Ninja Clan Name Generator

Real ninja clans were named like any other Japanese family. The two great shinobi homelands, Iga and Koga, were simply the provinces where the families lived, and the famous names inside them – Hattori, Momochi, Fujibayashi, Mochizuki, Fuma – are ordinary surnames built from two kanji for a place or feature. The martial traditions they passed down took the suffix ryū (school, literally 'stream'): Togakure-ryū, Gyokko-ryū, Kukishinden-ryū. Warlords kept their own bands under local slang names – the Rappa of Kai, the Suppa of the Hojo, the Kurohabaki of the Date; the Tokugawa later folded Iga men into the Oniwaban secret service.

Fiction added the flavour most people picture – the Foot Clan, the Hand, the Lin Kuei and the shadow-and-moon surnames of anime. A convincing original clan name usually follows one of three patterns. Japanese-style surnames use nature and night words in three or four syllables – Kurogane (black steel), Tsukikage (moon shadow), Kagenui (shadow-stitch). English-language clans pair a quiet, concrete image with a blade or animal – Silent Blade, Grey Heron, Hollow Reed. Gaming clans go shorter – Nightblades, Zero Footprint.

The list opens with historical families and schools, then original Japanese clans grouped by element, animal, weapon and yokai, then English clans, orders and brotherhoods, and finally tags built for Clash of Clans, Destiny or Discord servers.