Underground City Name Generator

Names for cities carved beneath the earth

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Generate underground city names for fantasy settlements, dwarven and drow holds, post-apocalyptic vaults and sci-fi arcologies. Names range from descriptive English (Deepholm, The Lantern Warrens) to Turkish, Norse, Latin and Dwarvish-flavored holds.

About underground city names

Real underground cities are named for the hole that made them. Derinkuyu in Cappadocia means 'deep well'; Coober Pedy's opal miners live in 'dugouts'; Montreal calls its tunnels simply the Underground City, and the Cold War left behind bunkers with numbers and code words rather than names. Mining language supplies another layer: shaft, adit, stope, drift, gallery, winze and headframe are all real terms, and a town called Crosscut or Headframe Town sounds like it was settled by people who dug it.

Fantasy underground cities split by who lives there. Dwarven holds use hard consonants and a word for 'hall' or 'delve' (Karak Vorn, Khadûm, The Great Delve). Drow and dark elf cities favor apostrophes, sibilants and liquid sounds (Vel'thar, Szithlin, Maerith). Human refugees who fled below tend to reuse surface words with a twist: Undercroft, The Sunken Quarter, Lower Lake Town, Last Light Hold. Sci-fi and post-apocalyptic settings go clinical with vault numbers, sublevels, shelters and station names, then let the inhabitants soften them into nicknames like Lowdeck or The Bottoms.

Whatever the genre, the strongest names say something about the place: what it is lit by (Lanternfall, Sodium City), what it was before (Old Workings, Wine Cellar City), what water it sits on (Cistern Town, Brinewell) or how far down it lies (Ninth Gallery, Bedrock Ward).

How to choose underground city names

  • Decide how the city is lit and let that name it: Lanternfall, Glowstone Reach and Sodium City each imply a different technology and mood.
  • Borrow real mining vocabulary (adit, stope, drift, headframe, tailings) for human-built undercities; it reads as authentic without needing explanation.
  • Match the phonology to the builders: blunt consonants and û/â vowels for dwarves, apostrophes and sibilants for drow, numbers and sector names for bunkers and arcologies.
  • Use 'Under', 'Below' or 'Lower' plus an existing surface place name when the city was dug beneath a known town, so the map tells the history at a glance.
  • Give the city a local nickname as well as an official name; residents of Vault Seventeen probably just call it the Seventeen.

Frequently asked questions

What are real underground cities called?

Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı in Turkey, Coober Pedy in Australia, Naours in France, Montreal's RÉSO, Beijing's Dixia Cheng and the Cold War bunker at Burlington in England are the best known. Most are named for a well, a village above or simply 'underground city' in the local language.

How do I name a dwarven underground city?

Use short, hard syllables and a word meaning hall, delve or mine: Karak Vorn, Khadûm, Deepdelve, Hammerdeep. Tolkien's Khazad-dûm set the template, so a hyphen and a circumflex vowel instantly read as dwarven.

What makes a good post-apocalyptic bunker city name?

Pair a clinical designation (Vault Seventeen, Shelter Kilo, Sublevel Prime, Station Halcyon) with the casual nickname survivors would actually use, such as The Bottoms, Lowdeck or The Ark. The contrast between the two is where the worldbuilding lives.

Can I use these names for a D&D Underdark campaign?

Yes. The drow-style names (Vel'thar, Szithlin, Maerith), dwarven holds and descriptive names like The Lantern Warrens are all original and fit the Underdark, Dwarf Fortress-style play or any homebrew setting.

