Quechua Name Generator

Quechua given names are almost all meaningful nouns from the natural and spiritual world: Illari (dawn), Killa (moon), Inti (sun), Amaru (serpent), Kuntur (condor), Wayra (wind), Sisa (flower), Quri (gold), Kusi (joy) and Sumaq (beautiful). Because they are ordinary words, they combine freely, so Kusi Quyllur (joyful star), Sumaq T'ika (beautiful flower) and Qori Wayra (golden wind) are all natural two-part names. Most words are unisex in the language itself; usage has sorted them so that flower, star and moon names lean feminine while animal and weather names lean masculine.

The surnames are where you see the real Andes. Quispe (from qispi, crystal or free), Mamani (eagle, originally Aymara), Huamán (falcon), Condori (condor), Choque (gold), Puma, Paucar, Yupanqui, Sullca and Ccama are among the commonest family names in Peru and Bolivia, carried by millions of people. Many were Spanishized centuries ago, so Waman became Huamán or Guamán and Qhispi became Quispe.

This generator pairs given names in modern Quechua spelling (with q, k and w rather than the colonial c, hu and gu) with those living surnames, and adds a few names from the colonial drama Ollantay such as Cusi Coyllur and Ima Sumaq. Mixed spellings are deliberate: a child might be registered as Illary Quispe while her grandmother says Illari.