Graveyard Name Generator

Old churchyards, boot hills and haunted burying grounds

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Generate graveyard names for horror stories, D&D maps, Gothic novels and worldbuilding: crumbling parish churchyards, frontier boot hills, paupers' acres, fantasy barrows and necropolises, plus plenty of places nobody visits after dark.

About graveyard names

A graveyard, strictly speaking, is the burial ground around a church, and the oldest ones are named with that in mind: the saint of the parish (St. Kenelm's Churchyard), the building itself (Old Meeting House Burying Ground) or a blunt local landmark (Gallows Hill, Boot Hill, Potter's Acre). The vocabulary changes with geography. England and Wales say churchyard, Scotland says kirkyard, colonial New England said burying ground or burying point, the frontier West said boot hill, and Ireland keeps the Gaelic cill (church) in names like Cill Mhuire.

The most evocative graveyards are named for the dead they hold or the reason they exist. Paupers' Acre, Strangers' Plot, Cholera Field, Suicides' Corner and Seamen's Graveyard each carry a social history in two words, and for horror writing that built-in backstory is exactly what you want: a Plague Acre or Witchfinder's Field does not need explaining. Fantasy settings go bigger with barrows, cairns, necropolises and ossuaries tied to a dynasty or order, such as Tombs of the Drowned Kings or Ossuary of the Pale Monks.

The list mixes all of these: parish churchyards and kirkyards, occupational and paupers' grounds, American boot hills and bayou yards, Celtic and Welsh saints, atmospheric horror names, and fantasy barrow-fields for tabletop maps.

How to choose graveyard names

  • Pick the regional noun first: churchyard for England, kirkyard for Scotland, burying ground for colonial America, boot hill for the Old West, barrow or necropolis for fantasy. It sets the era instantly.
  • Name the ground for who lies there rather than how it looks: Weavers' Yard, Drowned Sailors' Plot or Foundlings' Yard tells a story, where Dark Spooky Graveyard tells nothing.
  • Old graveyards were rarely named by committee, so prefer one unglamorous local feature (the mill, the tollgate, the crossroads) over anything poetic for a place meant to feel real.
  • For horror, the creepiest names are calm ones with a wrong detail: Hollow Bell Burying Ground or Silent Bell Churchyard unsettle more than Skull Hill because the reader has to ask why.
  • Give a town two grounds, the tidy one by the church and the old one on the edge of the parish where the outcasts were buried; the contrast writes its own plot hook.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery?

A graveyard is a burial ground attached to a church or chapel, usually old and small. A cemetery is a standalone burial ground laid out on purpose, a word that took over in the 1800s when towns opened grounds outside church control. If your setting is medieval, rural or Gothic, graveyard or churchyard is the word people would actually use.

What makes a graveyard name sound creepy?

Understatement. Names that hint at a story work better than names that shout: Hangman's Acre, Strangers' Plot, Drownedwell Graveyard, Hollow Bell Burying Ground. Pair a plain noun like yard or acre with one uneasy word and let the reader fill in the history.

How do I name a graveyard for a D&D or fantasy campaign?

Use the older vocabulary of barrows, cairns, tombs, crypts and ossuaries, and attach the name of a people, dynasty or order: Barrows of the Wolf Lords, Catacombs of the Silent Choir, Necropolis of Vel Anthar. A single-word place name like Hollowgrave or Barrowmere works well as the nearby village.

Are these names historically plausible for a real-world setting?

Yes. The parish, saint, occupational and landmark names follow the patterns of real British, Irish and American graveyards, including terms such as kirkyard, burying ground, boot hill and God's Acre. The fantasy and horror names are invented and free to use in any project.

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All 500 graveyard 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

  • Abbey Field Graveyard
  • Abbey of the Mists Graveyard
  • Abbey Ruins Graveyard
  • All Hallows Graveyard
  • All Souls' Churchyard
  • Almshouse Graveyard
  • Ashcroft Old Yard
  • Ashenhollow Churchyard
  • Ashgrave
  • Ashmere Graveyard
  • Auld Kirk Graveyard

