Gang Name Generator

How gang names are built

Gangs name themselves with something that is easy to tag, shout and recognise. The commonest form is a place plus a noun (Dockside Wolves, Mill Row Crew), because gangs are defined by territory. Others use an animal or a tool of the trade with an adjective that says something about attitude: the Velvet Vipers, the Crooked Knives. Numbers and dates work too, a count of founders or a street number. The name is a brand, so it has to be short enough to scratch on a door and strange enough to be remembered.

Keeping crews distinct in a story

Rival gangs should sound like they belong to the same city but not like each other. Give each a different kind of noun (an animal, a tool, a title) so the reader can tell Vipers from Hammers at a glance. Match each name to a reputation, a colour and a patch of ground, and keep the naming style of the city consistent: one with short nicknames and another with long formal titles tells readers they come from different worlds. Think about how outsiders shorten the name, and what the members call themselves when no one is listening. Nicknames are where a gang becomes a character.

Twenty example gang names

• The Velvet Vipers well-dressed thieves who prefer a quiet job.
• Lowmarket Crooked Knives a bruising crew that taxes the stalls.
• Eastside Black Wolves a modern street crew with a long feud.
• The Rusty Rats scrap collectors who know every tunnel.
• Dock Ring Neon Jackals smugglers in a space station's outer ring.
• The Seven Silent Crows a gang of couriers who never speak.
• Mill Row Hammers ex-factory hands with a grudge.
• The Gilded Ladders rooftop thieves who prefer the rich.
• Cinder Lane Boys a young gang that is growing fast.
• The Static Wraiths hackers who hide in the station's wiring.
• Harbour Red Foxes a port gang that runs the night market.
• The Hollow Hooks dockside pirates without a ship.
• Freight Yard Jokers train robbers with a taste for theatre.
• The Brass Cutpurses pickpockets who answer to a bell.
• Spindle Row Scavengers a crew that strips derelict ships.
• The Ninth Street Aces card sharps with a protection racket.
• Gallows Hill Magpies fences who buy anything shiny.
• The Midnight Wrecker Crew night burglars who leave messy scenes.
• Tin Hill Hawks lookouts with a long reach in the district.
• The Feral Pylons a rough crew from the power grid.