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All 500 underground city 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: 25 names

  • Abbey Below
  • Abyss Harbor
  • Acheron Landing
  • Adamant Reach
  • Adamanthold
  • Al-Ghar
  • Al-Qa'r
  • Amethyst Hollow
  • Anagura
  • Anchorite Deep
  • Andhkupa
  • Antarpur
  • Antrum
  • Anvilgate
  • Anxue
  • Arach Tyr
  • Ararat Deep
  • Arc Ward
  • Arclight Under
  • Ark Below
  • Armory Below
  • Arsenal Deep
  • Ashenwell
  • Avernus Gate
  • Azgal Deep

B: 25 names

  • Bab al-Ardh
  • Badgerdeep
  • Barak Khadûm
  • Baraz-Dûm
  • Barrowdeep
  • Basalt Reach
  • Basaltgate
  • Bat City
  • Bathypolis
  • Beacon Below
  • Bellwell
  • Beryl Hollow
  • Bhumigarh
  • Bir al-Sufla
  • Bitumen Row
  • Blackroot Hollow
  • Boiler Row
  • Boilerward
  • Bramblehill Under
  • Breathing Hollow
  • Brinewell
  • Brokkhold
  • Bunker Ararat
  • Burrowgate
  • Bythos

C: 39 names

  • Cableway Hollow
  • Candlewell
  • Candlewick Warrens
  • Caskhollow
  • Catacomb City
  • Cavea
  • Caverna Magna
  • Cavernmouth
  • Cellar Town
  • Cenote Haven
  • Chah-e Zhar
  • Chasm Hollow
  • Chasmgate
  • Ched Ishlarr
  • Ched Vel'thar
  • Cheese Cave Town
  • Chi no Shita
  • Chikagai
  • Chikato
  • Chimney Row
  • Chthonia
  • Chthonopolis
  • Cinderward
  • Citadel Below
  • City of Roots
  • Civitas Subterra
  • Clayreach
  • Cleft Haven
  • Cloister Deep
  • Coalseam Town
  • Cocytus Deep
  • Coldharbor Below
  • Concourse Nine
  • Copperdeep
  • Cradle of Echoes
  • Cradle Station
  • Cricket Hollow
  • Crosscut
  • Crystalhaven

D: 31 names

  • Dar al-Umq
  • Darkwater Landing
  • Dead-End Station
  • Deep Trench
  • Deepdelve
  • Deephearth
  • Deepholm
  • Deepmarch
  • Deeproot
  • Deepstead
  • Derinkaya
  • Derinyurt
  • Dikong
  • Djupheim
  • Djupholt
  • Djupvik Under
  • Dongcheng Xia
  • Draeven Deep
  • Drift End
  • Dripstone Hold
  • Drowned Market
  • Drowned Quarter
  • Dugout Town
  • Dûm-Azgal
  • Dunkelgrund
  • Dunkelheim
  • Dusk'tallar
  • Duskreach
  • Duskwell
  • Dynamo City
  • Dyupgorod

E: 5 names

  • Earthhome
  • Echo Hollow
  • Emberdeep
  • Erebos
  • Escalator City

F: 18 names

  • Farbelow
  • Fardelve
  • Felsengrund
  • Firefly Hollow
  • Fissure Town
  • Flintgate
  • Floodmark
  • Flowstone Haven
  • Forge Deep
  • Fort Gloam
  • Fort Lantern
  • Foundation Ward
  • Friar's Deep
  • Frostline Concourse
  • Fukadani
  • Fukamachi
  • Fumarole Reach
  • Fungal Reach

G: 29 names

  • Gallery's End
  • Gantry Ward
  • Garnet Deep
  • Geocradle
  • Geode City
  • Geopolis
  • Geotropolis
  • Ghar-e Bozorg
  • Glimmerdeep
  • Gloamhaven
  • Gloomharbor
  • Glowstone Reach
  • Glowworm Hollow
  • Glubokoye
  • Gnipahol
  • Goldgullet
  • Golkuyu
  • Gorim's Hollow
  • Granite Vault
  • Great Cavern City
  • Great Cellar
  • Great Grotto
  • Greater Warren
  • Grimhollow
  • Grotto Town
  • Ground Zero Below
  • Grubenheim
  • Grubenlicht
  • Gunduhal

