What are ways to come up with names for fantasy worlds/countries/regions? I’m struggling a LOT with this
Hi, thanks for asking!
Places will usually be named for or after a significant person, god or deity, mythical creature or legend, natural element, historical event, abstract concept or virtue, in celebration of a major achievement, or to reflect the region's characteristics, climate, or features. As with most things, there are a number of ways to go about the naming process, but my go-to method is linguistic experimentation. When creating names for places, countries, events, or world, I like to use words from existing languages—particularly older ones, like Latin, Greek, or Old English—and playing around with prefixes, suffixes, or various conjugations until they sound right.
Here are some tips:
Modify endings: Feel free to adjust the endings for more phonetic appeal (for example, change "Terra-" to "Terri-" if it sounds better)
Blend words: Create compound words by blending whole words with prefixes or suffixes (e.g., "Aqua" + "polis" = Aquapolis)
Add consonants/vowels: Sometimes, adding a consonant or vowel between a prefix and suffix can make the name sound more natural. For instance, if you want to combine "Theo-" and "-aria", you might want to discard one of the vowels or add a consonant (for example, you could add a "t" to make it "Theotaria")
Here are a few in the aforementioned languages you might want to experiment with:
Latin:
Prefixes:
Luna-: moon
Terra-: earth
Magn-: great
Novi-: new
Sub-: under
Trans-: across
Suffixes:
-ium: place or region
-or: agent or person
-is: neutral noun ending
-ensis: related to
Examples:
Lunaris (Luna- + -ris): A moon-themed city or region
Terranova (Terra- + -nova): A new land or country
Magnor (Magn- + -or): A great or powerful place
Subterra (Sub- + Terra): An underground city or region
Greek:
Prefixes:
Theo-: god
Geo-: earth
Neo-: new
Hyper-: above
Paleo-: ancient
Poly-: many
Suffixes:
-polis: city (e.g., Acropolis)
-cracy: rule or government (e.g., Theocracy)
-ther: place (e.g., Panether)
Examples:
Theopolis (Theo- + -polis): A city dedicated to the gods
Neochron (Neo- + Chrono-): A new era or time period
Hyperion (Hyper- + -ion): A place above or exalted land
Polydia (Poly- + -dia): A land of many valleys or diverse regions
Old English:
Prefixes:
Eald-: old (e.g.,
Beorht-: bright
Midd-: middle
Sūþ-: south
West-: west
North-: north
Suffixes:
-burg: fortress or town
-ham: home
-stede: place
-tun: settlement
-weald: forest
-dun: hill
-wic: village
Examples:
Ealdorland (Eald- + -orland): An ancient land or old country
Beorhtwyn (Beorht- + -wyn): A bright or blessed place
Middgard (Midd- + -gard): The middle land or realm
Westfold (West- + -fold): A western region or land
Name generators:
You could also use online name generators, and either use one of them or modify it to better fit your world. Here are a few popular ones:
Fantasy Realm Names Generator
Name Generator
Seventh Sanctum Name Generators
Fantasy Name Gen
LegendKeeper Fantasy World Name Generator
DonJon's Fantasy Name Generator
Portmanteaus:
Another method is portmanteaus—blending parts of two words together to create a new term. This can work with the most random, unrelated words; for example, you could combine "velvet" and "orion" to create the word "Velorian". There are really no rules involved.
Hope this was helpful! Happy writing ❤
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