Ronin Name Generator

Ronin literally means 'wave man', a samurai who had lost his lord through death, dismissal or the confiscation of his clan's domain. Names did not change: a ronin kept his family name and given name, so the list reads like any Edo-period samurai roll. The difference is tone, with more everyday names (Yasubei, Gengo, Kihei) and fewer grand two-kanji formal names, because these were men living outside the official registers.

The forty-seven Ako ronin led by Oishi Kuranosuke, who avenged their lord in 1703, are the best known; their names (Horibe Yasubei, Kataoka Gengoemon, Hara Soemon) anchor this list. Miyamoto Musashi spent most of his life masterless, Yui Shosetsu led a ronin plot in 1651, and in the 1860s roshi such as Sakamoto Ryoma and the early Shinsengumi were technically ronin. Fiction adds Kuwabatake Sanjuro, Ogami Itto, Tange Sazen and Himura Kenshin.

Historically the term applied to men, because only men held stipends, but a samurai-class woman who had lost her household appears in fiction as a wandering swordswoman (Lady Snowblood's Kashima Yuki is the famous example). For such a character use a surname from this list with a short period given name such as Yuki, Sayo, Tomoe, Shino, Chiyo or Saki, written surname first.

Pair a genuine minor surname (Nagao, Katagiri, Hazama, Kuki, Tsuge) with an everyday given name built from a period ending: numeral names like Sanjuro or Hachiro, office-style names like Shinnosuke or Jurozaemon, or a single pseudo-title like Tatewaki or Mondo. Avoid combining two famous names, and avoid modern given names ending in -ki, -ya or -to.