Government Agency Name Generator

Departments, bureaus and ministries for fictional states

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Fictional government agencies in realistic civil-service form, from the Department of Roads and Ferries and the Inland Navigation Commission to the Bureau of Missing Socks.

About government agency names

Government bodies are named by formula, which is why a made-up one can sound so convincing. Most names join a body type to a remit: Department of, Ministry of, Bureau of or Office of, or else the remit first and then Commission, Board, Authority, Administration, Inspectorate, Registry or Service. The body type carries meaning. In many countries a ministry or department is headed by a member of the government, a commission or board decides things as a panel, an authority runs or regulates something at arm's length, and an inspectorate visits and reports.

This list covers the everyday business of a state: roads, ferries and railways, hospitals and drinking water, customs, stamps and pensions, forests, rivers and floods, schools, land records, weights and measures. About forty names are regional bodies with invented place names, such as the Tri-County Water Board, and about fifty have remits no real government has needed yet, from the Bureau of Wizard Registration to the Ministry of Queues.

All of the agencies are meant as fiction. Because real governments use the same plain vocabulary, a name here may happen to resemble a body that exists somewhere, so search the name before you publish. Words such as Royal, Federal, Crown and Commonwealth hint at the kind of state you are writing about.

How to choose government agency names

  • Match the body type to the job. A ministry sets policy, an inspectorate visits and reports, a registry keeps lists and a board or tribunal hears appeals, so the word you choose tells readers what your characters do all day.
  • Use the vocabulary of your setting. Ministry, Royal Commission and Crown suit a parliamentary monarchy, Department, Bureau and Federal suit a republic made of states, and Prefectural or Cantonal place the story somewhere else again.
  • Work out the initials. Staff in your story will shorten the Department of Roads and Ferries to DRF within a page, so make sure the abbreviation is easy to say and does not spell something unfortunate.
  • For comedy, keep the form straight and let the remit do the work. The Bureau of Minor Inconveniences is funny because it reads exactly like a real letterhead.
  • Swap in your own geography. Replace Eastmarch or Port Aldwin with a town from your map and a regional board becomes part of your world.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a department, a bureau and an agency?

Usage varies by country, so there is no single rule. In the United States a department is usually a top-level body led by a cabinet secretary and a bureau or office is a unit inside one, while in many parliamentary systems the top-level body is called a ministry. Agency is the loosest term and can describe almost any public body, which makes it a safe choice for fiction.

Are any of these real government agencies?

They are written as fiction and none is meant to be a real body. Government naming is so formulaic, though, that a plain name such as the Forestry Inspectorate or the Census Commission could match a real office somewhere in the world, and the list has not been compared with any register of real agencies. If you plan to publish, search the exact name in your own country first.

How do I make a fictional agency sound realistic?

Pair a familiar body type with a narrow, concrete remit, because real agencies are usually named for one dull job. Bureau of Boiler Safety, Registry of Wells and Boreholes and Office of the Collector of Tolls all sound real for that reason. Two remits joined by and, as in Department of Drains and Sanitation, add the feel of an old merger.

Which names work best for satire or comedy?

Look for the odd remits mixed through the list, such as the Ministry of Misplaced Umbrellas, the Commission on Commissions and the Office of Pending Decisions. They keep the deadpan form of a real letterhead and let the subject supply the joke. Dry names like the Department of Forms and Procedures work too when the story around them is absurd.

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All 500 government agency 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: 2 names

  • Airfields Authority
  • Authority for Excessive Signage

B: 88 names

  • Beacon and Buoy Service
  • Blood and Tissue Authority
  • Board of Architects and Builders
  • Board of Cemeteries and Crematoria
  • Board of Cinema Licensing
  • Board of Customs Appeals
  • Board of Drainage and Dikes
  • Board of Elevator Examiners
  • Board of Forestry Wardens
  • Board of Harbor Dues
  • Board of Health Visitors
  • Board of Land Valuation
  • Board of Museums and Galleries
  • Board of Pension Trustees

B, continued

  • Board of Pilotage
  • Board of Public Examinations
  • Board of Public Trustees
  • Board of Railway Arbitration
  • Board of School Inspectors
  • Board of Tides and Charts
  • Board of Trade Standards
  • Board of Water Engineers
  • Borderlands Customs Post Authority
  • Borough Weights Office
  • Boundary Survey Service
  • Bridges Administration
  • Bridges Inspectorate
  • Building Codes Authority
  • Bureau of Alternate Timelines

