Ghost Town Name Generator

Abandoned towns, dead mining camps and drowned villages

Places & GeographyPart of: town and city generators500 names

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Generate ghost town names that sound like they were once on a real map: played-out mining camps, Dust Bowl farm towns, coal company villages, flooded reservoir towns, desert railroad sidings and famous real abandoned places from Bodie to Pripyat. Built for westerns, horror, post-apocalyptic fiction, D&D and game maps.

About ghost town names

Real ghost towns were almost never named to sound haunted. They were named in a hurry by optimists: for the mineral that drew everyone there (Chloride, Cinnabar, Carbonate), for the man who staked the first claim (Bannack, Thurmond), for a joke that stuck (You Bet, Total Wreck, Gouge Eye), or for the hope that the place would last (Goodland, New Hope, Prosper). The name only becomes eerie once the people leave. That is why the most convincing invented ghost town names are ordinary-sounding ones with a clear reason to have existed and a clear reason to have died: a played-out vein, a railroad that bypassed the siding, a reservoir that drowned the valley, a mine fire still burning underground.

This generator draws on the main ways towns actually get abandoned. There are Old West gold and silver camps (bars, gulches, diggings and flats), Great Plains and Dust Bowl farm towns, Appalachian and Colorado coal company villages, oil boomtowns, drowned towns under reservoirs, desert railroad sidings and water stops, logging camps, Spanish-named settlements of the Southwest, and a selection of real ghost towns from around the world for reference. Pick a name whose origin you can explain in one sentence and the ruin will feel real.

How to choose ghost town names

  • Decide what killed the town before you name it. A silver camp gets a mineral or claim name (Argentine, Poverty Bar); a drowned town gets an older, gentler name (Enfield, Old Millbrook); a coal town gets a company number or a surname (Number Nine Camp, Berwind).
  • Keep the structure short. Real abandoned settlements are usually one or two words: a feature plus a type (Dead Horse Gulch, Sage Siding) or a single coined word (Rhyolite, Bodie). Three-word gothic names read as theme parks.
  • Use optimism as irony. Names like Prosperity, Hope Valley and Harmony Grove are far more unsettling on a collapsed main street than anything with 'death' in it.
  • Match the region and era: bars and diggings for the 1850s Gold Rush, sidings and water stops for the 1880s railroad, tipples and company rows for 1910s coal, Spanish forms for the Southwest, reservoir and 'Old' prefixes for towns flooded in the 1930s to 1960s.
  • If the name is a real place, check it. Many here are genuine ghost towns (Bodie, Centralia, Kolmanskop); that is fine for settings and inspiration, but for a fictional town in a published story it is easier to invent a neighbor than to borrow a real one.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good name for a ghost town?

One that explains itself. The best ghost town names record why people came and hint at why they left: Last Chance, Dry Diggings, Shaft Seven, Sunken Ferry, Quarantine Wells. Short, concrete and a little hopeful is the real-world pattern; the emptiness supplies the mood.

Are these real ghost towns or made up?

Both. The list opens with genuine abandoned places from the American West, Appalachia, Australia, Namibia, Chile, Italy, Britain and the Chernobyl zone, then moves into invented names built the same way real ones were: minerals, claims, sidings, company numbers, floods and bad luck. Use the real ones for reference or settings and the invented ones for original fiction.

Can I use these for a Western, horror story or D&D campaign?

Yes. Mining camps and sidings suit westerns and Red Dead-style games, drowned and coal towns suit folk horror and Appalachian gothic, and the desert and atomic-era names work for post-apocalyptic settings. For fantasy, swap in your world's minerals and surnames but keep the same feature-plus-type structure.

How do I make a ghost town name sound abandoned without being cheesy?

Do not put the word ghost, death or doom in it. Let the name be ordinary and let the description do the work: a rusted water tower, a post office with the flag still up, a cemetery larger than the town. Adding 'Old' to a normal name (Old Gallatin, Old Millbrook) is the quietest way to signal that something replaced it.

