Waterdeep Name Generator

Waterdeep is the most cosmopolitan city on the Sword Coast, and its names reflect that. The human majority is mostly Chondathan and Illuskan, so given names like Darvin, Evendur, Esvele and Jhessail sit next to Illuskan ones like Bran, Geth, Kethra and Westra. Surnames fall into two tiers. The roughly seventy-five noble houses (Amcathra, Cassalanter, Gralhund, Hawkwinter, Ilzimmer, Margaster, Roaringhorn, Thann, Wands) carry inherited names that appear on heraldry and in the Lords' courts, while commoners in the Dock and Field Wards go by trade names, place names and nicknames: Wat Barrelwright, Gar Two-Fingers, Mirt the Moneylender.

Canon characters from City of Splendors and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist — Laeral Silverhand, Durnan, Volothamp Geddarm, Renaer Neverember, Vajra Safahr, Davil Starsong — give you the house style: a given name that sounds vaguely medieval European paired with a surname that is either an old family name or a compound evoking the sea, stone, or a deed. Dwarves of the city take clan names (Stonemarrow, Ironspine), halflings keep homely ones (Greenbottle, Tosscobble), and gnomes favour the long whimsical surnames of the Realms.

For NPCs, pick the ward first: Sea Ward and North Ward names are polished and double-barrelled; Dock Ward names are short and earned.