Wizards Name Generator

Wizard names in fantasy descend from a handful of real traditions, and knowing them makes it much easier to invent a good one. The oldest layer is mythic and single-worded: Merlin (from the Welsh Myrddin), Taliesin and Gwydion from Celtic legend, Vainamoinen from the Kalevala, Circe and Medea from Greek myth. Tolkien added the Norse-flavoured Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast, and later authors gave us Belgarath, Allanon, Elminster and Rincewind, all short, distinctive and easy to say. A one-word name suits a wizard so old or so famous that no surname is needed.

The second layer comes from the real history of magic and learning: Agrippa, Paracelsus, Nostradamus, Zosimos, Faust, Hermes Trismegistus. Latinised scholar names in this vein (Ambrosius, Cornelius, Erasmus, Nicodemus, Theodoric) paired with a bookish surname such as Inkwell, Vellmoor, Greymantle or Nightlantern instantly say wizard without a single reference to fire or shadow. The third layer is the title or epithet: Gandalf the Grey, Ravel the Red, Anselm the Learned, Ferrand of the Nine Candles. Colours, virtues and places all work, and the epithet often does more characterisation than the name.

Not every wizard is an archmage. Hedge wizards, village cunning folk and wandering conjurers wear plain names with a hint of the countryside: Old Tobin, Mother Hollis, Hob of the Crossroads, Peg Thistlewick. Mixing all four styles across a cast gives you a believable range from court magician to marsh witch, and the list above is organised so you can pull from whichever register your story needs.