Over 300 Kingdom Names for Fantasy Worlds, Stories, & Games

Best Kingdom Names

These are great for any number of stories, games, and fantasy-based creations, from Novels to RPGs to worldbuilding.

A city like Silverkeep should suggest something about how the realm operates. Mistvale should imply distance and the difficulty of finding that place. We should anticipate the type of things in that realm because of its name.

Fantasy Kingdom Names

Fantasy is free reign, so you can construct names that are both nonsensical and meaningful. Feel free to put some foreign flair on it. Fantasy kingdom names can feel otherworldly, archaic, or slightly outlandish all while remaining legible and pronounceable to those in our modern world.

A city likeLunareth, Faeloria, and Thalorien would sound appropriate in a whimsical, airy fantasy world. Whereas Greymarch, Rimehold, and Umberfall sound much more appropriate for worlds dominated by harsh, brutal conditions. I’ll warn those who are just beginning building their world now – Fantasy does not automatically mean elegant.

Kingdom Names With Meanings And Vibes

There’s no need to explain an invented name like 'King’s Rock’ like it’s some sort of special place name dictionary that someone’s going to look it up in. Instead, we should aim to explain our naming through atmosphere and impression:

Ironcrest- A harsh but disciplined state, with fortresses defending the borders. Sunward- A warm, southern kingdom with a benevolent and profitable influence. Mistmarch- A remote realm beyond a valley permanently swathed in mist. Oakencrown- An ancient woodland kingdom. The people retain ancient traditions and respect. Flamewatch- A volcanically heated realm with numerous fiery towers defending its borders. Snowmere- A secluded northern kingdom sitting near to a cluster of frozen lakes. Dawnfort- An eastern realm with a history of being reborn after disasters (fire, war, ruin) due to its focus on dawn and morning renewal. Nightvale- A secluded kingdom set within the darkest valleys. Amberhold- A wealthy and influential trading hub for amber. Wolfcrest- A feared and warlike northern kingdom dominated by warriors and hunters. Rivercrown- A prosperously fertile kingdom situated along the banks of a great river. Starwatch- A scholarly and mystical kingdom that cherishes stargazing and lore. Ashvale- A ruined, burned out or fallen realm that the people are currently rebuilding (or about to). Crownfield- A large, open realm of fertile plains and widespread agricultural practice that is ruled by a monarchy. Moonward- A mysterious and contemplative kingdom whose culture is tied to the cycles of the moon. Thornwatch- A defensive realm heavily hidden by treacherous forests, thorns and foliage. Crystalreach- A magical realm known for its rich deposits of crystals and geodes. Redfort- A heavily guarded and fortified kingdom known for its martial tradition. Whitehaven- A peaceful land adjacent to either the sea or vast stretches of snow. Shadowrest- A hidden and rarely-visited kingdom that has been forgotten by the outside world. Silvermarch- A valuable and productive border kingdom famed for its extensive mines. Stormcrown- A potent and powerful nation located along dangerous coastlines and ruled by warlike monarchs. Greenwatch- An unspoiled and verdant realm focused on preserving its lush and ancient natural wonders.

Don't feel the need to overexplain your names in the story. A properly executed name with the right atmosphere speaks volumes. If I tell you a kingdom is called Stormcrown, you instantly imagine black Cliffs, battering Waves, and fierce warriors ready to defend against anything.

Nomi del Regno di Fantasy Oscura

Nomi di regni oscuri generalmente utilizzano suoni duri e immagni di rovina, notte, cenere, sangue, pietra, decadenza o morte.

La chiave è moderazione: se ogni luogo si chiamasse Dominio delle Uccisioni di Sangue (blooddeath skull kingdom) non avremmo un regno oscuro, ma una cosa di cartoni animati.

Ci sono molti altri modi per evocare regni oscuri senza esagerare.

Gloamhold potrebbe essere l'unica città sopravvissuta di una vecchia dinastia, mentre il nome Cindergrave evocherebbe un posto in cui si è sofferto una guerra molti anni prima e dalla quale non ci si è ancora del tutto ripresi. Obsidian Crown, per esempio, potrebbe appartenere all'impero volcanic del vulcano, la cui capitale è stata scavata direttamente nella pietra vulcanica.

Il nome di un regno oscuro assume ancor più forza e significato una volta attribuita una giustificazione.

Nomi del Regno Medievale

Per dare alla terra un'atmosfera medievale che possa essere avvertita come genuine, pensate alla natura e all'ambiente del luogo (geografia, fortificazioni, animali, direzioni, fiumi, sentieri, foreste, vecchi insediamenti).

Questi regni dovrebbero suonare naturali, quasi come se il loro nome fosse già inciso sul territorio.

Notate come pratico il suono di questi regni sembr.

Questo è molto importante in un regno di fantasy medievale, dove gli insediamenti prendono nome da ciò che è già presente: il passaggio di un fiume, una muraglia difesa, un bosco, una collina, una fortezza, un animale o un lignaggioimportante.

