Pirate Port Name Generator

Free ports, smugglers' havens and rogue anchorages

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Generate pirate port names for maps, novels, D&D campaigns and games: lawless free ports like Tortuga and Nassau, hidden careening coves, gibbet-lined harbours, and Spanish, French and Dutch colonial havens gone rogue.

About pirate port names

Real pirate ports were not named by pirates. Tortuga, Port Royal, Nassau, Île Sainte-Marie and Ocracoke were Spanish, English, French or native place names that happened to sit on weak colonial ground, so a convincing pirate port starts life as an ordinary harbour name in the language of whoever charted it first: Bahía, Puerto, Cayo and Isla for the Spanish Main, Anse, Baie and Havre for the French islands, Vrijhaven and Roverbaai for Dutch waters, and Roads, Hole, Bight and Careenage for English sailors. The pirate reputation comes afterwards, from the nickname crews give it.

That is why this generator mixes three registers. Colonial-sounding names (Port Carvell, Puerto Calavera, Anse des Pendus) are what appears on the Admiralty chart. Sailors' nicknames (Hangman's Shelf, The Careenage, Gulley's Gut, Coxen Hole) are what the crew actually calls the place. And a handful of real historical havens are included because they set the tone for everything else.

Think about what the port is for. A careening cove needs a sheltered beach, so names like Heaving Down Bay or Tarpaulin Cove fit. A market for stolen cargo wants a respectable front, so Port Mallory or Spanish Wells works better than anything with a skull in it. Save the gibbets and gallows for the navy-controlled harbours your pirates are trying to avoid.

How to choose pirate port names

  • Match the language to the colonial power that founded the port: Spanish for the Main and the Windward Passage, French for Hispaniola and the Lesser Antilles, Dutch for Curaçao and the Guianas, English for Jamaica and the Bahamas.
  • Give important ports two names, an official one for the chart (Port Dunmore) and a sailors' nickname (The Gut), and let characters reveal which side they are on by which one they use.
  • Use Hole, Roads, Bight, Cut and Careenage for small hidden anchorages; reserve Port and Harbour for places with a fort, a customs house and a governor to bribe.
  • A threatening name warns pirates off rather than drawing them in: Gallows Reach or Execution Dock are where the Royal Navy hangs people, not where the Brethren drink.
  • For a fantasy world, keep the structure but swap the geography words for your own, so a haven called Saltgibbet or Wrackhaven still reads instantly as a coastal place.

Frequently asked questions

What were the most famous real pirate ports?

Tortuga off Hispaniola, Port Royal in Jamaica, Nassau on New Providence, Île Sainte-Marie off Madagascar, Libertatia (probably legendary), Ocracoke in the Carolinas, Barataria near New Orleans and Petit-Goâve in Saint-Domingue. Several appear in the list; the rest of the names are invented in the same style.

How do I name a pirate haven for a D&D or fantasy map?

Start with a plain geographic root (salt, gull, wrack, tar, cinder) and an English coastal ending (-haven, -wick, -mouth, -holm), then add a nickname your players will use, like The Careenage or Hangman's Shelf. A neutral chart name plus a dark nickname feels more lived-in than a name that is spooky on its own.

What is the difference between a pirate port and a pirate town?

The port is the anchorage and waterfront, the town is what grows behind it. Names here focus on harbours, coves, roads and landings; if you need the settlement itself, try the pirate town name generator linked below.

Can I use these names in a published game or book?

Yes. Place names are not protected, and the invented ones here are free to use. The real historical ports are public knowledge, though you may want to fictionalise them if your story departs from history.

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All 500 pirate port names

This is the complete list the generator above draws its random batches from, sorted A to Z and grouped by first letter.

Plain text, one name per line.

A: 16 names

  • Accord Harbour
  • Ague Bay
  • Amnesty Hole
  • Anansi Cay
  • Anse à Rhum
  • Anse aux Voleurs
  • Anse de la Veuve
  • Anse des Corsaires
  • Anse des Pendus
  • Anse du Diable
  • Anse Noire
  • Anse Sanglante
  • Antongil Roads
  • Articles Bay
  • Ashen Reach
  • Avery's Rest

