LOTR Orc Name Generator

Tolkien gave his orcs names that sound like something being chewed: Grishnákh, Uglúk, Shagrat, Gorbag, Muzgash, Lagduf, Radbug, Ufthak, Lugdush. Most are one or two syllables packed with back consonants (g, k, kh, gh, r, z, sh) and the dull vowels a, o and u, often with a circumflex marking a long vowel, as in Mauhúr, Bûrzum or Nazgûl. Orcs rarely have family names or lineages; a name is a grunt of identification, sometimes an insult, as with Snaga, which simply means slave, or Sharkû, old man.

The different orc breeds carry slightly different flavors. Mordor orcs of Cirith Ungol and Minas Morgul have the rawest Black Speech sound (Shagrat, Gorbag, Radbug). Isengard's Uruk-hai favor the long ú and clipped endings of Uglúk, Lugdush and Mauhúr, and the films added Lurtz and Sharku. The goblins of Moria and the Misty Mountains have older, gnarlier names like Azog, Bolg and Golfimbul, while The Hobbit films named Gundabad orcs Yazneg, Fimbul and Narzug. Epithets replace surnames: Azog the Defiler, Bolg of the North, Gothmog Lieutenant of Morgul.

The list opens with every named orc from the books and films, then follows the same phonology with original names, Black Speech compounds built from roots like ghâsh (fire), burz (dark), lug (tower) and nazg (ring), plus a few title-bearing captains.