Goblin Name Generator
Short, sharp goblin names built from clipped roots and small nasty nouns, each part glossed, with a clan name to match.
4,380,000 combinations
Male, female and neutral goblin names, each with a matching goblin last name and the meaning of every element shown.
- Flikscuttle Toadfingers
Flik flicking + scuttle hurried run
Toad warty hopper + fingers grasping digits
- Tikkiburr Snatchhollow
Tikki ticking + burr clinging seed
Snatch hasty theft + hollow sunken ground
- Quogprong Mudscratcher
Quog boggy + prong forked point
Mud wet soil + scratcher clawer
- Chitbit Scrapfilcher
Chit chattering + bit bite
Scrap leftover bit + filcher pilferer
- Glimmaclaw Gnatgnawer
Glimma glimmering + claw hooked nail
Gnat tiny fly + gnawer nibbler
- Fritrope Ditchfilcher
Frit fretting + rope twisted cord
Ditch dug trench + filcher pilferer
- Zikshiv Tinthief
Zik darting + shiv knife
Tin soft metal + thief stealer
- Blettawire Grotgnawer
Bletta blotted + wire drawn metal
Grot grotto + gnawer nibbler
- Scragchew Wartthief
Scrag scraggy + chew grinding bite
Wart skin lump + thief stealer
- Fizznose Fleaprodder
Fizz fizzing + nose smelling organ
Flea jumping pest + prodder pusher
- Scabbabile Ratjabber
Scabba scabby + bile bitter gall
Rat gnawing vermin + jabber stabber
- Stotwrench Gutterfilcher
Stot stumbling + wrench twisting tool
Gutter water channel + filcher pilferer
- Gribbtooth Bogpoker
Gribb grabbing + tooth jaw spike
Bog soft marsh + poker fire iron
- Prittahook Fleacobbler
Pritta prattling + hook bent point
Flea jumping pest + cobbler shoe mender
- Hobspring Ticksquabbler
Hob hobbling + spring coiled steel
Tick blood mite + squabbler bickerer
- Grikscuttle Crookdodger
Grik creaking + scuttle hurried run
Crook bent hook + dodger evader
- Skivaknot Tickbiter
Skiva shirking + knot tied loop
Tick blood mite + biter snapper
- Thogsnare Tinchewer
Thog thuggish + snare wire noose
Tin soft metal + chewer grinder
- Hixtack Tickdodger
Hix hiccupping + tack short nail
Tick blood mite + dodger evader
- Jinxabroth Guttercobbler
Jinxa jinxing + broth meat stock
Gutter water channel + cobbler shoe mender
- Drubjig Gnatwarren
Drub drubbing + jig guide template
Gnat tiny fly + warren rabbit burrows
- Chitboil Snatchfilcher
Chit chattering + boil skin swelling
Snatch hasty theft + filcher pilferer
- Shivvatar Slopguts
Shivva stabbing + tar tree resin
Slop spilled swill + guts belly innards
- Whitgrip Wartchewer
Whit slight + grip firm hold
Wart skin lump + chewer grinder
Need a name that means something in particular? Build one from its meaning.
How goblin names are built
¶Goblin names are short because goblins are loud and in a hurry. The root is a single clipped syllable naming an action or a fault — snik snipping, kwik quick, skiv shirking, pox pocked — and it lands on a stop consonant so the name can be shouted across a tunnel without being mistaken for a different one. Nothing in the language tolerates a long vowel, which is why goblin sounds thin and quick where orc sounds heavy and thrown.
The second element is always a small concrete noun, and it is almost always something on the body or something in a pocket: tooth, thumb, snout, scab, coin, needle, purse, crumb. Snikpocket is snipping pocket, and every goblin hearing it knows exactly what the bearer does for a living. Because the nouns are tiny, the whole name stays two or three syllables. A goblin name of four syllables belongs to somebody putting on airs.
Clan names are the one place goblins are grandiose, and they still fail to be grand. A clan pairs a squalid noun with a job — Ratfingers, Bilgethief, Gutterscratcher, Cindersnatcher — and it is inherited, boasted about, and rewritten the moment a better theft happens. Female forms take an extra vowel on the root, which is the only softening the language allows, and pair with sharper nouns: barb, thorn, hex, quill, switch.
