Ritual Name Generator

Rites, bindings and vigils for fantasy worlds

Magic & Supernatural500 names

0 of 500 seen

This or that?

7 picks, 1 winner

Tap the name you like more.

Tap a name to copy it. The arrows swap one name.

Or browse all 500 names, A to Z

Generate ritual names for fantasy, horror and tabletop worldbuilding: summonings like The Nine-Candle Summons, bindings like The Binding of Nine Knots, funeral rites like Vigil of the Drowned, and Latin titles like Evocatio Umbrarum.

About ritual names

A ritual name says what is done, and often to whom. That is the difference between a rite and a spell: a spell is cast in a breath, while a rite is performed, with steps, witnesses and a cost. The names in this list are built the way fictional liturgies usually are, as a verbal noun plus its object: The Binding of Nine Knots, The Washing of the Threshold, The Burning of the Childhood Name. Change the head word and you change the act. A calling invites, a sealing shuts, an unnaming takes something away.

The list spans every purpose. There are summonings and invocations, bindings and wards, banishings and cleansings, initiations and naming rites, funeral and mourning rites, seasonal and moon rites that a village performs, and oaths, pacts and crownings. A further group uses Latin titles such as Evocatio Umbrarum (the calling forth of shades) and Vigilia Corvorum (the vigil of ravens), which suit a learned order or an old church of your own invention. The shortest names, like Saltmeet and The Unsaying, read as the everyday words of people who have performed the rite for generations.

Every rite here is invented for fiction. None is taken from the ceremonies of a real faith or a real occult order.

How to choose ritual names

  • Pick the head word for the act you need. Calling, summons and invocation bring something in; binding, sealing and ward hold it; unnaming, dismissal and scouring send it away.
  • Give the rite a number or a material and the scene almost writes itself. The Circle of Seven Salts and The Binding of Nine Knots already tell the players what has to be gathered.
  • Use the long formal title in a grimoire and a short folk name in dialogue. Villagers who keep The Lighting of the Hill Fires every year would just call it the Kindling.
  • Keep Latin titles for one institution in your world, such as a college of mages or an inquisition, so the language marks who wrote the rite down.
  • Decide what the rite costs and who must be present before you name it. A name such as The Trial of Silence carries its own rule.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good name for a dark ritual?

Names that state a plain act in a calm voice tend to be the most unsettling. Try The Long Unnaming, The Nailing of the Shadow, The Guest at the Empty Chair or Calling the Drowned Home. A Latin title such as Evocatio Umbrarum gives the same rite a scholarly, forbidden-book tone.

What is the difference between a ritual name and a spell name?

A spell name describes an effect that one caster produces at once. A ritual name describes a performance with steps, time and usually more than one person, so it leans on words like rite, vigil, binding, procession and oath. The Three Nights' Watch and The Covenant of Nine Cups could not be mistaken for a quick cantrip.

Is the Latin in these ritual names correct?

The Latin titles use ordinary Latin words in standard grammar, for example Ligatio Novem Nodorum for a binding of nine knots and Sepultura Solis for a burial of the sun. They are titles made up for fiction, not quotations from any real liturgy or grimoire.

Are these real rituals?

No. They are invented names for stories, games and worldbuilding, and the list leaves out the sacraments and ceremonies of real religions and living traditions. A few echo things people have always done, such as lighting fires on hills or keeping watch over the dead, without naming any actual rite.

Related generators

More like this

Browse category

All 500 ritual 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: 2 names

  • Antiphon of the Gate
  • Ascensus ad Astra

B: 6 names

  • Banishing by the Thirteen Steps
  • Banishing of the Uninvited
  • Banishment at Cockcrow
  • Binding of the Bottled Storm
  • Binding the Wolf of Winter
  • Bonefire Rite

C: 20 names

  • Calling Down the Storm-Father
  • Calling of the Antlered One
  • Calling the Drowned Home
  • Calling the Shepherd of Moths
  • Calling the Wind by Its Name
  • Canticum Cinerum
  • Canticum Profundi
  • Carmen Evocationis
  • Carmen Ossium
  • Cena Umbrarum

C, continued

  • Chant of the Black Water
  • Chant of the Hollow Reed
  • Cinder Service
  • Circulus Novem Lapidum
  • Circulus Salis
  • Cleansing by Running Water
  • Conjuration of the Glass Familiar
  • Conjuring by Thorn and Thread
  • Consecratio Ignis
  • Coronatio Umbrae

