Goblin Name Generator

How goblin names are usually built

A goblin name is short enough to be shouted across a cave. It starts with a hard sound such as g, k, b or sn, takes a vowel that can be spat and ends on a stop: Grib, Snikit, Brogruk. Longer names exist, but a goblin that uses one probably stole it.

The second part is where the humour sits. A goblin earns a nickname from the worst or best moment of their life, such as Rusty Thumb or Sticky Fingers. A warband name, such as the Broken Ladles or the Muddy Crows, tells you who they run with and how they see themselves, which is usually bigger than the truth.

Keeping goblin names consistent

Give each warband one way of naming. A band of tinkerers can be named for tools, a band of raiders for dead things, a band of swamp dwellers for mud and eels. A reader will start to guess the band from the name, and that is the pleasure of it. Keep nicknames unfair and permanent: once a goblin is called Soggy Boot, the whole camp will call them that for life, and their attempts to get a better one are a story. Do not let goblins use the formal names that elves or humans would, unless one of them is putting on airs.

Twenty example goblin names

• Grib a lookout who sleeps through every raid.
• Snikit Gutbiter a raider who fights with his teeth.
• Brogruk of the Broken Ladles a cook-chief with a short temper.
• Zikla the Lucky a gambler who has not won yet.
• Krat Bucketpicker a scavenger with a bad reputation.
• Nibbit the Whistler a scout who uses bird calls as signals.
• Drogz of the Muddy Crows a swamp raider with a long boat.
• Skritta Greasewrench a mechanic who fixes traps.
• Gob the Digger a tunnel boss who has never seen the sun.
• Plikit Cogwobble a tinkerer who wears a pot as a helmet.
• Mogruk of the Iron Biters a heavy fighter who dislikes speeches.
• Tikka the Fibber a storyteller whose tales get longer.
• Vikbo Toadwhisperer a swamp shaman with a stolen cloak.
• Jibbit the Cunning a trap maker who has never been caught.
• Rikla of the Howling Rats a beast handler who loves her pests.
• Blik Cobwebsniffer a courier who runs faster than most.
• Clakkit the Tinkerer a bomb maker with no eyebrows.
• Dobnik Candlemutterer a priest of an unlikely light.
• Squibba of the Sour Buckets a cheerful water thief.
• Gnarg the Boaster a chief who has fought few battles.