B: 60 names

  • Bahía de las Sirenas
  • Bahía de los Ladrones
  • Bahía del Ahorcado
  • Bahía del Tiburón
  • Bahía Perdida
  • Bahía Sangrienta
  • Baía da Forca
  • Baía dos Esquecidos
  • Baie aux Requins
  • Baie des Boucaniers
  • Baie des Flibustiers
  • Baie du Naufrage
  • Baie du Squelette
  • Baie Maudite
  • Baie Perdue
  • Baie Sans Loi
  • Barataria
  • Barnacle Bay
  • Barracuda Sound
  • Bastard's Bay
  • Beggar's Landing
  • Bellamy Bight
  • Bellwater
  • Beyond the Chart
  • Bilge Harbour
  • Black Flag Anchorage
  • Black River Landing
  • Black Sam's Shelf
  • Black Tortuga
  • Blackbeard's Hole
  • Blackguard Bay
  • Blackpowder Hole
  • Blacksand Harbour
  • Blackstaithe
  • Blackwater Fever Cay
  • Blackwater Landing
  • Blank Chart Landing
  • Bloodwater
  • Bloody Flag Cove
  • Bluefields Roads
  • Boca de Sangre
  • Boca del Infierno
  • Boca Escondida
  • Bonefish Cut
  • Bonehaven
  • Bones Bay
  • Bonny's Rest
  • Booby Key
  • Branding Iron Landing
  • Breadfruit Bay
  • Brethren Bay
  • Brethren's Rest
  • Brigand's Bight
  • Brimstone Bight
  • Brinehollow
  • Broken Keel Harbour
  • Bumboat Bay
  • Burnt Jib Bay
  • Butcher's Cove
  • Buzzard's Roost

C: 46 names

  • Cabo Corsario
  • Cabo das Almas
  • Cabo de las Lágrimas
  • Cabo Tormenta
  • Cabo Traición
  • Calico Jack's Table
  • Calico Landing
  • Cap Corsaire
  • Cap Malheur
  • Cap Tourmente
  • Cape Lopez
  • Careening Bay
  • Careening Cove
  • Castaway Roads
  • Cat-o'-Nine Landing
  • Cavendish Cove
  • Cayo Cangrejo
  • Cayo Fantasma
  • Cayo Hueso
  • Cayo Ladrón
  • Cayo Perdido
  • Cayo Pirata
  • Cayo Sangre
  • Cayo Sombra
  • Chain Boom Harbour
  • Chain Gang Landing
  • Charlotte Amalie
  • Cinder Cay
  • Coast of Brethren
  • Cockburn Hole
  • Coconut Walk
  • Compact Cove
  • Conch Bar
  • Conch Shell Harbour
  • Condent's Cove
  • Contraband Cove
  • Cormorant Hole
  • Cowrie Cove
  • Crab Hole
  • Cracked Hull Harbour
  • Cragholm
  • Crimson Cay
  • Crossbones Cay
  • Cutlass Bay
  • Cutpurse Landing
  • Cutthroat Cay

D: 16 names

  • Dampier's Drift
  • Davy's Landing
  • Dead Man's Chest Harbour
  • Dead Reckoning
  • Deadman's Lagoon
  • Debtor's Rest
  • Devil's Elbow
  • Devil's Gullet
  • Dievenhaven
  • Doodskophaven
  • Drake's Hole
  • Drowned Bell
  • Drowned Church Harbour
  • Dry Dock Landing
  • Duivelsbaai
  • Duppy Landing

E: 5 names

  • Edge of the Map
  • Enseada dos Ladrões
  • Every's Haven
  • Execution Dock
  • Eyepatch Cove

F: 25 names

  • Farewell Bay
  • Fever Hole
  • Fiddler's Green Harbour
  • Flag of Truce Harbour
  • Flagless Bay
  • Flint's Anchorage
  • Flogging Bay
  • Flotsam Landing
  • Fort Ashby
  • Fort Carrion
  • Fort Dunrogue
  • Fort Forsaken
  • Fort Gibbet
  • Fort Nowhere
  • Fort Ratsbane
  • Fort Rogue
  • Fort Salt
  • Fort Tallow
  • Fort-Liberté
  • Foundling Cove
  • Free Quarter
  • Freedom Rock
  • Freeholm
  • Frigatebird Cay
  • Frobisher's Folly

G: 17 names

  • Galgenpunt
  • Galley Slave Harbour
  • Gallows Reach
  • Gentleman's Rest
  • Ghostlight Harbour
  • Gibbet Point
  • Gibbetwick
  • Grapeshot Landing
  • Graving Harbour
  • Grenville's Grave
  • Greywater Roads
  • Grimstrand
  • Grog Hole
  • Grogwater
  • Gullwick
  • Gunn's Hollow
  • Gutter Bay

