For novelists and short story writers
Character Name Generator for Writers
Describe your character, era and place, or a villain, pen name or town. Get 20 names grouped by feel, with the best fits marked.
Free to start. No card needed.
Plain and weathered
- Hazel PikeShort and dry. A common name for women born around 1908.
- Edith CoombsReads older than she acts, which she'd enjoy.
Sharp and clipped
- Ruth HaskellOne syllable up front, easy to read a few hundred times.
- Agnes ThibodeauA French-Canadian surname gives her roots off the island.
What you'll get
20 names that fit your character's era, place and role
- 20 names that fit the era and the place, grouped by feel
- Your best three for the role, and why each one works
- Origins only where they're well established, never made up
Before and after
One line about your character in. Twenty names out.
A widowed ferry captain who solves murders on a small Maine island in 1974. She's 66, dry, kind underneath, and notices everything. Cozy mystery, first in a series.
Names for a ferry captain, Maine, 1974 Born about 1908 · Maine coast · cozy mystery series Plain and weathered 1. Hazel Pike. Short and dry, and a common name for women born around 1908. Hazel comes from the English word for the tree. 2. Edith Coombs. Reads older than she acts, which she'd enjoy. Sharp and clipped 6. Ruth Haskell. One syllable up front, easy to read a few hundred times. Best fits Hazel Pike for your lead: two short words, easy to take in at a glance.
Each name says why it fits, so you can see the thinking behind the pick.
Why it works
How do you find the right name for a character?
A character name generator suggests names for a character you describe. River's gives you 20, chosen for the era, the place and the role, and grouped by feel, from plain and weathered to sharp and clipped. Each name comes with one line on why it fits, and your three best fits are marked. It names a character you already have in mind. If you need the whole person first, with a want, a wound and a backstory, the character generator invents one and the character sheet template keeps it.
Real-world names are matched to the year your character was born, not the year your story is set. A 66-year-old ferry captain in 1974 was born around 1908, so Hazel fits her. Behind the Name notes it was 18th for American girls by 1897, then fell out of fashion. Invented worlds get names built on one set of sounds, so a family or a country sounds related. Paste your cast too, and the new names won't share a first letter or a rhyme with yours.
The same box names villains, pen names and places. Tap what you're naming, or just say it. Villain names never borrow a real living public figure's name. Pen names come with a reminder to search Amazon and Google before you commit. Origins are given only when they're well established, like Maeve, which is Irish, and coined names get none. A wrong meaning in print is hard to take back, so check any meaning you plan to use. When you've chosen, keep the whole cast straight in a character bible.
What lands in your doc
What's in your list of names
- Twenty names in four groups by feel, so you can see which direction suits your character
- One line on each name, saying why it fits the era, the place or the role
- Your three best fits for the role, plus names that would suit a sibling or rival
- Origins only where they're well established, and nothing made up for invented names
- Names that don't clash with your cast, with different first letters, sounds and lengths
- Villain, pen name and place names, each with the checks to make before you commit
How it works
From one line to the right name
Describe your character
A line or two about who they are, the era and the place. Paste your cast to avoid clashes.
Tap what you're naming
Character is the default. Tap Villain, Pen name or Place if that's what needs a name.
Get twenty names
Your names land in a doc, grouped by feel, with a line on why each one fits.
Narrow it down
Ask for twenty more like your favorite, surnames to match, or names for the rest of your cast.
How to choose a character name readers remember
Start with when and where your character was born. Subtract their age from the year your story is set, then look at the names given in that place around that year. "It would be no use throwing a character named Jaiden into an 1870s Victorian cosy mystery," as Jodie Robins writes at Jericho Writers. For US characters, the Social Security Administration lists popular names by birth year back to 1880.
Then think about the reader, who will meet the name hundreds of times. Give your main characters different first letters, different lengths and different sounds, so no one mixes up Anna and Hannah. Say each name aloud in a line of dialogue. Search the full name to make sure it doesn't belong to someone famous, because readers will picture that person instead of yours. Before you settle on a meaning, look it up on Behind the Name, which shows each name's origin and history.
A pen name needs one more check: whether readers can find you. On Amazon KDP, the author name can't be changed once the book is published. Amazon also suggests a pen name, middle name or initial if yours is close to a popular author's. So search any pen name on Amazon and Google first, and pick one you'd be happy to see on every book you write under it. A good pen name follows the same rules as a character name: easy to say, easy to spell and easy to search.
Questions authors ask
Common questions
What is a character name generator?
A character name generator is a tool that suggests names for people in your story. Many pull random names from a list. This one reads your description first, so the names fit your character's era, place and role. You get 20, grouped by feel, each with a line on why it fits, plus your three best fits for the part.
How do I choose a name for my character?
Work out the year your character was born and the place, and pick from names really used there and then. Then check it works on the page: easy to say, different from your other characters' first letters and sounds, and not the full name of someone famous. Say it aloud in a line of their dialogue before you commit.
How do I come up with a good villain name?
Let the name fit who the villain is, then let the sound carry the menace: hard consonants and short syllables often read colder than soft ones. A plain name can be scarier than a sinister one. Tap Villain and River keeps that balance, avoids the names of real living public figures, and reminds you to search the full name before you use it.
How do I pick a pen name?
Choose a name that's easy to spell, say and search, and that suits your genre's shelf. Search it on Amazon and Google before you use it. On Amazon KDP the author name can't be changed after publishing, and Amazon suggests a pen name, middle name or initial if yours is close to a popular author's. Tap Pen name to get 20 options.
Does it tell me what each name means?
Only when the origin is well established, such as Maeve being Irish or Hazel coming from the English word for the tree. Name meanings are easy to get wrong, and a wrong one in print is hard to take back. So River says nothing when it isn't sure, and gives no meaning for invented names. Check any meaning you plan to use on Behind the Name.
Can it name fantasy characters, towns and worlds?
Yes. For an invented world, River picks one set of sounds for each people or family, so relatives and neighbors sound related, and tells you the rules it used. Tap Place for towns, inns, ships, kingdoms or planets. For a real region, it suggests names that sound local, and you should search a map in case one already exists.
Your next step
More for your book
Find the name that sounds like them
Describe your character in a line or two. Twenty names come back grouped by feel, with your best fits marked.