B: 40 names

  • Bannock Hill Kirkyard
  • Baptist Chapel Yard
  • Barrow Downs of Ered Thul
  • Barrowgate
  • Barrowhill of the Ashen Ones
  • Barrowmead Churchyard
  • Barrows of the Frost Maidens
  • Barrows of the Iron Sept
  • Barrows of the Nine Thanes
  • Barrows of the Wolf Lords
  • Bayou Saint-Rémy Graveyard
  • Bellfounders' Yard
  • Ben Dorain Graveyard
  • Bittermoor Churchyard
  • Black Friars Graveyard
  • Black Veil Graveyard
  • Blackbriar Burying Ground
  • Blackcandle Hollow
  • Blackfen Burying Ground
  • Blackrook Burying Ground
  • Blackwillow Churchyard
  • Bleakgrave
  • Bleakmere Churchyard
  • Bleakstone Kirkyard
  • Bleeding Yew Churchyard
  • Blightwood Kirkyard
  • Blind Piper's Graveyard
  • Blue Hill Graveyard
  • Bone Fields of Kharûn
  • Bone Hollow Graveyard
  • Bone Meadow
  • Boneyard of the Red Hand
  • Boot Hill Graveyard
  • Brae Kirkyard
  • Brambleholt Graveyard
  • Briarholm Graveyard
  • Brickfield Burying Ground
  • Broken Cross Churchyard
  • Brookhollow Churchyard
  • Buzzard Roost Yard

C: 60 names

  • Cairn of the Chiefs
  • Cairnfield of the Ten Kings
  • Cairnmoor Graveyard
  • Cairns of Thorgrim's Fall
  • Canal Bank Graveyard
  • Candlemas Churchyard
  • Candlemere Kirkyard
  • Cankerwood Burying Ground
  • Cape Fog Burying Ground
  • Catacombs of Mortholme
  • Catacombs of the Broken Sun
  • Catacombs of the Silent Choir
  • Catacombs of Ul-Sharra
  • Cathedral Green Graveyard
  • Cattle Trail Burying Ground
  • Celtic Cross Graveyard
  • Chantry Hill Yard
  • Chantry of the Drowned Bell
  • Chapel Hill Graveyard
  • Chapel-of-Ease Yard
  • Charnel Hall of Dreskul
  • Charnelwell
  • Cholera Field
  • Christ Church Old Yard
  • Churchill Hollow Graveyard
  • Cider Mill Graveyard
  • Cill Mhuire Graveyard
  • Cinderholm Graveyard
  • Clan Burial Ground
  • Cobble Lane Churchyard

C, continued

  • Coffin Hill Graveyard
  • Coffinholm Graveyard
  • Coffinwood
  • Cold Ash Graveyard
  • Coldbrook Kirkyard
  • Coldharrow Graveyard
  • Coldwell Kirkyard
  • Colliers' Rest
  • Colonial Burying Point
  • Corpsewood
  • Covered Bridge Graveyard
  • Coyote Ridge Burying Ground
  • Craven Hill Burying Ground
  • Crofters' Graveyard
  • Crofthollow Burying Ground
  • Cromlech Hill Yard
  • Crooked Spire Churchyard
  • Crookmere Graveyard
  • Crossroads Grave
  • Crowsfoot Burying Ground
  • Crypt-Hollow of Sorrowind
  • Cryptmoor Graveyard
  • Crypts of Ezraheth
  • Crypts of Saint Maragh
  • Crypts of the Ashen Patriarchs
  • Crypts of the Hollow Crown
  • Crypts of the Mourning Star
  • Cryptwell
  • Cursed Oak Yard
  • Cypress Swamp Burying Ground

D: 23 names

  • Dark Chapel Graveyard
  • Dark Hollow Graveyard
  • Dead Bell Churchyard
  • Dead Elm Burying Ground
  • Dead Hallow Graveyard
  • Dead Horse Gulch Yard
  • Dead Men's Hollow
  • Deadholm
  • Deadwater Graveyard
  • Delta Crossroads Graveyard
  • Dewmere Graveyard
  • Dimwood Graveyard
  • Dissenters' Graveyard
  • Dreadmoor Churchyard
  • Drearcliff Burying Ground
  • Drovers' Rest Graveyard
  • Drowned Parish Graveyard
  • Drowned Sailors' Plot
  • Drownedwell Graveyard
  • Druid's Grove Graveyard
  • Dry Gulch Burying Ground
  • Dunhallow Churchyard
  • Duskmere Churchyard