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All 500 ghost town 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: 21 names

  • Adobe Walls
  • Agua Fria
  • Agua Muerta
  • Alkali Siding
  • Alunite
  • Animas Forks
  • Antelope Gap
  • Antimony
  • Anyox
  • Apex
  • Arcadia
  • Ardmore
  • Argentine
  • Arrastra Flat
  • Arrowhead
  • Arroyo Seco
  • Arsenic Wells
  • Ashbury Mill
  • Ashcroft
  • Ashfall
  • Avalanche Gulch

B: 46 names

  • Babylon
  • Bachelor's Draw
  • Bad Luck Flat
  • Bagdad
  • Balestrino
  • Ballarat
  • Bandit Pass
  • Bankhead
  • Bannack
  • Barthell
  • Bath House Hollow
  • Battle Creek
  • Beacon Siding
  • Bear River City
  • Belmont
  • Benton
  • Berwind
  • Bitter Creek Camp
  • Bitter Springs
  • Black Diamond
  • Black Lung Hollow
  • Blackdamp
  • Blackwater Crossing
  • Bloody Gulch
  • Blue Heron
  • Bodie
  • Bombay Beach
  • Bonanza King
  • Bone Orchard Crossing
  • Boot Hill
  • Borax Flats
  • Bralorne
  • Brandy City
  • Breaker Hill
  • Brimstone
  • Brown's Station
  • Buffalo Wallow
  • Bullion City
  • Bumble Bee
  • Bunkhouse Row
  • Burnt Church
  • Burnt Ranch
  • Bushnell
  • Busted Flush
  • Butler
  • Byrnesville

C: 50 names

  • Cabezon
  • Cahawba
  • Calico
  • Camp Dismal
  • Campo Santo
  • Canaan
  • Cannery Ruins
  • Cannonsville
  • Canvas City
  • Capitol City
  • Carbon Hill
  • Carbonate
  • Caribou
  • Castle Dome
  • Centralia
  • Cerro Gordo
  • Chacabuco
  • Chapel Rock
  • Charcoal Kilns
  • Check Number Twelve
  • Cheyenne Pass
  • Chisana
  • Chloride
  • Cholera Crossing
  • Cinnabar
  • Cleator
  • Coal Creek
  • Coaldust Hollow
  • Coffin Rock
  • Coke Ovens
  • Cokedale
  • Colonias
  • Comertown
  • Company Row
  • Concord
  • Concrete City
  • Consonno
  • Consumption Gulch
  • Contention City
  • Cookshack Creek
  • Copper Queen
  • Copperopolis
  • Corduroy Road
  • Cottonwood Siding
  • Courtland
  • Coyote Flat
  • Craco
  • Cuervo
  • Curon
  • Cyanide Mill

D: 31 names

  • Dale Creek
  • Dana
  • Danby
  • Dawson
  • Dead Broke
  • Dead Horse Gulch
  • Dead Man's Gulch
  • Deadwood Camp
  • Delagua
  • Desert Rose
  • Devil's Gate
  • Devil's Kitchen
  • Diamond Wash
  • Dobie Town
  • Dolores
  • Dooley
  • Dorothy
  • Dory Cove
  • Dos Cabezas
  • Drought Corner
  • Drowned Barrow
  • Drowned Harbor
  • Dry Diggings
  • Dry Gulch
  • Dry Prairie
  • Dugout Bend
  • Dunmoor
  • Dunwich
  • Dutch Flat
  • Dutchtown
  • Dyea

E: 11 names

  • Ebbing
  • Eckley
  • Eden Hollow
  • El Olvido
  • El Rito Abajo
  • Elizabeth Bay
  • Elkhorn Bottom
  • Elkmont
  • Elysium
  • Ember Flats
  • Enfield

F: 18 names

  • Fairbank
  • Fairview
  • Farina
  • Fenner
  • Fever Bar
  • Fire Creek
  • Flint Ridge
  • Flume Creek
  • Foggy Bottom
  • Foghorn Point
  • Fool's Gold Bar
  • Forsaken Mesa
  • Fort Forsaken
  • Fort Lonesome
  • Fort Misery
  • Friar's Well
  • Frisco
  • Frog Hollow Junction