D: 4 names

  • Dedicatio Lapidis
  • Descensus in Umbras
  • Devotio Hiemalis
  • Dirge of the Low Tide

E: 7 names

  • Evocatio Maiorum
  • Evocatio Umbrarum
  • Evocation of the Ember Court
  • Evocation of the Tidebound
  • Exile of the Whispering Thing
  • Expulsio Larvarum
  • Exsequiae Stellarum

F: 1 name

  • Feeding the Threshold Guest

H: 1 name

  • Hymn of the Thorn

I: 8 names

  • Initiatio Maior
  • Invocatio Ventorum
  • Invocation of the Brass Tongue
  • Invocation of the Hundred Eyes
  • Invocation of the Sleeping Name
  • Invocation Under the Hanging Stone
  • Iter ad Limen
  • Iuramentum Ferri

L: 8 names

  • Lamentatio Matrum
  • Lampfall
  • Libatio Prima
  • Libatio Ultima
  • Ligatio Novem Nodorum
  • Ligatio Ventorum
  • Litany of the Unlit Lamps
  • Lustratio Aquarum

M: 3 names

  • Memoria Nominum
  • Mensa Mortuorum
  • Moonbath

N: 3 names

  • Nightsong of the Drowned
  • Nox Sine Nomine
  • Nuptiae Lunae et Maris

O: 7 names

  • Oathmeet
  • Oblatio Frugum
  • Oblatio Salis
  • Oblivio Nominum
  • Obsignatio Portae
  • Opening the Way for the Elder Dead
  • Ostium Hiemis

P: 5 names

  • Pactum Cinerum
  • Pactum Septem Stellarum
  • Processio Lucernarum
  • Purging of the Fever-Wind
  • Purification of the Storm-Touched

R: 29 names

  • Raising the Marsh Lights
  • Reditus Lucis
  • Rite of the Answering Echo
  • Rite of the Ashen Moon
  • Rite of the Beckoning Hand
  • Rite of the Blindfold Walk
  • Rite of the Borrowed Voice
  • Rite of the Closed Eyes
  • Rite of the Emptied Cup
  • Rite of the Ferryman's Fee
  • Rite of the Knotted Hair
  • Rite of the Lantern-Bearer
  • Rite of the Leaden Seal
  • Rite of the Open Door

R, continued

  • Rite of the Returning Tide
  • Rite of the Salted Threshold
  • Rite of the Scattered Ash
  • Rite of the Second Name
  • Rite of the Shed Skin
  • Rite of the Six Seals
  • Rite of the Turned Back
  • Rite of the Unbroken Ring
  • Ritus Aquae Nigrae
  • Ritus Clavis Ferreae
  • Ritus Lunae Cinereae
  • Ritus Primae Nivis
  • Ritus Speculi Fracti
  • Ritus Trium Flammarum
  • Ritus Viae Albae

S: 17 names

  • Sacra Nocturna
  • Sacrum Aequinoctii
  • Sacrum Messis
  • Saltmeet
  • Scouring of the Haunted Hearth
  • Sealing by Salt and Silver
  • Sealing of the Iron Door
  • Sealing the Crack in the World

S, continued

  • Sealing the Mouth of the Barrow
  • Sealing the Well of Whispers
  • Sending Back the Borrowed Shadow
  • Sepultura Solis
  • Sigillum Noctis
  • Solutio Vinculorum
  • Summoning of the Rain Brides
  • Summoning of the Seventh Wind
  • Summons of the Pale Rider

T: 368 names

  • The Ancestor Lamp Kindling
  • The Anointing of the Storm King
  • The Appeasing of the Flood
  • The Apprentice's Vigil
  • The Ash Given to the River
  • The Ash-Strewing
  • The Asking at the Crossroads
  • The Asking of the Bees
  • The Bargain at the Milestone
  • The Barring of the Return Road
  • The Barrow-Closing
  • The Bathing in Smoke
  • The Bathing of the Moon Stone
  • The Beating of the Hollow Drum

