Cool Name Generators--and more!

I'm terrible with names. Whenever I come across an old high school classmate, I end up blushing and small talking my way around the fact that I don't remember how the heck they're called.

But remembering names isn't the only problem I face: coming up with names is probably one of my biggest hurdles whenever I sit down to write. Luckily for scatterbrains like me, the Internet is home to many cool name generators, all packed with goodies ready to inspire you to create unique characters with equally unique names--and not just that! Many generators also provide help with naming creatures, cities, even entire star systems.

Here are just a few of the best to get you started.


The Forge: Fantasy Name Generator

This site offers four different name generators: The Forge (for general fantasy names), Beast Forge, Spell Forge and Land Forge.

It's a great source of names with several options. Select how many words you want, two or three, and press the spacebar to create. If you like one word and would like to see it in random combination with others, you can lock it and keep changing the rest.




Behind the Name

This generator lets you decide how many names you want for you character (first name, middle name, last name)--but what makes this site cool is that you can also select the origin of the name. You have a choice of dozens of real-world cultures, as well as mythological, biblical and...unorthodox... names (see Transformers and Kreatyve for examples).



Springhole

This website offers a long list of different name generators. While it doesn't allow the user as much freedom as the previous sites (for example, you can't choose how many names you visualize), it still contains a plethora of cool fantasy and science fiction names, so it's well worth a try.


Donjon: RPG Tools

This isn't just a normal name generator--it's also a role-playing game world generator. The website is divided into several fantasy and sci-fi categories: General, AD&D, d20/Fantasy, D&D 4e and Science Fiction. Apart from character names, you can automatically generate world maps, dungeons, taverns, weather patterns--even entire alien star systems!



Seventh Sanctum

At first glance, this website might look simple-- but look closer. The menu on the left offers a list of sixteen specific generators, plus a random one. You can create character names, sci-fi government names, alien race names... but there's more. What I find so cool about this site is that you can also create random descriptions of characters and even animal minions! Release the radioactive ninja lemmings!


If you're itching for even more generators, head on over to Squidoo for the The Ultimate Character Name Generators List.

What about you? Do you look for help on any of these sites when deciding names? Share any cool sites you know in the comments section below!