Utilizzando nomi fantasiosi a cinque vocali ovunque sulla propria mappa è facilmente un elemento che disturba la vista e la fruibilità della mappa di fantasy, mixing is usually key. Try combining a fancy name like High Sovereignty with practical names like Stoneford, Greymarch or Elmkeep and you may find out it’s a very good technique.

Nomi del Regno Reale e Regale

Sembra ricco already outside the gate.

This often relies on words denoting crowns, thrones, sovereignty, golden lions, ivory, dynastic power.

The use of King, Queen or Crown is not necessary, and it could sometimes be even better if a monarchy name isn't immediately distinguishable. Imagine Sovereign Vale among Stoneford, Greymarch and Elmkeep: just like the kind of realm that is so proud it even gives itself an inflated name, as opposed to common realms.

Nomi del Regno Magico

This type relies mostly on gentler sounding names and motifs of the moon, stars, spells, dreams, crystals, light, runes and illusions.

Contrasting magical name can be even better, a Whisperlight can be more dangerous for harboring a secret dark magic practiced by its ruler, and a Hexmere even more threatening for not being able to keep some terrible monster asleep by a circle of witches. What comes with naming implies expectation, which is one element you can play around with to subvert the expectation and introduce something interesting in a story.

Nomi del Regno Potente

For a powerful kingdom name, that you can shout over the battle noise.

Try to utilize words associated with hard consonants, warfare motifs, stone, storm, iron, banners, shields and animal totems of the land.

Dragonmarch fits naturally when considering that your worldbuilding includes dragons. A name can also add a great level of lore in an ancient kingdom: even if the dragons are gone forever, the name is still remembered.

If your world is much bigger than individual kingdoms and you find dragons are so important to a world’s development that their names need to exist as standalone pieces you can use a dragon name generator:

https://mydragonnames.com/tools/dragon-name-generator/

Remember, in a fantasy world kingdoms with dragons woven deeply in their culture do sound better if kingdoms feel to be the natural fit for the dragons that guard, or fight, with them than two entirely separate naming conventions placed side by side.

Ancient Kingdom Names

Ancient realms are required to have a sense of accumulated history behind them.

The name itself may carry some, but even more so the ruins, old roads, dead dynasties, religions, forgotten wars, and stories associated with them.

Give an old kingdom both a name given by the people who live in it and by those from outside who are writing the kingdom's history. For example, in my own setting, the peoples living there give it the name Elderhold but it is known to outside sources as the much older Archaeron.

This is the name real countries develop as history happens. It should be no less a thing to have happen in a fictional realm.

Nature-Inspired Kingdom Names

Geography is a fantastic way to make kingdom names feel grounded and like they belong in their world. Think about the surrounding terrain.

Are they living amidst towering mountains?

Dense woods?

A sprawling river?

Constant torrential rains?

A chain of coral islands?

Thick expanses of snow and pine trees?

Start there.

When their founding people cared passionately about something important in their daily lives, and incorporated it into the name, it helps lend to realism. However, this may not always be terrain. A local wildlife feature, a type of crop they farm exclusively, a relevant religious symbol or tradition, the specific resources they export, a legendary founder they mythologise or a long forgotten, defining event.

Unique Kingdom Names

Often the simple and clear combinations of words such asIronhold and Silverkeep are what a fantasy tale might need. Sometimes readers can look for something much less anticipated, with these sorts of names and a more developed phonetics.

Most of these invented phonetic kingdom names require people outside of this land to pronounce and remember. If the name you created stumps you midway through pronouncing your own creation, then it's likely readers would encounter the same problem.

Funny Kingdom Names

Humour can add flavour to a fantasy narrative. Your setting may call for a comedy adventure campaign, or a child's read. An eccentric kingdom can receive a name that wouldn't possibly fly in serious epic fantasy.

An all new kingdom whose people act with absolute stoicism toward a foolish name they all operate in can also increase how comedic the situation. Nobody living in the Royal Court of Muffinmarch is required to know it isn't a comical sounding name, that alone is likely the point!

How to Name a Fantasy Kingdom

The quickest way to determine a kingdom name is to first and foremost ask: What would lead this population into naming their realm in this specific way?

"What sounds fantasy?" should be a secondary concern that is secondary to the above. This will generate a more authentic and believeable kingdom.

1. Set the geographic tone.

Describe the kingdom beforehand.

Is there sea?

High mountains?

Dense woods?

Isles of a vast, ocean?

Unending snowscapes?

Great rivers running through it?

Sharp, sheer cliffs?

Thick marshland.

Pull words from this description that form the basis of your name.storm + coast Stormhavenriver + royal authority Rivercrownmist + borderland Mistmarchthorn forest + fortified lookout Thornwatch. Geographical names are a quick route for names to sound like they fit naturally in world.

2. Consider its origin point.

You may choose to name the kingdom based on its sovereign (king, queen, royal line or the ruling dynast, ruling saint, divine progenitor, legendary warrior, founding tribe or tribe designation, mythologic being) which is fine to delay introducing as context until you start describing them in the world itself. An unnamed Avarin's Reach immediately makes the reader question who it was that named the region that place.