B, continued

  • Bureau of Animal Health
  • Bureau of Asteroid Claims
  • Bureau of Audit and Accounts
  • Bureau of Bicycle Registration
  • Bureau of Births and Deaths
  • Bureau of Boiler Safety
  • Bureau of Bonds and Savings
  • Bureau of Building Permits
  • Bureau of Customs Valuation
  • Bureau of Dream Licensing
  • Bureau of Drinking Water
  • Bureau of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
  • Bureau of Employment Exchanges
  • Bureau of Excise Stamps
  • Bureau of Ferry Operations

B, continued

  • Bureau of Fish Hatcheries
  • Bureau of Flood Forecasting
  • Bureau of Forest Fire Control
  • Bureau of Forms and Stationery
  • Bureau of Golem Safety
  • Bureau of Harbor Pilots
  • Bureau of Highway Maintenance
  • Bureau of Hospital Accounts
  • Bureau of Interagency Liaison
  • Bureau of Irrigation
  • Bureau of Land Surveys
  • Bureau of Lost Property
  • Bureau of Lotteries and Raffles
  • Bureau of Meteorological Records

B, continued

  • Bureau of Mine Inspection
  • Bureau of Minor Inconveniences
  • Bureau of Missing Socks
  • Bureau of Monuments and Plaques
  • Bureau of Noise Abatement
  • Bureau of Notaries
  • Bureau of Official Translations
  • Bureau of Patents and Marks
  • Bureau of Pest and Weed Control
  • Bureau of Pharmacy Inspection
  • Bureau of Postal Codes
  • Bureau of Power Lines
  • Bureau of Public Libraries
  • Bureau of Radio Licenses
  • Bureau of Railway Timetables

B, continued

  • Bureau of School Meals
  • Bureau of Secret Identities
  • Bureau of Seed Certification
  • Bureau of Standards and Gauges
  • Bureau of Street Names
  • Bureau of Tax Appeals
  • Bureau of Temporal Standards
  • Bureau of Textbooks
  • Bureau of Tides and Almanacs
  • Bureau of Tunnel Safety
  • Bureau of Vaccination Records
  • Bureau of Voter Rolls
  • Bureau of Wage Arbitration
  • Bureau of Wetlands
  • Bureau of Wizard Registration

C: 33 names

  • Canals and Towpaths Administration
  • Cantonal Water Office
  • Cape Merrow Lighthouse Board
  • Capital District Water Authority
  • Census Commission
  • Census Field Service
  • City Bridges Bureau
  • Civil Registration Authority
  • Civil Service Pay Commission
  • Clean Air Commission
  • Coastal Dunes Authority

C, continued

  • Coldwater Basin Authority
  • Commission for Garden Suburbs
  • Commission for Lighthouses and Beacons
  • Commission on Coastal Flooding
  • Commission on Commissions
  • Commission on Daylight Saving
  • Commission on Paradox Prevention
  • Commission on Public Footpaths
  • Commission on Rural Depopulation
  • Commission on Unlicensed Miracles
  • Commonwealth Bureau of Lighthouses

C, continued

  • Commonwealth Tariff Office
  • Constituency Maps Commission
  • County Fences Commission
  • Crown Buildings Office
  • Crown Fisheries Board
  • Crown Forests Office
  • Cryptid Census Bureau
  • Customs Inspectorate
  • Customs Launch Service
  • Customs Warehousing Authority
  • Cycling Infrastructure Authority

D: 62 names

  • Dairy Inspectorate
  • Department of Apocalypse Preparedness
  • Department of Apprenticeships
  • Department of Bridges and Tunnels
  • Department of Broadcasting Standards
  • Department of Civil Preparedness
  • Department of Civil Registration
  • Department of Coastal Protection
  • Department of Consumer Complaints
  • Department of Customs and Tariffs
  • Department of Dairy Standards
  • Department of Dams and Hydropower

D, continued

  • Department of Dragon Licensing
  • Department of Drains and Sanitation
  • Department of Electrical Supply
  • Department of Forests and Rangelands
  • Department of Forms and Procedures
  • Department of Giant Relations
  • Department of Government Buildings
  • Department of Grain and Livestock
  • Department of Hospitals and Clinics
  • Department of Inland Waterways
  • Department of Interdepartmental Coordination
  • Department of Land Registration