H: 24 names

  • Hadean Reach
  • Hadesgate
  • Hall of Nine Lanterns
  • Hall Under the Mountain
  • Hallowdeep
  • Halls of Ebbing Stone
  • Hammerdeep
  • Hanging Wall Hold
  • Haven Under the Hill
  • Headframe Town
  • Hearthdeep
  • Hearthstone Under
  • Heartstone Hold
  • Hermitage Below
  • Highwater Below
  • Hillheart
  • Hohlenstadt
  • Hollow of the Nine Bells
  • Hollowhill
  • Hollowmere
  • Holurborg
  • Horamachi
  • Hotspring Under
  • Hypogeum

I: 6 names

  • Ilzryth
  • Inframundus
  • Ironbelly
  • Ironhollow
  • Iwaya
  • Iwayato

K: 20 names

  • Kahf al-Nur
  • Kamengrad
  • Karak Dûm
  • Karak Vorn
  • Karakuyu
  • Karanlikkoy
  • Katabasis
  • Kayaalti
  • Kayakoyu
  • Kayaoyuk
  • Kellerstadt
  • Khadûm
  • Khaz Vorn
  • Kheled Zarak
  • Kingdom Under the Stone
  • Krypte
  • Kryptopolis
  • Kuhkan
  • Kurayami-machi
  • Kuroiwa Deep

L: 22 names

  • Ladderfall
  • Lake Below
  • Lamplighter's Ward
  • Lampwick
  • Lantern Row
  • Lanternfall
  • Last Candle
  • Last Light Hold
  • Lastlight
  • Leadwell
  • Lethe Ward
  • Level Null
  • Lightshaft
  • Lightwell
  • Limestone Ward
  • Line Nine Settlement
  • Little Cappadocia
  • Lowdeck
  • Lower City
  • Lower Lake Town
  • Lumen Deep
  • Luminary Hollow

M: 20 names

  • Madinat al-Kahf
  • Maerith
  • Mağarakent
  • Magazine Ward
  • Magmapolis
  • Marbleholm
  • Menzorrath
  • Mithralgate
  • Monk's Well
  • Moonmilk Hollow
  • Motherlode
  • Mountainheart
  • Mountainroot
  • Mousehole
  • Mrakovo
  • Murkhaven
  • Murmur Hollow
  • Mushroom Town
  • Mycelia
  • Myrkholm

N: 15 names

  • Nachtbrunn
  • Nagaloka Deep
  • Nargûn
  • Neðanheim
  • Neon Under
  • Nether Ward
  • Nethergate
  • New Ararat
  • Niederhof
  • Nightwell
  • Nitre Town
  • Nizhny Dol
  • Nocturne Deep
  • Noodlers' Rest
  • Nox Cavea

O: 14 names

  • Obsidian Reach
  • Old Cistern Town
  • Old Delve
  • Old Lower Town
  • Old Metro Town
  • Old Workings
  • Oldshaft
  • Olorrin
  • Opalburrow
  • Orcusholm
  • Orebelly
  • Orlyth
  • Ossuary Ward
  • Owl Hollow

P: 13 names

  • Patala
  • Patalapura
  • Peshchernoye
  • Pillarfast
  • Pitbottom
  • Platform Republic
  • Platform Twelve
  • Podgorod
  • Podzemgrad
  • Powder Hollow
  • Profundis
  • Pulley Row
  • Pumphouse Reach

Q: 5 names

  • Qaryat al-Zalam
  • Qasr al-Zulma
  • Qu'ellar
  • Quiet Harbor
  • Quietdeep

R: 10 names

  • Rasatala
  • Rat's Reach
  • Ravine Hold
  • Refuge Below
  • Reliquary Hollow
  • Riftward
  • Ringing Hollow
  • Ripening Hollow
  • Rockbelly
  • Rockgut

S: 61 names

  • Saltmere
  • Saltpeter Hollow
  • Sanctuary Nine
  • Sanctum Deep
  • Schachtburg
  • Schattenbrunn
  • Schwarzbrunn
  • Scree Hollow
  • Sepulcher Row
  • Serpent's Throat
  • Shadowvault
  • Shaftsbury Under
  • Shaftside
  • Shahr-e Tarik
  • Shelter Halcyon
  • Shelter Kilo
  • Shelter Ninety
  • Shencheng
  • Shrinehold
  • Siding Town
  • Silent Deep
  • Silverthroat
  • Sirdab
  • Sirdab al-Kabir
  • Skyless Harbor
  • Slagwell
  • Slategate
  • Smithy Deep
  • Smokehole
  • Sodium City