3. Let Politics Influence the Name

Names of kingdoms are political.

A conqueror might christen an ancient realm with their dynasty's name. Rebels might purposefully give it back its old name. An empire could decree a formal name, while locals steadfastly refuse to use it.

Consider:

• Official name: The Sovereign Dominion of Caeloria
• Common name: Caeloria
• Enemy nickname: The Golden Tyranny

Now you've got one kingdom pulling triple duty in your worldbuilding!

4. Sound Should Reflect the Culture

Members of a neighbouring set of cultures should probably not sound as though each realm named its domains at random.

You can establish recurring patterns.

One culture may love using such end-terms as:

• -mere
• -hold
• -ford
• -march

Another might prefer to work in such terms as:

• -oria
• -aris
• -eth
• -yn

A third may almost exclusively refer to things by way of natural landmarks.

Pattern, however rudimentary, can be enough to imbue a created language with depth even when you lack full conlang-level detailing.

5. Give Old Kingdoms Linguistic "Scars"

Names morph over time.

The sounds in a word will change or disappear. Names will be contracted. A conqueror might mispronounce a local name, just as its original meaning might be entirely lost over centuries.

You can replicate that.

What may have started as:

Val Arathion

Might become:

Valrath

Several centuries down the line when people just call it that. Something of that sort really makes the setting feel as though it's been around the block a bit.

6. Don't Make Everything Grandiose

This is an important one. If you name everything in your world:

The Eternal Celestial Dominion of the Seven Burning Crowns

then nothing actually feels all that important anymore. The world feels stronger when:

Greyford

next to:

The Obsidian Dominion.

The juxtaposition really lends the bigger, more important sounding name weight.

Useful Kingdom Name Prefixes and Suffixes

Beyond those points, you can always combine different linguistic chunks to come up with your own fantasy realm titles.

Strong Prefix Ideas

• Ash
• Black
• Bright
• Crown
• Dawn
• Dusk
• Elder
• Ember
• Frost
• Gold
• Green
• High
• Iron
• Moon
• Night
• Oak
• Raven
• Red
• River
• Rose
• Shadow
• Silver
• Star
• Stone
• Storm
• Sun
• Thorn
• White
• Wolf

Useful Endings

• -crown
• -fall
• -ford
• -fort
• -glade
• -haven
• -hold
• -keep
• -march
• -mere
• -moor
• -reach
• -rest
• -spire
• -vale
• -watch
• -wood
• -wyn

A few simple combinations:

• Dawn + reach = Dawnreach​ * Silver + march = Silvermarch​ * Raven + hold = Ravenhold​ * Frost + mere = Frostmere​ * Thorn + vale = Thornvale

Note, those are suggestions, not rigid rules. The occasional breaking of pattern will serve to keep your naming system feeling organic rather than like a list of combinations from a Mad Libs book.

How to Make Kingdom Names Feel More Real

A compelling name almost never lives in a vacuum. If possible, give that kingdom two or three concrete details which support the name. The naming system for Blackharbor is a much more engaging example if such things as:

• Volcanic rock lining the harbour makes the water unusually black.​ * The harbour itself is commonly dominated by ships with black sails.​ * Locals tend to say the water of the bay is haunted in the evening and after sunset.

This suggests the name is not arbitrary, but the inevitable conclusion that the founders (or their descendants) draw. Similarly for Rosewatch, if the royal astronomical observatory is surrounded by rose gardens, or if a rose is the personal sigil of the current ruling family, the reader will retain the memory of the connection. Details sticking matter more than arbitrary syallbles.

Kingdom Names for Stories

For works of fiction like novels and short stories, readability usually outweighs pure originalty. A reader might see the name of a kingdom you invent more than a dozen times. As a result, names like the:

Valedorn,

Ironvale,

Dawnreach,

Silverkeep,

Ravenhold,

Mooncrest,

Thornmere,

Stormhaven,

are fairly easy to parse on the page. An utterly alien or unique name can also work (but the harder it is to pronounce, the greater the importance the associated realm should have). It simply doesn't pay to require your readers to parse twelve complex state names within the first two chapters.

Kingdom Names for Games and RPG Campaigns

Games are a slightly different scenario since players have to pronounce the name aloud. This makes the short and striking name extremely useful again. Consider titles like:

Caldris,

Eldoria,

Tyrmora,

Ironcrest,

Redfort,

Oakreach,

Duskhelm,

Starwatch,

Vaelcrest,

Warhaven

Your players would find something of this sort easy to reference at the table and will no doubt shorten the names further. The Sovereign Kingdom of Valedorn would most likely become Valdoren in time. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Build the rest of the world around your kingdom

Almost certainly your kingdom is not living alone. Once the realm has been mapped out, there would also be needed, the king, the queen, the warriors, magical items, monstrous creatures, perhaps ancient languages… To find ideas on creatures you may want to take a look at Dragon Name Generator or legendary sword name generator, for Valyrian style you can generate Valyrian names here, etc. It is much easier to make the rest of the world convincing if the names there echo the overall feel of the kingdom.