D, continued

  • Department of Licensing and Permits
  • Department of Lost Causes
  • Department of Maps and Surveys
  • Department of Mines and Quarries
  • Department of Monday Mornings
  • Department of Museums and Monuments
  • Department of Nursing and Midwifery
  • Department of Orchards and Vineyards
  • Department of Parks and Footpaths
  • Department of Passports and Visas
  • Department of Patents and Designs
  • Department of Pensions and Annuities
  • Department of Playing Fields

D, continued

  • Department of Ports and Pilotage
  • Department of Posts and Parcels
  • Department of Procurement and Stores
  • Department of Rail and Tramways
  • Department of Rivers and Reservoirs
  • Department of Roads and Ferries
  • Department of Robot Licensing
  • Department of Rubber Stamps
  • Department of Schools and Libraries
  • Department of Sea Monster Sightings
  • Department of Soil Conservation
  • Department of Stamps and Excise

D, continued

  • Department of Statistics and Forecasting
  • Department of Tax Forms
  • Department of Tourism and Festivals
  • Department of Veterans' Pensions
  • Department of Wages and Hours
  • Department of Waste and Recycling
  • Department of Weather and Tides
  • Department of Weather Modification Permits
  • Department of Weights, Measures and Coinage
  • Department of Workplace Safety
  • Disaster Relief Administration
  • District Forestry Office
  • Drinking Water Authority

E: 6 names

  • Eastmarch Provincial Tax Office
  • Eastmarch Transit Authority
  • Electricity Tariff Commission
  • Employment Exchange Service
  • Examinations Authority
  • Excise Inspectorate

F: 29 names

  • Fair Markets Authority
  • Familiar and Companion Animal Registry
  • Farm Loans Administration
  • Federal Audit Chamber
  • Federal Bridges Office
  • Federal Bureau of Tabulation
  • Federal Customs Tribunal
  • Federal Dairy Office
  • Federal Dam Safety Office
  • Federal Office for Building Standards
  • Federal Office of Measures
  • Federal Patent Registry
  • Federal Postal Inspectorate
  • Federal Rivers Commission

F, continued

  • Federal Wage Board
  • Federal Waterways Agency
  • Ferry and Causeway Authority
  • Ferry Safety Inspectorate
  • Fisheries Inspectorate
  • Fisheries Quota Commission
  • Five Fords Bridge Trust
  • Flood Defense Authority
  • Food Hygiene Inspectorate
  • Forest Boundaries Commission
  • Forest Lands Administration
  • Forest Ranger Service
  • Forest Roads Authority
  • Forestry Inspectorate
  • Four Parishes Burial Board

G: 8 names

  • General Stores Administration
  • Ghost Tenancy Tribunal
  • Government Courier Service
  • Government Printing Administration
  • Grain Prices Commission
  • Grain Storage Authority
  • Greater Halloway Transit Commission
  • Greywater Sewerage District

H: 12 names

  • Harbor District Sanitation Office
  • Harbor Dredging Administration
  • Harrow Bay Ferry Authority
  • Heritage Railways Authority
  • High Moor Commons Board
  • Highways and Byways Authority
  • Highways and Verges Department
  • Historic Bridges Commission
  • Hospital Construction Authority
  • Hospital Inspectorate
  • Hospital Sites Commission
  • Hydroelectric Authority

I: 16 names

  • Identity Documents Authority
  • Inland Navigation Commission
  • Inland Ports Authority
  • Inspectorate of Courthouses
  • Inspectorate of Elevators and Escalators
  • Inspectorate of Enchanted Goods
  • Inspectorate of Fairgrounds
  • Inspectorate of Inspectorates

I, continued

  • Inspectorate of Public Buildings
  • Inspectorate of Reservoirs
  • Inspectorate of Rural Schools
  • Inspectorate of Weights and Scales
  • Interdimensional Customs Service
  • Interprovincial Rail Board
  • Interstate Rivers Compact Commission
  • Isle of Tern Harbor Office

K: 1 name

  • Kestrel Coast Lifeboat Service

L: 4 names

  • Land Titles Authority
  • Livestock Markets Authority
  • Locust Control Service
  • Lunar Land Registry