More goblin names
Male goblin names
- Flikshank Tinfingers flicking shin
- Jibcoin Toadscratcher jabbing struck wedge
- Bikcoin Bilgewarren biting struck wedge
- Fizzsnort Fleachewer fizzing nose blast
- Sniktoe Crookcobbler snipping foot digit
- Klikcackle Warttinker clicking hen laugh
- Snittooth Gnatthief sulky jaw spike
- Wikpip Gutterthief guttering tiny seed
- Skitcrumb Boltbiter scampering bread scrap
- Skivscuttle Ditchfingers shirking hurried run
- Piksnout Sloptinker picking beast nose
- Dibpip Fleaguts poking tiny seed
- Krutreek Tickwarren crumbly rising smoke
- Drikfilch Fleaguts dripping theft
- Gritscritch Bogstinker gritty grating noise
- Gnibthumb Toadprodder nibbling swollen finger
- Fizztoe Bogpoker fizzing foot digit
- Hixshank Tickfingers hiccupping shin
Female goblin names
- Snikkasting Cinderprodder shearing piercing point
- Glimmabroth Grimeprodder glimmering meat stock
- Thrittacomb Ditchpoker thrifty toothed strip
- Snikkawire Fleachewer shearing drawn metal
- Bikkatar Snatchgnawer biting tree resin
- Sputtawhip Squintteeth sputtering leather thong
- Snekkaspike Bogpoker sneaking sharp point
- Mippabarb Slopteeth squeaking backward point
- Jaggahiss Cinderstinker prickly snake sound
- Bikkatick Sacksquabbler biting blood mite
- Sputtascratch Cinderjabber sputtering scored mark
- Vittabead Fleaprodder quick-witted counted prayer
- Fizzawick Bolthollow fizzing candle cord
- Poxatooth Ratfingers pocked jaw spike
- Sputtawhip Grotfingers sputtering leather thong
- Hixaknot Boltgnawer hiccupping tied loop
- Frizzaknot Ratjabber frizzled tied loop
- Krittawick Ditchgnawer clawing candle cord
Neutral goblin names
- Jinkrivet Runtpockets swerving hammered pin
- Drubbolt Wartstinker drubbing threaded rod
- Quognail Bogprodder boggy iron pin
- Crikpatch Gutterscratcher cricking mending piece
- Drublever Guttertinker drubbing lifting bar
- Trottack Grimeguts trotting short nail
- Skegjig Slopsnatcher notched guide template
- Fritgrip Gutterthief fretting firm hold
- Brigcog Ditchpoker caging gear tooth
- Cogratchet Tinprodder cogged toothed catch
- Dodgetongs Cogbiter dodging biting pincers
- Clotpick Cinderchewer clotting pointed tool
- Swigcatch Gnatstinker swigging holding piece
- Rigmallet Toadchewer rigging wooden hammer
- Lurkrope Scrapbiter lurking twisted cord
- Nogclasp Mudthief wedging hooked fastening
- Fritshim Grotchewer fretting thin filler
- Rumstitch Scrapstinker odd sewn loop
Questions
What is a good goblin name?
Something a goblin could shout twice in a fight and still be understood. One clipped root, one small noun, a stop at the end: Snikthumb, Kwikpocket, Poxgrin. If the name takes longer to say than the goblin takes to run away, it is the wrong name. Keep it under three syllables and put the insult in the second half.
How are goblin names different from orc names?
Orc names are heavy and open — long back vowels, growled clusters, endings like ash, ug and arg. Goblin names are thin and front, built on short i and e vowels, and they stop dead on a hard consonant. Say Grubbnash and then Sniktooth and you can hear the whole difference: one is thrown, the other is spat.
Do goblins have last names?
They have clan names, which behave like surnames but change hands. A clan name pairs something squalid with an occupation, as in Mudsnatcher or Ratfingers, and it is claimed rather than inherited in any strict sense. A goblin who does better work than the clan it was born to will simply start using a better clan name and dare anyone to argue.
What are good female goblin names?
The feminine forms add a vowel to the root, so Snik becomes Snikka and Krit becomes Kritta, and they take the sharper nouns rather than the grubby ones: Snikkathorn, Nixabarb, Krittahex. The extra syllable does not soften the name. It just makes it possible to say the whole thing while pointing at somebody.
Can I use these goblin names in my campaign?
Yes. Every root and noun here is invented or an ordinary English word, so nothing is taken from a published setting and you can use whatever the generator gives you in games, fiction or art. The glosses are provided so you can decide what a goblin did to earn its name before the party ever meets it.