LARP Name Generator

A LARP name has one job that a novel or tabletop name never does: other people have to shout it across a field, remember it after one introduction, and say it with a straight face in costume. That rules out most of what looks good on paper. Long elvish strings blur together, joke names stop being funny by Saturday afternoon, and anything that rhymes with another player's name causes confusion in a battle line. The names that survive in the hobby are short, distinctive and easy to lip-read: Wren, Brannoc, Dame Isolde, Gorbag Toothless.

The list covers the styles most systems actually use. Medieval English and Cornish names fit generic fantasy kingdoms and most British fests; Norse, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon forms suit northern or tribal nations; Germanic, Italian, French and Iberian names fit Renaissance, swashbuckling and intrigue games; elven, dwarven, orcish and halfling names follow the conventions players expect. There are also titled names (Sir, Dame, Sister, Captain), trade names (Smith Gottfried, Alewife Marjory), epithets (Eirik Half-Hand, One-Eyed Jory) and one-word handles for rogues, mercenaries and anyone who prefers not to be known by a surname.

Check your game's setting guide before you commit: many systems tie naming styles to specific nations, and a name that matches your faction does half the roleplay for you.