E: 3 names

  • Ebonmere Graveyard
  • Eerie Vale Graveyard
  • Elderbrook Yard

F: 17 names

  • Fairy Fort Graveyard
  • Fallowcross Churchyard
  • Famine Graveyard
  • Fenmarsh Graveyard
  • Fenwick Hollow Burying Ground
  • Fernhallow Graveyard
  • Ferryman's Rest Graveyard
  • Fever Hospital Yard
  • Fogbound Yard
  • Fogmarsh Burying Ground
  • Foulmere Graveyard
  • Founders' Burying Ground
  • Foundlings' Yard
  • Foundry Hill Graveyard
  • Friary Garden Graveyard
  • Frostmoor Graveyard
  • Frozen Ferry Burying Ground

G: 36 names

  • Gallows Hill Yard
  • Gallows Yew Graveyard
  • Gallowsfoot Graveyard
  • Ghost Town Boothill
  • Ghostlight Churchyard
  • Ghoulwater Graveyard
  • Gibbet Lane Churchyard
  • Glassworks Yard
  • Glebe Field Graveyard
  • Glen Dour Graveyard
  • Gloomhollow Graveyard
  • Gloomridge Graveyard
  • Gloomwell Kirkyard
  • God's Acre
  • Goldmoor Graveyard
  • Grave Hill
  • Grave Mist Hollow
  • Grave-Warrens of Nargath
  • Grave-Wold of Maerwyn
  • Gravediggers' Own Plot
  • Gravelpit Burying Ground
  • Gravemoor
  • Gravemoss Hollow
  • Graves of the Starfallen
  • Graves of the Unsung Legion
  • Gravesend Hollow
  • Graveshollow
  • Gravewold
  • Grey Sisters' Graveyard
  • Greyfriars Hollow
  • Grim Lantern Graveyard
  • Grimbeck Graveyard
  • Grimhallow Churchyard
  • Grimmoor Graveyard
  • Grimsditch Burial Yard
  • Grinning Skull Graveyard

H: 31 names

  • Hag's Hollow Burying Ground
  • Haggard Hill Graveyard
  • Hanging Tree Graveyard
  • Hangman's Acre
  • Hangmere
  • Harbor Chapel Yard
  • Harrowdown Graveyard
  • Hawksmoor Burying Ground
  • Headless Horseman's Yard
  • Heatherwell Yard
  • Hemlockmere Graveyard
  • Hermit's Hollow Graveyard
  • Hermitage Yard
  • Highland Kirkyard
  • Highwaymen's Hollow
  • Hollow Bell Burying Ground
  • Hollow Oak Kirkyard
  • Hollow Tomb Churchyard
  • Hollowgate Graveyard
  • Hollowgrave
  • Hollowmoor Kirkyard
  • Hollowroot Graveyard
  • Holy Rood Churchyard
  • Holy Sepulchre Yard
  • Holy Well Graveyard
  • Horse Meadow Graveyard
  • Hound's Rest Graveyard
  • Howling Moor Burying Ground
  • Hunters' Hounds Yard
  • Hushmere Graveyard
  • Hushmoor Churchyard

I: 3 names

  • Ironstone Hill Yard
  • Isle of the Dead Kirkyard
  • Ivyholm Graveyard

K: 2 names

  • Killeen Burial Ground
  • Kirk o' the Moor

L: 14 names

  • Lafitte's Hollow Graveyard
  • Lantern Lane Graveyard
  • Lanternmoor Graveyard
  • Larkmoor Yard
  • Lepers' Field
  • Lighthouse Keepers' Yard
  • Lime Kiln Yard
  • Lindenholt Churchyard
  • Llan-y-Gwyll Churchyard
  • Loch Mhor Kirkyard
  • Lonely Hill Graveyard
  • Longbarrow Graveyard
  • Lost Mine Graveyard
  • Lychgate Hollow Graveyard

M: 26 names

  • Mad Abbot's Churchyard
  • Magnolia Hollow Graveyard
  • Maple Hollow Burying Ground
  • Marrowbone Hollow
  • Marrowmere Graveyard
  • Marsh Chapel Yard
  • Martyrs' Yard
  • Meeting House Burying Ground
  • Methodist Burying Ground
  • Millrace Yard
  • Miner's Luck Graveyard
  • Miners' Chapel Yard
  • Minuteman Graveyard
  • Mission Churchyard
  • Mistwell Churchyard
  • Moaning Hollow Burying Ground
  • Moaning Willow Churchyard
  • Moon Hollow Churchyard
  • Moorcroft Churchyard
  • Mossholm Churchyard
  • Mound of the Sleeping Host
  • Mourncroft
  • Mournholm
  • Mournwell Kirkyard
  • Mudlark Yard
  • Murkwater Graveyard

