Rogue Trader Name Generator

Rogue Traders are the Imperium's licensed adventurers: nobles whose Warrant of Trade lets them sail beyond Imperial space, make war, and trade with xenos, all in the Emperor's name. Their names match that status. Games Workshop, Fantasy Flight's Rogue Trader RPG and Owlcat's CRPG all draw on a baroque mix of Latin, Dutch, German and old European aristocracy: Jan van Yastobaal, Elucia Vhane, Theodora von Valancius, Calligos Winterscale, Aspyce Chorda, Erasmus Haarlock. Given names are classical or Renaissance (Tiberius, Ottilie, Isembard, Lucretia); surnames are the dynasty name, often with a noble particle such as van, von, de or y, and sometimes double-barrelled when two houses have merged.

The dynasty is the real brand. A Rogue Trader is addressed as Lord-Captain or Lady-Captain, but it is House Haarlock or the Chorda dynasty that creditors, Navigator houses and the Inquisition remember. Good dynasty names are short, hard-edged and pronounceable by a bridge crew: Winterscale, Fel, Ecale, Vordrast, Quellmark. Avoid anything too Anglo-Saxon and plain, which reads as Imperial Guard, or too mechanical, which reads as Adeptus Mechanicus.

This list mixes canon names with original ones in the same register, plus ready-made houses and dynasties. Use them for a Lord-Captain, a scheming heir, rival dynasties in a campaign, or your own Owlcat protagonist.