M: 63 names

  • Mapping and Charting Service
  • Marrowfield District Council
  • Masked Vigilante Registration Board
  • Metropolitan Board of Drains
  • Metropolitan Tramways Authority
  • Mine Subsidence Authority
  • Ministry for Mountain Districts
  • Ministry for Rural Roads
  • Ministry for the Coast
  • Ministry of Airfields
  • Ministry of Archives
  • Ministry of Arts and Antiquities

M, continued

  • Ministry of Border Crossings
  • Ministry of Canals and Locks
  • Ministry of Cartography
  • Ministry of Census and Statistics
  • Ministry of Ceremonies and Protocol
  • Ministry of Citizenship and Names
  • Ministry of Civil Defense and Shelters
  • Ministry of Commerce and Fairs
  • Ministry of Cooperative Societies
  • Ministry of Fisheries and Harbors
  • Ministry of Food Reserves
  • Ministry of Forests and Wildlife
  • Ministry of Fuel and Light

M, continued

  • Ministry of Harvests
  • Ministry of Holidays and Observances
  • Ministry of Hospitals
  • Ministry of Housing and New Towns
  • Ministry of Island Territories
  • Ministry of Labor and Guilds
  • Ministry of Land Reclamation
  • Ministry of Lifeboats and Lighthouses
  • Ministry of Merchant Shipping
  • Ministry of Mines and Metals
  • Ministry of Misplaced Umbrellas
  • Ministry of Moons and Tides

M, continued

  • Ministry of Nutrition
  • Ministry of Pensions and Friendly Societies
  • Ministry of Posts and Couriers
  • Ministry of Provincial Affairs
  • Ministry of Public Hygiene
  • Ministry of Queues
  • Ministry of Roads and Bridges
  • Ministry of Rural Electrification
  • Ministry of Schools
  • Ministry of Science and Invention
  • Ministry of Small Enterprises
  • Ministry of Sport and Public Baths
  • Ministry of Standards and Measures

M, continued

  • Ministry of State Lotteries
  • Ministry of Tariffs and Duties
  • Ministry of Tea and Biscuits
  • Ministry of the Exchequer
  • Ministry of the Mint
  • Ministry of Trades and Crafts
  • Ministry of Weather
  • Ministry of Wireless and Telephones
  • Ministry of Works and Waterworks
  • Ministry of Youth and Apprentices
  • Ministry without Portfolio
  • Monuments and Memorials Commission
  • Municipal Tramways Department

N: 20 names

  • National Agency for Plaques and Memorials
  • National Agency for Road Maintenance
  • National Agency for Rural Post
  • National Agency for School Meals
  • National Agency for Tidal Energy
  • National Blood Reserve
  • National Bridge Register
  • National Canal Trust
  • National Examinations Office
  • National Flood Agency

N, continued

  • National Footpaths Agency
  • National Grain Reserve
  • National Pension Registry
  • National Place Names Office
  • National Seed Bank Agency
  • National Skills Register
  • National Tariff Board
  • National Thrift Office
  • New Towns Authority
  • Northfold Roads Board

O: 59 names

  • Office for Clean Rivers
  • Office for Fair Rents
  • Office for Flood Recovery
  • Office for Plain Language
  • Office for Rail Fares
  • Office for Rural Broadband
  • Office for School Standards
  • Office for Statistical Standards
  • Office of Allotments and Community Gardens
  • Office of Apprenticeship Records
  • Office of Artificial Persons
  • Office of Bridge Tolls
  • Office of Coastal Erosion
  • Office of Ferry Subsidies

O, continued

  • Office of Haunted Property Disclosure
  • Office of Hospital Licensing
  • Office of Interdepartmental Mail
  • Office of Pending Decisions
  • Office of Prophecy Audit
  • Office of Public Clocks
  • Office of Roundabout Answers
  • Office of Street Lighting
  • Office of Superhero Liability
  • Office of the Assayer
  • Office of the Auditor of Public Works
  • Office of the Census Taker
  • Office of the Chief Electoral Clerk
  • Office of the Chief Sanitary Officer
  • Office of the Collector of Tolls