G: 23 names

  • Galena
  • Gallows Flat
  • Garnet
  • Garnetville
  • Gilboa
  • Gleeson
  • Glenrio
  • Glory Hole
  • Goffs
  • Goldfield
  • Goldroad
  • Golgotha
  • Gomorrah
  • Goodland
  • Gouge Eye
  • Grafton
  • Grange Corner
  • Grasshopper Flat
  • Greenwich
  • Grief Hollow
  • Gusher Flat
  • Gwalia
  • Gypsum Creek

H: 34 names

  • Hallow's Mill
  • Hallsands
  • Halsey Crossing
  • Hangman's Gulch
  • Hangtown
  • Hard Times
  • Hardluck
  • Hardscrabble
  • Harmony Grove
  • Harshaw
  • Hashima
  • Hastings
  • Haunted Canyon
  • Hazard Fork
  • Headframe Hill
  • Hearse Creek
  • Hell on Wheels
  • Hell Roaring Camp
  • Hell's Half Acre
  • Helper Hill
  • Herder's Rest
  • Herring Station
  • Hideout Canyon
  • Hirta
  • Hoist House Camp
  • Hole in the Wall
  • Hollow Chapel
  • Holy Cross City
  • Holy Terror
  • Homestead Corner
  • Hope Valley
  • Horse Thief Canyon
  • Humberstone
  • Humbug City

I: 6 names

  • Imber
  • Independence
  • Inferno Gulch
  • Ingomar
  • Iosepa
  • Iron Mask

J: 5 names

  • Jeddo
  • Jericho Junction
  • Joadja
  • Judson
  • Jumping Off Place

K: 10 names

  • Kanowna
  • Kayaköy
  • Kaymoor
  • Kelly
  • Kennecott
  • Kennett
  • Kestrel Flats
  • Kiln Flat
  • Kitsault
  • Kolmanskop

L: 26 names

  • La Huerfana
  • La Quemada
  • La Ventana
  • Lagunita
  • Lake Valley
  • Lance Creek
  • Lantern Gulch
  • Larkin Siding
  • Las Animas
  • Las Cruces Viejas
  • Last Chance
  • Lazaretto Point
  • Leadore
  • Liberty Hill
  • Lighthouse Point
  • Logjam Landing
  • Lone Pine Junction
  • Lorencito
  • Lost Hope
  • Lothair
  • Lowwater
  • Loyston
  • Lucifer Mine
  • Ludlow
  • Lulu City
  • Lumber Camp 4

M: 17 names

  • Mantrip Hollow
  • Massacre Rocks
  • Medicine Bow
  • Medicine Lodge
  • Mercur
  • Mercury Landing
  • Mesita
  • Mica Hill
  • Milepost 212
  • Mineral Wells
  • Mission Ruins
  • Mogollon
  • Morley
  • Mount Hope
  • Mourning Wells
  • Mud Flat
  • Mule Bones

N: 9 names

  • Nevadaville
  • Neversink
  • New Hope
  • Nickel Flat
  • Ninemile Siding
  • Nineveh
  • Nugget
  • Number Nine Camp
  • Nuttallburg

O: 19 names

  • Obsidian Camp
  • Obsidian Cliffs
  • Ocean Falls
  • Octave
  • Ojo Seco
  • Okaton
  • Old Colliery
  • Old Gallatin
  • Old Millbrook
  • Oldtown Bottom
  • Olive Bridge
  • Ophir
  • Oradour-sur-Glane
  • Ore Knob
  • Orlean
  • Oro Fino
  • Orphan Creek
  • Outlaw Springs
  • Oyster Flat