T, continued

  • The Beckoning at Low Water
  • The Bell for the Unburied
  • The Bell Rung Underwater
  • The Bell That Empties the House
  • The Bell-Muffling
  • The Bellfast
  • The Bestowal of the Staff
  • The Betrothal by Candle and Knife
  • The Binding at the World's Root
  • The Binding by True Name
  • The Binding of Nine Knots
  • The Binding of Oath-Breakers
  • The Binding of Shadow to Heel
  • The Binding of the Mirror-Twin
  • The Black Sail Raising

T, continued

  • The Blessing of the Seed Corn
  • The Bolting of the Sky
  • The Braiding of the Two Cords
  • The Breaking of the Bowl
  • The Breaking of the Glamour
  • The Breaking of the Old Pact
  • The Breath-Giving
  • The Burning of the Childhood Name
  • The Burning of the Long Ship
  • The Burning of the Straw Double
  • The Burying of the Key
  • The Burying of the Winter King
  • The Caging of the Ember Wraith
  • The Cairn-Raising
  • The Calling Home of the Herds

T, continued

  • The Calling of the Hollow King
  • The Candle Left in the Window
  • The Canticle of Salt
  • The Carrying of the Empty Cloak
  • The Carrying of the Green Bough
  • The Casting Out by Bell and Smoke
  • The Censer Walk
  • The Chain of Seven Vowels
  • The Chaining of the Under-King
  • The Chalk Circle Summons
  • The Choosing of the Path
  • The Circle Drawn in Ash
  • The Circle of Seven Salts
  • The Climbing of the Bone Stair

T, continued

  • The Climbing of the Rain Tower
  • The Closing of the Book of Days
  • The Closing of the Thirteenth Door
  • The Closing of the Way
  • The Cold Iron Sealing
  • The Compact of the Seven Houses
  • The Counting of the Missing
  • The Covenant of Nine Cups
  • The Covenant of the Deep Well
  • The Cradle Blessing of Three Aunts
  • The Crossing at Heron Ford
  • The Crossing of the Rope Bridge
  • The Crossing Song
  • The Crowning in Ashes
  • The Cup Passed Left-Handed

T, continued

  • The Cutting of the Last Sheaf
  • The Cutting of the Witch's Thread
  • The Dance of the Barley Bride
  • The Dark Moon Fast
  • The Dawn Scouring
  • The Debt-Forgiving
  • The Descent Into the Low Hall
  • The Dew-Walk at Dawn
  • The Dipping in the River of Stars
  • The Dismissal of the Summoned
  • The Drawing Down of Rain
  • The Drawing Down of Stars
  • The Drawing of the Salt Line
  • The Dreaming in the Cave
  • The Drinking of the Bitter Cup

T, continued

  • The Driving of the Grey Guest
  • The Drowning of the Straw Queen
  • The Drum That Wakes the Hill
  • The Earning of the Bronze Torc
  • The Eclipse Drumming
  • The Elegy at the Standing Stones
  • The Elevation of the Hierophant
  • The Ember-Carrying
  • The Emptying of the Haunted Well
  • The Enthronement of the Winter Queen
  • The Farewell at the Black Gate
  • The Farewell to the Familiar
  • The Fealty of the Bare Blade
  • The Feeding of the Furrow
  • The Fettering of the Storm

T, continued

  • The Finding of the Lost Bell
  • The First Hunt Blessing
  • The First Ink
  • The First Mask
  • The First Snow Offering
  • The Folding of the Banner
  • The Forgetting of the Dark Name
  • The Frost-Asking
  • The Furrow-Singing
  • The Garlanding of the Bier
  • The Gathering In
  • The Gathering of Lost Voices
  • The Gift of the Ninth Year
  • The Girdling of the Old Oak

T, continued

  • The Giving Back of Breath
  • The Giving of the True Name
  • The Giving of the Word
  • The Gleaners' Thanks-Offering
  • The Granary Sealing
  • The Grave-Bread Sharing
  • The Great Unbinding
  • The Greater Silence
  • The Greeting of the Evening Star
  • The Guest at the Empty Chair
  • The Guiding of the Soul-Bird
  • The Hallowing of the Boundary Stones
  • The Hallowing of the Crown
  • The Handing Down of the Hammer
  • The Hearth-Raking