H: 27 names

  • Hag's Harbour
  • Half-Moon Battery
  • Halter Point
  • Hammerhead Shoals
  • Hangman's Harbour
  • Hangman's Shelf
  • Haven of Ash
  • Havre aux Forbans
  • Havre de Grâce Perdue
  • Havre des Damnés
  • Havre du Rhum
  • Havre Libre
  • Havre Sans Maître
  • Hawkins Wharf
  • Hawkins' Rest
  • Hawksbill Hole
  • Heaving Down Bay
  • Hellgate Landing
  • Here Be Dragons Bay
  • Hideaway Hole
  • Hideout Harbour
  • Hoist Harbour
  • Hoodoo Hole
  • Hook Hand Harbour
  • Hornigold Bay
  • Hulk Harbour
  • Hull Scraper's Cove

I: 16 names

  • Île aux Crânes
  • Île de la Misère
  • Île des Forbans
  • Île du Pendu
  • Île Rouge
  • Île Sans Nom
  • Île-à-Vache
  • Îlet Goulet
  • Ilha dos Forcados
  • Ironwood Landing
  • Isla Calavera
  • Isla de los Condenados
  • Isla del Ron
  • Isla Pólvora
  • Isla Ratón
  • Isla Tortuga Negra

J: 3 names

  • Jackanapes Landing
  • Jolly Roger Cove
  • Jumbie Cove

K: 8 names

  • Kaap Verraad
  • Kaperskust
  • Kelpmouth
  • Kidd's Hollow
  • Kill-Devil Cay
  • King's Pardon Harbour
  • Knave's Quay
  • Kraken's Rest

L: 14 names

  • Labyrinth Cay
  • Lament Bay
  • Land Crab Landing
  • Land's End Hole
  • Last Chance Bay
  • Last Sight Harbour
  • Lawless Landing
  • Lawlessness Bay
  • Libertatia
  • Lignum Vitae Harbour
  • Little Tortuga
  • Loggerhead Landing
  • Lost Anchor Cove
  • Low's Lagoon

M: 17 names

  • Mahogany Reach
  • Manchineel Cove
  • Mangrove Hole
  • Manumission Bay
  • Marigot Bay
  • Marooner's Rock
  • Marrow Bay
  • Maze Harbour
  • Molasses Reach
  • Monkey Hole
  • Moonless Anchorage
  • Moray Gut
  • Morgan's Quay
  • Morrow's Haven
  • Mosquito Cove
  • Mourning Cove
  • Mutineer's Hole

N: 8 names

  • Nassau
  • Ne'er-do-well Harbour
  • New Tortuga
  • Nine Fathom Hole
  • No Flag Harbour
  • No Quarter Cove
  • No Return Cove
  • Noose Cay

O: 8 names

  • Oakum Quay
  • Obeah Cay
  • Ocracoke Inlet
  • Old Chain Hole
  • Old Fort Mercy
  • Ollonais Landing
  • One Eye Harbour
  • Orphan's Landing

P: 81 names

  • Palmetto Point
  • Pardon Bay
  • Parley Point
  • Parrot Cay
  • Parrot Perch
  • Pauper's Hole
  • Peg Leg Landing
  • Petit-Goâve
  • Pew's Cove
  • Pillory Point
  • Pitchblack Bay
  • Point of No Return
  • Pointe des Voleurs
  • Pointe du Gibet
  • Pointe Noire
  • Pointe Rhum
  • Pointe-à-Poudre
  • Poisonwood Cay
  • Ponta do Corsário
  • Port Ambergris
  • Port Amnesty
  • Port Ashgrove
  • Port Bumbo
  • Port Carrick
  • Port Carvell
  • Port Corsair
  • Port Doubloon
  • Port Dunmore
  • Port Duquesne
  • Port Esperanza
  • Port Greaves
  • Port Grog
  • Port Halloran
  • Port Keelhaul
  • Port Lafitte
  • Port Levasseur
  • Port Lisette
  • Port Mallory
  • Port Marque
  • Port Merrow

