Fictional Country Name Generator

How fictional country names are built

A country usually has two names: the short one people say and the long one that goes on treaties, coins and passports. The short name is often a root plus an ending that marks land or people, such as -ia, -land or -mark. The long form states the political system: Republic of, Kingdom of, Free State of, Grand Duchy of. Choose the form before the root, because a duchy and a democratic republic imply different rulers, different borders and a different past. This generator gives you the short name, the long form, or a mix of both.

Neighbours often call a country something other than what it calls itself, and a name can change after a revolution or a marriage. That is a cheap source of conflict and worth using.

Keeping country names consistent

Decide the language of each region before you name its countries. States that share a language family should share endings, so that a map reads like a map: a run of -mark and -heim countries in the cold north, -ia and -ora states along the warm coast. Keep one pattern for the long forms too, and settle the demonym early: a citizen of Aldmark is an Aldmarker, and readers will remember whichever word you use first. Use the long form for treaties and anthems and the short one in speech. Search your final choice to be sure it does not match a real state.

Twenty example country names

• Republic of Seravia a trading republic with a long coast.
• Kingdom of Aldmark a cold northern crown with old border feuds.
• Grand Duchy of Tavellen a small state ruled by one proud family.
• Free State of Miralon a port city that bought its own freedom.
• Federation of Orsheim a union of mining provinces.
• Brandmark a hard little country that exports iron.
• Lunaria a soft name for a country of vineyards.
• Federal Republic of Kelvane a modern state with a busy federal court.
• Principality of Wyndale a mountain state the size of a county.
• Dominion of Thalmund an old empire that kept only its name.
• Commonwealth of Verelle two peoples sharing one parliament.
• Skarvik a fishing country that guards its fjords.
• United Provinces of Hesperan a loose league of river provinces.
• Union of Norwen a union that is fraying at the edges.
• Democratic Republic of Ilovar its name promises more than its elections.
• Duchy of Fenmoor wet lowlands and one stubborn fortress.
• Elaria a gentle island state with a secret.
• Torvarn a mountain country named for its founder.
• Kingdom of Estravia a court country that cares about rank.
• Protectorate of Dornmark a state that is not quite independent.

Pick the long form first

The title in front of the name is a shortcut to the whole political world. A Kingdom has a crown and an heir, a Republic has an election and a faction that lost it, a Free State suggests it broke away from something larger, and a Protectorate admits that someone else holds the leash. If you know the system before you pick the root, you also know what its flag, its army and its quarrels will look like.

Use the odd forms sparingly. A Grand Duchy, an Electorate or a Territory among a dozen plain kingdoms tells the reader that this one is a leftover from some earlier arrangement, and you can make a plot out of that leftover.

Name the capital, the people and the language together

Once you have a country name, give its people and tongue a matching word, and name the capital from the same root or from a neighbouring one. A country called Seravia has Seravians who speak Seravic, and a capital that might be Sera, or a river city on the Sera. Readers learn a whole place from one root.

If you want the opposite effect, let them clash. A capital with a conquered people's name inside a country with a conqueror's name tells the reader about history without a line of exposition.