Greek Island Name Generator

Real Greek islands are named in a handful of repeatable ways, and copying those patterns is what makes an invented one sound right. The commonest is a descriptive compound ending in -nisi or -nisos ('island'): Makronisos (long island), Aspronisi (white), Mavronisi (black), Gaidouronisi (donkey island), Fidonisi (snake island), Glaronisi (gull island). Tiny islets take a saint's name, as in Agios Nikolaos or Agia Paraskevi, or a church name like Evangelistria and Panagia. Many islands are simply a Greek adjective in the feminine: Strongyli (round), Psili (tall), Makri (long), Anydros (waterless).

Older layers sit underneath. Ancient Greek gave islands names like Kalliste ('most beautiful', the old name of Santorini), Ophioussa ('snaky') and Pityoussa ('piney'), and Homer supplied Ogygia, Scheria and Aiaia. Four centuries of Venetian rule left Italianised forms such as Stampalia, Cerigo, Negroponte and Scarpanto, which are useful for a fantasy map with a colonial history.

Phonetically, aim for endings in -os, -a, -i or -on, stress that falls naturally, and consonant clusters Greek actually uses (thr, chr, str, nth, mn). Avoid the Latin -us ending and stray letters like w or j, which immediately break the illusion.