P, continued

  • Port Mutiny
  • Port Navarro
  • Port Parley
  • Port Perdition
  • Port Plunder
  • Port Quillon
  • Port Ransom
  • Port Royal
  • Port Saint-Lucre
  • Port Sangre
  • Port Scurvy
  • Port Tallow
  • Port Tiburón
  • Port Van Hoorn
  • Port Vanderzee
  • Port Vexley
  • Port-au-Crabe
  • Port-de-Paix
  • Porto Caveira
  • Porto dos Piratas
  • Porto Escondido
  • Porto Maldito
  • Porto Sangue
  • Porto Seguro Falso
  • Providence Roads
  • Puerto Calavera
  • Puerto Culebra
  • Puerto del Diablo
  • Puerto Escondido
  • Puerto Maldito
  • Puerto Mosquito
  • Puerto Negro
  • Puerto Oro Perdido
  • Puerto Pícaro
  • Puerto Sombra
  • Puerto Traición
  • Puerto Viudas
  • Punta Ahorcado
  • Punta Bruja
  • Punta Diablo
  • Punta Pirata

R: 22 names

  • Rackham's Reach
  • Raleigh's Regret
  • Ranter Bay
  • Ravenwick
  • Red Flag Roads
  • Red Legs Landing
  • Reprieve Cove
  • Ribcage Reach
  • Roadstead of Rogues
  • Roadstead of Sorrows
  • Roberts' Roads
  • Rogers' Rest
  • Roguesmere
  • Rope's End
  • Roverbaai
  • Rum Cay
  • Rum Row
  • Rum Runner's Landing
  • Rumbaai
  • Rumhold
  • Runaway Cay
  • Rusty Chain Anchorage

S: 43 names

  • Sablehaven
  • Saint Mary's Island
  • Saint-Malo-des-Îles
  • Salt Cay
  • Salt Pond Harbour
  • Salt Raker's Landing
  • Saltgibbet
  • Saltscar
  • Salvager's Shelf
  • Sandfly Bay
  • Sawbones Bay
  • Scapegrace Hole
  • Scarrowmouth
  • Schelmenhoek
  • Scuttler's Cove
  • Sea Grape Landing
  • Sea Wyrm Landing
  • Second Chance Harbour
  • Secret Harbour
  • Seven Hulks Anchorage
  • Shag Rock Harbour
  • Shark's Tooth Anchorage
  • Shinglecombe
  • Sickbay Cove
  • Silver's Landing
  • Siren's Wharf
  • Skullcap Cove
  • Skullhaven
  • Smokkelaarsgat
  • Smuggler's Gullet
  • Smuggler's Notch
  • Sootwater
  • Sorrow's Anchorage
  • Soucouyant Bay
  • Split Mast Bay
  • Squire's Folly
  • Stay of Execution Landing
  • Stocks Cove
  • Stormhollow
  • Strike Colours Bay
  • Sugar Loaf Harbour
  • Sunken Bell Harbour
  • Surgeon's Landing

T: 49 names

  • Tamarind Anchorage
  • Tarnwick
  • Tarpaulin Cove
  • Teach's Hole
  • Terra Incognita Bay
  • Tew's Landing
  • The Admiralty's Shame
  • The Black Spot
  • The Boom
  • The Brethren's Landing
  • The Careenage
  • The Compact
  • The Crown's Regret
  • The Cut
  • The Devil's Kitchen
  • The Elbow
  • The Free Anchorage
  • The Governor's Blind Eye
  • The Gullet
  • The Gut
  • The Hole in the Wall
  • The Hook
  • The King's Absence
  • The Lash
  • The Maw
  • The Narrows
  • The Pirate's Shelf
  • The Rogue's Harbour
  • The Rope Walk
  • The Snare
  • The Teeth
  • The Thieves' Quay
  • The Throat
  • The Trap
  • Thiefsholm
  • Three Gibbets
  • Torn Sail Landing
  • Tortuga
  • Tortuga Baja
  • Tortuga Drift
  • Tortuga Shoals
  • Tortuga's Daughter
  • Treacle Landing
  • Truce Landing
  • Turncoat Quay
  • Turtle Cay
  • Turtle Crawl
  • Twelve Guns Landing
  • Two Cannon Cove

U: 2 names

  • Uncharted Cove
  • Unmapped Cay

V: 4 names

  • Vagabond Bay
  • Vagrant's Rest
  • Vane's Anchorage
  • Vrijhaven

W: 11 names

  • Wastrel Cove
  • Weeping Cay
  • White Flag Bay
  • Widow Walk Harbour
  • Widow's Anchorage
  • Woodes Landing
  • World's End Landing
  • Wrackhaven
  • Wrackmouth
  • Wraithwater
  • Wrecker's Bight

Y: 1 name

  • Yellowjack Landing

Z: 1 name

  • Zwartwater