T, continued

  • The Hedge of Thorns
  • The Hollowing of the Grave Tree
  • The Honey on the Lips
  • The Honeying of the Standing Stone
  • The Hooding of the Acolyte
  • The Horn Blown Thrice
  • The Hostage-Oath
  • The Hound-Drive
  • The Hunter's Moon Apology
  • The Investiture of the Raven Throne
  • The Invitation of Shadows
  • The Iron Nail Vigil
  • The Jar and the Stopper
  • The Journeyman's Ascent
  • The Keening on the Shore

T, continued

  • The Keeper's Investiture
  • The Kindling of the Guide Fire
  • The Kneeling at the Thorn
  • The Knot of Two Rivers
  • The Knotting of the Red Cord
  • The Lambing Watch
  • The Lament of the Grey Widows
  • The Lamp-Trimming
  • The Lantern Call
  • The Last Dismissal
  • The Last Naming
  • The Last Night of Childhood
  • The Last Response
  • The Laying Down of Toys

T, continued

  • The Laying of the Coins
  • The Laying of the Ghost
  • The Laying of the Hearth Ward
  • The Laying On of Leaves
  • The Laying Out in Moonlight
  • The Leaping of the Low Fire
  • The Lesser Hours of Ash
  • The Libation to the Four Winds
  • The Lifting of the Long Curse
  • The Lighting of One's Own Lamp
  • The Lighting of the Guild Flame
  • The Lighting of the Hill Fires
  • The Lighting of the Storm Candle
  • The Lock Without a Key
  • The Locking of the Deep Gate

T, continued

  • The Long Unnaming
  • The Loosing of the Knot
  • The Lowering Into the Salt
  • The Lure of Honey and Smoke
  • The Marking of the Novice
  • The Marriage at the Split Oak
  • The Marriage of Fire and Tide
  • The Marrying of the River
  • The Midwife's Whisper
  • The Milk Poured for the Hill Folk
  • The Mingling of the Waters
  • The Moonwater Gathering
  • The Mourner's Fast
  • The Mourning of the Hive
  • The Nailing of the Shadow

T, continued

  • The Name-Drowning
  • The Naming and Sending
  • The Naming at First Frost
  • The Night Door Liturgy
  • The Night of the Borrowed Face
  • The Night of the First Antlers
  • The Night Office of Owls
  • The Night Watch at the Sheepfold
  • The Nine-Candle Summons
  • The Ninefold Kneeling
  • The Oath Before the Hearth
  • The Oath of Feather and Stone
  • The Oath of the Broken Arrow
  • The Oath of the Nameless
  • The Oath of the Open Grave

T, continued

  • The Oath on the Drowned Bell
  • The Offering of the First Loaf
  • The Office of the Ninth Bell
  • The Oiling of the High Seat
  • The Old Year's Burning
  • The Open Grave Vigil
  • The Opening of the Brass Gate
  • The Opening Words
  • The Ordeal of the Empty Bowl
  • The Order of Sealing
  • The Ordination of the Bell-Keeper
  • The Pact of the Hollow Tree
  • The Pact Renewed at Dusk
  • The Passing of the Hearth Key

T, continued

  • The Passing of the Threshold Stone
  • The Passing Under
  • The Peace-Weaving
  • The Penning of the Night Mare
  • The Planting of the Birth Tree
  • The Planting Over the Grave
  • The Pledge of the Lantern Guild
  • The Pouring Out at New Moon
  • The Procession of White Veils
  • The Promise at the Standing Stone
  • The Putting Out of the False Light
  • The Quenching of the Corpse Light
  • The Quickening of the Fields
  • The Quieting of the Bell-Spirit
  • The Raising of the Barrow Lord

T, continued

  • The Reading of Names by Firelight
  • The Receiving of the Knife
  • The Recessional of Crows
  • The Reckoning of Candles
  • The Releasing of the Bound Wind
  • The Remembrance of the Unnamed
  • The Response of Stones
  • The Returning From the Wild
  • The Returning of the Name to the Sea
  • The Ring Thrown to the Sea
  • The Rite of Clean Hands
  • The Rite of Salt on the Tongue
  • The Rite of Shared Shadow
  • The Rite of the Loom
  • The Rite of the Open Hand

T, continued

  • The Rite of the Red Harvest Moon
  • The Rite of the Returning Sun
  • The Rite of the Shut Door
  • The Rite of the Thirteenth Moon
  • The Rite of the Twice-Sworn
  • The Rite of the Unlit Pyre
  • The Rite of Two Moons
  • The Roll Call of the Fallen
  • The Rousing of the Bees
  • The Rule of Three Breaths
  • The Salt Cast Over Water
  • The Salting of the Tide
  • The Scattering From the High Rock
  • The Scepter Waking

