Mythical Creature Name Generator

Mythical creature names come from the actual mythologies of the world, and knowing which tradition a name belongs to helps you use it well. Greek myth supplies the classics (Chimera, Hydra, Manticore, Cerberus, Pegasus, Sphinx), most of which are personal names of single monsters rather than species. Norse legend gives Fenrir, Sleipnir, Jormungandr, and Draugr; Celtic and British folklore give the water-horses Kelpie and Each-uisge, the Banshee, Black Shuck, and the Cwn Annwn; Slavic tales give Rusalka, Leshy, Domovoi, and Zmey Gorynych.

Further afield, Japan's yokai (Kitsune, Tengu, Kappa, Nue, Baku), China's auspicious beasts (Qilin, Fenghuang, Pixiu, Bai Ze), Persia's Simurgh and Karkadann, Mesopotamia's Lamassu and Anzu, and Indigenous American beings like Thunderbird, Wendigo, and Uktena each carry their own rules and reverence. Medieval bestiaries added inventions like the Catoblepas, Bonnacon, Yale, and Vegetable Lamb, and modern cryptozoology added Mothman, Chupacabra, and the Jersey Devil.

Use this list to seed a bestiary, name a fantasy species, or pick a mount, familiar, or antagonist. Names of unique monsters (Fenrir, Medusa, Typhon) work best as proper names for one great beast; species names (Griffin, Naga, Kobold) work as categories you can populate.