S, continued

  • Speleopolis
  • Speleoton
  • Stairwell City
  • Stalactite Cross
  • Starless Harbor
  • Station Halcyon
  • Station Hollow
  • Steamreach
  • Steinbrunn
  • Steinholt
  • Stillmere
  • Stillwater Under
  • Stonebeard's Rest
  • Stoneheart
  • Stonereach
  • Stope Hollow
  • Stygian Harbor
  • Sublevel Market
  • Sublevel Prime
  • Substrate Nine
  • Substrate Prime
  • Substratum
  • Subterra
  • Subterra Nova
  • Sump Haven
  • Sunken City
  • Sunken Docks
  • Sunless Cross
  • Svartbrunn
  • Svartholt
  • Szithlin

T: 67 names

  • Tahtat
  • Tallow Row
  • Talnagar
  • Tartarholm
  • Tasoyuk
  • Temnitsa
  • Temnograd
  • Templeward Below
  • Tenebrae
  • Terminus Below
  • Terra Infra
  • The Ark
  • The Bellows
  • The Bottoms
  • The Buried Temple
  • The Cavernous Ward
  • The Cistern
  • The Concourse
  • The Cradle
  • The Crypt Quarter
  • The Deep Quarter
  • The Dugouts
  • The Echoing Vaults
  • The Fissure
  • The Footings
  • The Great Delve
  • The Gullet
  • The Hundred Pillars
  • The Interchange
  • The Lamplit City
  • The Lamps
  • The Lantern Halls
  • The Lantern Warrens

T, continued

  • The Long Dark
  • The Low Kingdom
  • The Ninth Gallery
  • The Reliquary
  • The Rootworks
  • The Smoulders
  • The Stone Lungs
  • The Sumps
  • The Sunken Quarter
  • The Sunless Sea Docks
  • The Thousand Steps
  • The Throat
  • The Undelved
  • The Warren
  • The Workings
  • Thermal City
  • Thermopolis
  • Thorgrim's Deep
  • Thornhollow Deep
  • Thrak Dûm
  • Thrak Morrun
  • Threshold Deep
  • Tidewell
  • Tiefenburg
  • Tiefenthal
  • Tiefstadt
  • Timberset Hollow
  • Tinhollow
  • Tmagrad
  • Town Beneath
  • Transit Deep
  • Turbine Deep
  • Turnstile Ward
  • Twilight Under

U: 20 names

  • Umbravale
  • Umq al-Madina
  • Under Hollowhill
  • Underbarrow
  • Undercity
  • Undercroft
  • Underfell
  • Underkeep
  • Undermarch
  • Undermarket
  • Undermoor
  • Understreet
  • Undertown
  • Undervault
  • Undirborg
  • Undirheim
  • Unterstadt
  • Urbs Profunda
  • Ust Kaelith
  • Uzbadul

V: 11 names

  • Vault Meridian
  • Vault Seventeen
  • Vault Thirty-One
  • Vault Zero
  • Vaulted Ward
  • Vein Hollow
  • Vel'thar
  • Velkyn Shar
  • Vent City
  • Ventside
  • Vintner's Deep

W: 11 names

  • Warmstone
  • Warmwell
  • Whisperwell
  • Wickhaven
  • Winchhouse
  • Wintergarden Under
  • Winze Hollow
  • Worm's Road
  • Wormway
  • Wyrm's Maw
  • Wyrmfall

X: 1 name

  • Xul'thrae

Y: 4 names

  • Yamihara
  • Yaodong Cheng
  • Yathrin
  • Yeraltikent

Z: 4 names

  • Zar'thyl
  • Zeth'rhal
  • Zigil Gund
  • Zirzamin