Island Name Generator

How islands get their names

Islands are named by the people who sail past them, and sailors name what they see: the shape, the birds, the animals grazing there, the danger. That is why so many real islands translate to something plain. Orkney has a “sand island” (Sanday). Wales has “the island” (Ynys) in front of half its islands. The Bristol Channel has a “steep islet” (Steep Holm). This generator follows the same habit: a description plus an island word, in the language of whoever named it.

Island words by culture

Choose “Island word” in the generator to force one of these. Note that Gaelic and Welsh put the island word first, so Inishmore is “big island” and reads island-first.

The Latin culture uses land-name endings such as -ica and -ia, the pattern behind real Mediterranean islands. Elven and Dwarven island words are invented for this site and keep fixed meanings: Elven -ennis is “isle” and Dwarven -skarn is “sea crag”. The real island words sit alongside every other element in the place name elements table.

Fantasy island names for every kind of island

Archipelagos

The word archipelago first meant one sea, the Aegean, and later the island groups in it. Real groups share names. In the generator, an archipelago comes back as a group name plus three or four member islands built on the same root, with a “Little” island thrown in where it fits.

Tropical islands

A cay or key is a small low island of sand or coral. Both words come from Spanish cayo. An atoll is a ring of coral around a lagoon, a word that comes from Dhivehi, the language of the Maldives. Use these for treasure maps, pirate coves and trade-wind archipelagos.

Volcanic islands

Fire mountains in the sea get names from ash, cinder, smoke and brimstone. -fell is a Norse word for mountain, which suits a black volcanic peak in a cold sea.

Haunted and cursed islands

Wreck islands and fog rocks are named as warnings. These names are blunt on purpose: Gallows Skerry or Wraith Rock tells your players everything before they land.

Tips for naming islands on a map

• Match the coast. Islands usually carry the language of the nearest mainland. If the coast is Norse, the islands are -ey and -holm.
• Name the small rocks too. A skerry or holm beside a big island makes a map look surveyed rather than invented.
• Use “Isle of” sparingly. It suits one important island in a region, not every island on the map.
• Keep the seed. The same seed and settings always give the same islands, so you can come back to your chart later.

Example island names