T, continued

  • The Scything Song
  • The Sealing of the Sunken Vault
  • The Sealing of the Tomb Door
  • The Seating at the Kin Table
  • The Seating of the Speaker
  • The Second Kindling
  • The Sending Away of Winter's Shade
  • The Seven Doors of the Initiate
  • The Sevenfold Circling
  • The Shadow-Measuring
  • The Sharing of the Black Bread
  • The Shattering of the Spirit Jar
  • The Shearing Blessing
  • The Shield-Oath at Dawn
  • The Showing to the Moon

T, continued

  • The Shrouding in Sailcloth
  • The Shutting of the Eye
  • The Signing in Smoke
  • The Singing Down of the Sun
  • The Singing Over the Nets
  • The Sinking of the Reed Boat
  • The Sleep of Kings
  • The Smoke Ladder
  • The Smoking of the Rafters
  • The Sowing in Silence
  • The Speaking of the Deeds
  • The Speaking of the Long Name
  • The Sprinkling of the Stones
  • The Stepping Over the Hearthstone
  • The Stilling of the Restless Dead

T, continued

  • The Stitching of the Veil
  • The Stone for the Lost at Sea
  • The Stone Laid on the Grave-Mouth
  • The Summoning at Black Tarn
  • The Summons Written in Frost
  • The Supper of Unspoken Names
  • The Swearing by Salt and Bread
  • The Swearing-In of the Night Watch
  • The Sweeping Out of Shadows
  • The Sword Laid on the Altar
  • The Sworn Siblings' Cup
  • The Table Laid for the Dead
  • The Taking of the Grey Cloak
  • The Taking of the Veil of Stars
  • The Tallow Hours

T, continued

  • The Taper-Dousing
  • The Tethering of the Familiar
  • The Thaw-Breaking
  • The Three Knocks
  • The Three Nights' Watch
  • The Three Questions at the Gate
  • The Three Refusals
  • The Three-Night Betrothal
  • The Threefold Ward
  • The Threshing Floor Dance
  • The Thrice-Turning
  • The Thunder Offering
  • The Tide-Turning
  • The Tithe to the Frost

T, continued

  • The Trial of Silence
  • The Truce of the White Stag
  • The Turning of the Coats
  • The Turning of the Soil
  • The Turning Out of the Night Guest
  • The Tying of the Winds
  • The Tying On of the First Sword
  • The Unbinding of the Nine
  • The Undoing of the Ninth Knot
  • The Unhexing at Dawn
  • The Unmaking of the Circle
  • The Unsaying
  • The Unveiling of the Mysteries
  • The Unweaving
  • The Veil-Lifting

T, continued

  • The Vine-Binding
  • The Vow of Ash and Honey
  • The Vow of the Iron Ring
  • The Vow of the Long Road
  • The Vow of the Unspoken Word
  • The Vow Spoken to the Tide
  • The Wake of Seven Songs
  • The Waking of the Deep Bell
  • The Waking of the Orchard
  • The Walk Behind the Bier
  • The Walk Through the Smoke
  • The Waning Moon Unburdening
  • The Ward of Rowan and Iron
  • The Warding of Four Corners
  • The Washing of the Threshold

T, continued

  • The Wax Seal Rite
  • The Weaving of the Shroud
  • The Weaving of the Spirit Net
  • The Weighing of the Novice
  • The Welcoming Into the Circle
  • The Welcoming of the Stranger God
  • The Well-Hushing
  • The Whisper Into the Well
  • The Whistling Up of Hounds
  • The Wine Poured on the Roots
  • The Wolf-Mother's Calling
  • The Wreathing of the Well
  • The Year-and-a-Day Remembrance
  • Thornwalk
  • Transitus Animarum

U: 1 name

  • Unctio Regis Novi

V: 6 names

  • Vigil of the Drowned
  • Vigilia Corvorum
  • Vigilia Longa
  • Vigilia Submersorum
  • Vocatio Nominis Veri
  • Votum Silentii

W: 4 names

  • Wakewater
  • Walking the Wards
  • Ward of the Sleeping House
  • Warding of the Cradle