N: 13 names

  • Nantucket Hollow Graveyard
  • Necropolis of Ash and Iron
  • Necropolis of Kaer Vohl
  • Necropolis of Oszeth
  • Necropolis of the Drowned Moon
  • Necropolis of Vel Anthar
  • Nethergloom Graveyard
  • Netherwold Burying Ground
  • Nettlemoor Kirkyard
  • Nightfall Graveyard
  • Nightjar Hill Graveyard
  • Ninebells Kirkyard
  • Nun's Acre

O: 40 names

  • Ogham Stone Graveyard
  • Old Abbot's Graveyard
  • Old Asylum Burying Ground
  • Old Bell Churchyard
  • Old Covenanters' Yard
  • Old Dutch Reformed Graveyard
  • Old Ferry Graveyard
  • Old Fleet Churchyard
  • Old Fort Graveyard
  • Old French Quarter Yard
  • Old Gallowsmere Graveyard
  • Old Gaol Graveyard
  • Old Harrowmoor Graveyard
  • Old Marrowgate Graveyard
  • Old Mill Graveyard
  • Old Mining Camp Graveyard
  • Old Parish Graveyard
  • Old Pesthouse Graveyard
  • Old Priory Graveyard
  • Old Quaker Yard
  • Old Rectory Graveyard
  • Old Ropewalk Graveyard
  • Old Salem Yard
  • Old Saltern Churchyard
  • Old Spanish Mission Graveyard
  • Old Stonecross Churchyard
  • Old Thornbury Graveyard
  • Old Tollgate Graveyard
  • Old Watchman's Graveyard
  • Old Weir Graveyard
  • Old Wickham Graveyard
  • Orphans' Rest
  • Ossuary Hill
  • Ossuary of Ghal Marrow
  • Ossuary of Nine Sorrows
  • Ossuary of the Bent Spire
  • Ossuary of the Pale Monks
  • Ossuary of the Thousand Eyes
  • Our Lady of the Marsh Graveyard
  • Outlaw's Rest Graveyard

P: 12 names

  • Paupers' Acre
  • Penitents' Graveyard
  • Pestilence Field
  • Pilgrim Hill Graveyard
  • Pilgrim's Way Graveyard
  • Plague Acre
  • Plantation Graveyard
  • Poacher's Plot
  • Potter's Acre
  • Prairie Wind Graveyard
  • Priory Close Yard
  • Puritan Meeting Ground

Q: 3 names

  • Quarry Edge Graveyard
  • Quarrymen's Plot
  • Quietmere Yard

R: 14 names

  • Ragged Cross Graveyard
  • Railroad Cut Burying Ground
  • Rattlebone Yard
  • Rattlesnake Hill Graveyard
  • Ravenholt Burying Ground
  • Ravensmere Graveyard
  • Ravenstone Yard
  • Revolutionary Yard
  • Rookery Lane Graveyard
  • Rookwell Burying Ground
  • Rosemoor Churchyard
  • Rot Hill Graveyard
  • Rotting Gate Graveyard
  • Round Tower Graveyard

S: 91 names

  • Sallow Hill Churchyard
  • Sanctuary Lane Graveyard
  • Scarrow Hill Kirkyard
  • Seamen's Graveyard
  • Sepulchre Moor
  • Sepulchre of Ossian Vale
  • Sepulchre of the Unnamed God
  • Sepulchre of the Veiled Queen
  • Sexton's Field Churchyard
  • Shadehollow Graveyard
  • Shanty Hill Graveyard
  • Sheep Drovers' Hollow
  • Shipwreck Hill Yard
  • Shipwrights' Graveyard
  • Shipyard Hollow Yard
  • Shiverstone Kirkyard
  • Shriek Hill Churchyard
  • Shroud Hill Graveyard
  • Shroudhollow
  • Shroudwell Graveyard
  • Shroudwood
  • Silent Bell Churchyard
  • Silver Creek Boothill
  • Skullwater Graveyard
  • Slate Valley Graveyard
  • Sleepless Hill Graveyard
  • Sleepy Hollow Churchyard
  • Smelter Hill Graveyard
  • Smugglers' Chapel Yard
  • Soldiers' Acre