P: 39 names

  • Padre's Rest
  • Pale Hollow
  • Panamint City
  • Paradise Lost
  • Paymaster's Corner
  • Pentedattilo
  • Perdition
  • Perigo
  • Pest House Flat
  • Petroleum Centre
  • Phantom Ranch
  • Picher
  • Pickhandle Gulch
  • Piedra Hueca
  • Pithole
  • Placerita
  • Pleasant Hill
  • Poison Spider
  • Poker Flat
  • Polphail
  • Port Wine
  • Portlock
  • Poverty Bar
  • Powder House Run
  • Pozo Amargo
  • Prairie Dog Town
  • Preacher's Rest
  • Prescott
  • Presidio Viejo
  • Primero
  • Pripyat
  • Proctor
  • Providence
  • Puerto de Luna
  • Pumice Flat
  • Pumpjack Flat
  • Purgatory
  • Pyramiden
  • Pyrite Flat

Q: 2 names

  • Quarantine Wells
  • Quartzburg

R: 19 names

  • Ragtown
  • Rancho Perdido
  • Rattlesnake Bar
  • Red Dog Road
  • Red Mountain Town
  • Reservoir Bend
  • Rhyolite
  • Rich Bar
  • Robbers Roost
  • Robsart
  • Rodney
  • Roscigno
  • Rotten Egg Springs
  • Rough and Ready
  • Roundhouse Flat
  • Rowley
  • Ruination Hill
  • Russell Gulch
  • Rustler's Camp

S: 61 names

  • Sage Siding
  • Saint Jude's Landing
  • Saltwater Station
  • Saltworks Landing
  • San Lorenzo Ruins
  • Sanatorium Hill
  • Sandon
  • Santa Laura
  • Sawdust Siding
  • Scalp Creek
  • Scrip Hollow
  • Scuttle Cove
  • Sego
  • Segundo
  • Seine Landing
  • Shaft Seven
  • Shakespeare
  • Sherman
  • Shingle Mill
  • Shroud Canyon
  • Siberia
  • Siding 17
  • Signal Hill
  • Silver Dollar
  • Silver Reef
  • Sin Nombre
  • Skidoo
  • Skunk Water
  • Slag Branch
  • Slag Hill

S, continued

  • Slagtown
  • Slate Lick
  • Smallpox Landing
  • Smelter Hill
  • Smuggler's Landing
  • Snowshed Camp
  • Soda Springs
  • Soddy Creek
  • Sodhouse
  • Sodom
  • Soledad
  • Sopris
  • Sorrowfield
  • Sour Gas Siding
  • Sour Wells
  • Spillway Camp
  • Spirit Lake
  • St. Elmo
  • St. Thomas
  • Stanton
  • Steins
  • Stinking Water
  • Stockyard Siding
  • Stonega
  • Sucker Flat
  • Sulphurdale
  • Sumner's Gap
  • Sunken Ferry
  • Sunny Slope
  • Sunset Mine
  • Swansea

T: 28 names

  • Tabasco
  • Tallow Creek
  • Tank Town
  • Tar Paper Flat
  • Tarrow
  • Teller City
  • Tellurium
  • Tent City
  • Tercio
  • Terlingua
  • Texola
  • Thistle
  • Thurmond
  • Tie Siding
  • Timbuctoo
  • Tin Cup
  • Tip Top
  • Tipple Town
  • Tomahawk
  • Tomboy
  • Total Wreck
  • Tres Piedras
  • Trestle Glen
  • Tumbleweed Junction
  • Tungsten
  • Tunnel 9
  • Two Guns
  • Tyneham

U: 3 names

  • Undertaker's Draw
  • Union City
  • Utopia

V: 4 names

  • Vanadium
  • Varosha
  • Vulcan
  • Vulture City

W: 13 names

  • War Bonnet
  • Waterstop
  • Whaler's Rest
  • Wharram Percy
  • Wheatfall
  • Whiskey Diggings
  • White Oaks
  • Widow's Bend
  • Widowmaker Mine
  • Willow Grove
  • Windlass Hill
  • Wittenoom
  • Wreckers Point

Y: 4 names

  • Yellow Dog
  • Yellow Jack
  • Yerranderie
  • You Bet

Z: 1 name

  • Zion Flat