Home-by-Dawn
  • Hothead
  • Hotspur
  • Humble Hitch
  • Hundred-Oaths

I: 4 names

  • Ink Perkin
  • Iron-Gut
  • Ironjaw
  • Ironsides

J: 2 names

  • Jackanapes
  • Jackdaw

K: 6 names

  • Kennel Dob
  • Kiln Greta
  • Kitchen Peg
  • Knock-Knees
  • Knows-a-Man
  • Knuckles

L: 28 names

  • Lackbeard
  • Lackland
  • Laddie
  • Lambkin
  • Lampblack
  • Lass
  • Last-to-Fall
  • Last-to-Leave
  • Late Ned
  • Laughing Madge
  • Lazybones
  • Lean Piers
  • Leech
  • Left-Handed Piers
  • Lickspittle
  • Lightfinger
  • Little Dickon
  • Little Odo
  • Long Ilsa
  • Long Wat
  • Long-Arm
  • Long-Odds
  • Longshanks
  • Loom Ilsa
  • Lop-Ear
  • Loud Sim
  • Lucky
  • Lucky Nan

M: 21 names

  • Makepeace
  • Mam Tansy
  • Market Sal
  • Marsh Annis
  • Merry Joan
  • Midge
  • Milady
  • Milkbeard
  • Mill Wat
  • Milord
  • Minnow
  • Moonface
  • Mostly-Honest Kit
  • Moth
  • Mother Crow
  • Mouse
  • Mudboots
  • Muddy Noll
  • Mudlark
  • Mumbles
  • Mustard

N: 14 names

  • Near Jock
  • Needle
  • Nettle
  • Never-Pays
  • Newt
  • Nightowl
  • Nine-Toes
  • Nipper
  • No-Luck
  • No-Name
  • No-Thumbs
  • Nock
  • Notch
  • Nuncle

O: 11 names

  • Old Bess
  • Old Greta
  • Once-Bitten
  • One-Boot
  • One-Eye
  • One-Glove
  • One-Oar
  • Onions
  • Openhand
  • Other Noll
  • Owes-Everyone

P: 19 names

  • Packmule
  • Pale Rab
  • Patch
  • Peat Madge
  • Pickles
  • Pigeon
  • Pike
  • Pike Sten
  • Pikestaff
  • Pinchpenny
  • Pincushion
  • Plain Janet
  • Pockets
  • Pommel
  • Poppet
  • Porridge
  • Prentice
  • Princess
  • Proud Garrick

Q: 3 names

  • Quarrel
  • Quickfingers
  • Quiet Gib

R: 15 names

  • Ragged Hick
  • Rags
  • Ratbait
  • Rattlebones
  • Rearguard
  • Red Hanna
  • Red Tam
  • Red-Hand
  • Rivet
  • Rooftop Sim
  • Rook
  • Rope Gib
  • Runt
  • Rustbucket
  • Rusty Rafe

S: 70 names

  • Saddlesore
  • Salt Hanna
  • Saltpork
  • Sarge
  • Sawbones
  • Scapegrace
  • Scattergood
  • Scholar
  • Scowl
  • Sellsword
  • Seven-Lives
  • Seven-Scars
  • Shanks
  • Sharptongue
  • Shield Odo
  • Shieldbiter
  • Shieldwall
  • Short-Change
  • Short-Straw
  • Shufflefoot
  • Shy Lettie
  • Silent Mab
  • Silvertongue
  • Singing Poll
  • Sister Soot
  • Six-Toes
  • Skinflint
  • Skullsplitter
  • Sleeps-Standing
  • Sleepy Sukey
  • Slow Rob
  • Slowhand
  • Slugabed
  • Sly Jenny
  • Smallbeer

S, continued

  • Smiles
  • Snaggletooth
  • Snare Wilkin
  • Sobersides
  • Soft Jenkin
  • Softstep
  • Soot
  • Sootface
  • Sour Meg
  • Sourapple
  • Sparks
  • Sparrow
  • Spearcatcher
  • Spider
  • Spindleshanks
  • Spitfire
  • Splint
  • Sprat
  • Squall
  • Squint
  • Squire
  • Squirt
  • Stable Hodge
  • Starling
  • Stitches
  • Stoat
  • Stormcrow
  • Strongbow
  • Stump
  • Surefoot
  • Swabber
  • Sweet Tib
  • Sweet-Talk
  • Sweetwater
  • Swift Cissy

T: 101 names

  • Talks-to-Horses
  • Tall Wilkin
  • Tallow
  • Tallowface
  • Tar Jock
  • Tatters
  • Tavern Tib
  • Tawny Marta
  • Ten-Pints
  • The Anchor
  • The Anvil
  • The Badger
  • The Barrel
  • The Beanpole
  • The Bellringer
  • The Boar
  • The Boulder
  • The Brief
  • The Broom
  • The Bull
  • The Candle
  • The Chandler
  • The Cleaver
  • The Cook
  • The Cork
  • The Doorstop
  • The Drummer
  • The Eel
  • The Elder
  • The Ferryman
  • The Fiddler
  • The Flagon
  • The Goat
  • The Gravedigger
  • The Hammer
  • The Haystack
  • The Heron
  • The Hook
  • The Hound
  • The Kettle
  • The Ladle
  • The Lamb
  • The Lantern
  • The Late
  • The Magpie
  • The Mast
  • The Mastiff
  • The Mule
  • The Nail
  • The Orphan

T, continued

  • The Owl
  • The Ox
  • The Patient
  • The Pebble
  • The Piper
  • The Quiet
  • The Rat
  • The Scarecrow
  • The Shrike
  • The Sober
  • The Spoon
  • The Tailor
  • The Tall
  • The Terrier
  • The Thaw
  • The Thirsty
  • The Tinderbox
  • The Tinker
  • The Unlucky
  • The Unpaid
  • The Unwashed
  • The Wall
  • The Whetstone
  • The Widow
  • The Younger
  • Thimble
  • Thirsty Hal
  • Threads
  • Three-Coats
  • Three-Cups
  • Thrice-Drowned
  • Thrice-Wed Bess
  • Thunderguts
  • Tinder
  • Tinpot
  • Tipsy Tobin
  • Toad
  • Tomcat
  • Tongs
  • Tosspot
  • Treacle
  • Tumbledown
  • Tuppence
  • Turncloak
  • Turnip
  • Twice-Hanged
  • Two-Crows
  • Two-Knives
  • Two-Left-Feet
  • Two-Shirts
  • Two-Tongues

U: 3 names

  • Uncle Rust
  • Unlucky Nell
  • Upriver Tam

V: 3 names

  • Vanguard
  • Vinegar
  • Volley

W: 18 names

  • Wagtail
  • Walks-at-Night
  • Wallclimber
  • Warhorse
  • Warm Elsie
  • Wax Alys
  • Weasel
  • Wee Robin
  • Wet-Boots
  • Whelp
  • Whisper
  • Whistler
  • Whistling Peg
  • Wick
  • Widowmaker
  • Windbag
  • Windfall
  • Wool Avice

Y: 4 names

  • Young Bess
  • Young Hodge
  • Young Sten
  • Your Grace