S, continued

  • Sootmarsh Churchyard
  • Sorrow Stone Graveyard
  • Sorrowgate Graveyard
  • Sorrowmere Kirkyard
  • Spanish Moss Churchyard
  • St. Alkmund's Yard
  • St. Andrew-under-Cliff Churchyard
  • St. Audrey's Churchyard
  • St. Bega's Kirkyard
  • St. Beuno's Churchyard
  • St. Botolph's Hollow
  • St. Budoc's Churchyard
  • St. Cadoc's Yard
  • St. Chad's Old Churchyard
  • St. Cuthman's Yard
  • St. Dubricius's Yard
  • St. Ebba's Churchyard
  • St. Edmund's Old Yard
  • St. Endellion's Graveyard
  • St. Erkenwald's Churchyard
  • St. Ethelbert's Graveyard
  • St. Frideswide's Yard
  • St. Guthlac's Churchyard
  • St. Gwenfaen's Churchyard
  • St. Ia's Graveyard
  • St. Illtud's Graveyard
  • St. Issui's Graveyard
  • St. James-in-the-Wood Yard
  • St. John-on-the-Hill Graveyard
  • St. Juliot's Churchyard

S, continued

  • St. Kenelm's Yard
  • St. Leonard's Old Churchyard
  • St. Mary-in-the-Fen Churchyard
  • St. Melangell's Churchyard
  • St. Michael-on-the-Mount Graveyard
  • St. Mungo's Kirkyard
  • St. Neot's Old Yard
  • St. Nicholas-at-Quay Graveyard
  • St. Nonna's Yard
  • St. Osyth's Churchyard
  • St. Peter-by-the-Water Yard
  • St. Petroc's Graveyard
  • St. Piran's Churchyard
  • St. Sepulchre's Yard
  • St. Sithney's Churchyard
  • St. Swithun's Old Churchyard
  • St. Teilo's Graveyard
  • St. Tysilio's Yard
  • St. Werburgh's Churchyard
  • St. Winwaloe's Churchyard
  • St. Withburga's Yard
  • St. Wulfstan's Churchyard
  • St. Wystan's Churchyard
  • Stagecoach Stop Graveyard
  • Stone Circle Graveyard
  • Stone Wall Churchyard
  • Strathmourn Graveyard
  • Sugar Mill Graveyard
  • Suicides' Corner
  • Sunken Cross Graveyard
  • Sweetwater Churchyard

T: 31 names

  • Tallowmoor Burying Ground
  • Tannery Hollow Graveyard
  • Tarnmoor Churchyard
  • The Barrows of Hollowmere
  • The Forgotten Acre
  • The Grey Barrow
  • The Nameless Plot
  • The Old Burying Yard
  • The Sleeping Hollow
  • The Strangers' Plot
  • The Unbaptised Ground
  • Thistlegate Kirkyard
  • Thornholt Kirkyard
  • Thornmoor Graveyard
  • Tidewater Chapel Yard
  • Tinkers' Ground
  • Tinsmiths' Plot
  • Tithe Barn Churchyard
  • Tollbridge Yard
  • Tomb Hollow
  • Tomb-Garden of Elareth
  • Tombfield of Vashar
  • Tombs of the Drowned Kings
  • Tombs of the First Dawn
  • Tombs of the Moth Queen
  • Tombs of the Salt Kings
  • Tombs of the Veiled Sisters
  • Tombs of the Wyrmslayers
  • Tombwater
  • Trinity Hollow Graveyard
  • Tumbleweed Hollow Graveyard

V: 4 names

  • Vault of the Last Kings
  • Vexley Churchyard
  • Vicarage Lane Yard
  • Voodoo Queen's Plot

W: 25 names

  • Wailing Hollow Churchyard
  • Weavers' Yard
  • Weeping Stone Churchyard
  • Weirwood Graveyard
  • Whaling Captains' Graveyard
  • Whispering Vale Graveyard
  • Whispering Yews Graveyard
  • White Friars Yard
  • Whitebone Graveyard
  • Whitlow Parish Yard
  • Widows' Walk Graveyard
  • Willowfen Graveyard
  • Witch Hill Burying Ground
  • Witchfinder's Field
  • Witchgrave Hollow
  • Witherfield Graveyard
  • Witherwood Graveyard
  • Wolfmere Kirkyard
  • Wolfsgrave
  • Workhouse Yard
  • Wraith Hollow Yard
  • Wraithwood Graveyard
  • Wreckers' Cove Graveyard
  • Wyckham Parish Graveyard
  • Wyrmgate Burying Ground

Y: 1 name

  • Yew Tree Chapel Yard