Vanara Name Generator

The vanaras are the forest-dwelling monkey people of the Ramayana, the army that Rama raises at Kishkindha to march on Lanka. Their names are ordinary Sanskrit, which is why they read so differently from the rakshasas they fight: Hanuman means "having prominent jaws", Sugriva "fine-necked", Angada "bracelet", Nila "dark blue", Gandhamadana "intoxicating with fragrance", and Dadhimukha "curd-faced". Valmiki's Kishkindha and Yuddha Kandas list dozens more troop leaders, among them Mainda, Dvivida, Sushena, Gavaksha, Sharabha, Panasa, Kumuda, Rishabha and Vegadarshi, plus the vanara women Tara, Ruma and Anjana.

Because vanaras are tied to the wind, forest and sheer physical power, their names lean on a recognisable stock of roots: kapi and plavaga (monkey, leaper), vana and aranya (forest), shakha and druma (branch, tree), vayu, pavana, anila and marut (wind), vega (speed), bala (strength), nakha (claw), puccha and langula (tail), and the tawny colour words pinga, kapila and harita. Epithets such as Anjaneya, Maruti, Pavanaputra and Bajrangbali show how a vanara picks up new names from parentage and deeds.

The list opens with the canon vanaras and Hanuman's epithets, then offers original names that follow the same grammar, male and female, so a Pathfinder or D&D vanara party can sit beside Sugriva's generals without sounding out of place.