Mountain Pass Name Generator

A mountain pass is named by the people who had to get over it, so real pass names are blunt and practical. English-speaking ranges use pass, gap, notch (New England), saddle and col; the Alps have the French col and pas, the Italian passo, forcella and bocchetta, and the German joch, scharte and sattel; Scotland and Ireland use bealach, lairig and mám, Wales bwlch, Spain puerto and collado, the Andes abra and portezuelo, the Himalaya la, Persia and Afghanistan kotal and gardaneh, Japan tōge and China guan, the fortified gate-pass. Choosing the right generic word does most of the work of making a name feel native.

The specific part of the name almost always comes from one of a few sources: the weather that makes the crossing dangerous (Col du Brouillard, Windscharte, Whiteout Col), an animal or the herders who drove it over (Bealach nam Bò, Gamsjoch, Drover's Col), a saint, chapel or hospice at the summit (Col de la Madone, Puerto del Cristo), a disaster or a grave (Dead Mule Pass, Paso de los Muertos, Totensattel), or a striking rock shape like a needle, tooth or door. Trade routes add salt, silk and smugglers.

The list mixes invented English names with plausible forms in a dozen languages so you can name one pass or a whole mountain frontier.