O, continued

  • Office of the Commissioner for Oaths
  • Office of the Comptroller of Stamps
  • Office of the Conservator of Forests
  • Office of the Examiner of Patents
  • Office of the Fire Warden
  • Office of the Harbor Master
  • Office of the Inspector of Bridges
  • Office of the Keeper of Public Records
  • Office of the Keeper of Weights
  • Office of the Ombudsman for Utilities
  • Office of the Paymaster of Pensions
  • Office of the Pensioners' Advocate
  • Office of the Postmaster of Rural Routes
  • Office of the Provincial Geologist
  • Office of the Public Analyst

O, continued

  • Office of the Public Timekeeper
  • Office of the Railway Commissioner
  • Office of the Ratepayers' Advocate
  • Office of the Registrar of Deeds
  • Office of the Registrar of Ships
  • Office of the River Warden
  • Office of the State Cartographer
  • Office of the Surveyor of Roads
  • Office of the Tenants' Advocate
  • Office of Troll Bridge Tolls
  • Office of Unfinished Paperwork
  • Official Gazette Service
  • Old Quay Customs House
  • Orbital Parking Authority
  • Outer Islands Roads Agency

P: 17 names

  • Parcel Rates Commission
  • Pilotage Service
  • Pinehollow Township Zoning Board
  • Place Names and Signposts Commission
  • Port Aldwin Harbor Commission
  • Portal Transit Authority
  • Postal Services Authority
  • Power Grid Authority

P, continued

  • Prefectural Bureau of Festivals
  • Product Safety Authority
  • Provincial Ferries Board
  • Public Analyst Service
  • Public Holidays Commission
  • Public Hospitals Administration
  • Public Pensions Authority
  • Public Records Authority
  • Public Trustee Service

Q: 3 names

  • Quarries Inspectorate
  • Quarry Hill Mines Office
  • Quarry Safety Administration

R: 24 names

  • Rail Fares Commission
  • Registry of Births and Namings
  • Registry of Brands and Earmarks
  • Registry of Charitable Trusts
  • Registry of Imaginary Friends
  • Registry of Land and Deeds
  • Registry of Motor Carriages
  • Registry of Public Rights of Way
  • Registry of Ships and Barges
  • Registry of Trade Guilds
  • Registry of Wells and Boreholes
  • Registry of Wills and Probate

R, continued

  • Reservoirs Administration
  • Revenue Appeals Authority
  • River Basin Authority
  • River Patrol Service
  • Rivers and Estuaries Commission
  • Royal Commission on Canal Tolls
  • Royal Commission on Drains and Sewers
  • Royal Commission on Public Clocks
  • Royal Commission on Rural Roads
  • Royal Commission on the Coinage
  • Rural Ambulance Service
  • Rural Roads Administration

S: 25 names

  • Saltmarsh County Assessor's Office
  • School Boundaries Commission
  • School Buildings Authority
  • School Transport Administration
  • Seed Testing Service
  • Sewerage and Drainage Authority
  • Skills and Apprenticeships Authority
  • Soil Survey Service
  • Sorcery Standards Authority
  • Spectrum Licensing Authority
  • Standing Commission on Weights and Measures
  • State Agency for Land Records

S, continued

  • State Archives Service
  • State Assay Office
  • State Forest Guard
  • State Lottery Authority
  • State Pensions Office
  • State Roads Agency
  • State Tax Chamber
  • State Water Inspectorate
  • Stonebridge Tolls Office
  • Street Cleaning Department
  • Subcommittee on Subcommittees
  • Survey of Coasts and Harbors
  • Survey of Mines and Minerals

T: 12 names

  • Tax Records Administration
  • Tenement Renewal Administration
  • Territorial Land Office
  • Thistledown Rural District Council
  • Tidal Survey Office
  • Time Travel Permits Office
  • Toll Roads Commission
  • Township Pound and Strays Office
  • Tramway Inspectorate
  • Tri-County Water Board
  • Tunnel and Viaduct Authority
  • Twin Lakes Fisheries Office

U: 2 names

  • Union Customs Agency
  • Upper Valley Drainage Board

V: 4 names

  • Vale of Sorrel Rivers Board
  • Veterans' Homes Administration
  • Veterinary Field Service
  • Village Electrification Authority

W: 10 names

  • Wage Standards Administration
  • Water Rates Commission
  • Waterworks Department
  • Weather Complaints Office
  • Weather Warning Authority
  • Wells and Springs Inspectorate
  • Westmere Parks Department
  • Wetlands Restoration Authority
  • Workplace Injuries Authority
  • Workshops Inspectorate