Kraken Name Generator
Kraken names from Old Norse and North Sea words for depth, drowning and the whale-road, every fragment glossed, with a skaldic sea-kenning.
5,538,624 combinations
Male, female and neutral kraken names, each with a matching kraken last name and the meaning of every element shown.
- Myrkvaldr Sandsalr
Myrk murk + valdr wielder
Sand sandbank + salr hall
- Idahrifa Saltgata
Ida eddy + hrifa snatching
Salt brine + gata path
- Beinbol Drekreid
Bein bone + bol lair
Drek longship + reid riding
- Djupsvelgr Aramork
Djup deep + svelgr swallower
Ara oar + mork forest
- Fjaraulfa Araheimr
Fjara ebb-shore + ulfa she-wolf
Ara oar + heimr home
- Talgap Laxmork
Tal reckoning + gap chasm
Lax salmon + mork forest
- Hraunormr Hvalfold
Hraun lava field + ormr serpent
Hval whale + fold earth
- Rekaslonga Ernisetr
Reka drift + slonga sling
Erni eagle + setr seat
- Lonbein Hafbol
Lon lagoon + bein bone
Haf open sea + bol lair
- Foradreki Knarrastigr
Forad peril + reki drifter
Knarra merchant ship + stigr path
- Dufunda Bylgjufjall
Duf dipping + unda wound
Bylgju billow + fjall mountain
- Blodslod Fiskstod
Blod blood + slod trail
Fisk fish + stod berth
- Svartleggr Mavsvollr
Svart black + leggr limb bone
Mavs gull + vollr flat ground
- Myrkvasoga Stormvollr
Myrkva darkened + soga sucking
Storm tempest wind + vollr flat ground
- Neshaus Svanbraut
Nes headland + haus skull
Svan swan + braut way
- Straumblastr Fleyvollr
Straum current + blastr blast
Fley vessel + vollr flat ground
- Rostfylgja Svanfold
Rost tide race + fylgja attendant spirit
Svan swan + fold earth
- Midskjol Ulfbol
Mid fishing ground + skjol shelter
Ulf wolf + bol lair
- Druknskelfir Hrafnbyggd
Drukn drowning + skelfir shaker
Hrafn raven + byggd settlement
- Kolgaslonga Ernislod
Kolga cool wave + slonga sling
Erni eagle + slod trail
- Nafntorg Stormbyggd
Nafn name + torg market
Storm tempest wind + byggd settlement
- Bjargsaugr Araengi
Bjarg crag + saugr sucker
Ara oar + engi meadow
- Kolgayla Drekteigr
Kolga cool wave + yla howling
Drek longship + teigr strip of land
- Beinkjolfar Isateigr
Bein bone + kjolfar wake
Isa ice + teigr strip of land
Need a name that means something in particular? Build one from its meaning.
How kraken names are built
¶The Norse antecedent of the kraken is the hafgufa, the sea-reek, described in the thirteenth-century Konungs skuggsjá as an island that is not an island. That is the register these names work in: haf the open sea, djup the deep, svelgr a whirlpool and literally a swallower, gufa vapour, kraki a hooked pole, which is where the word kraken most likely comes from. A first element sets the water, a second element names the thing in it.
Old Norse marks gender on the noun, so the sets are grammatical rather than decorative. Masculine second elements end in -r: bakr a back, ormr a serpent, svelgr a swallower, drangr a sea stack, skelfir a shaker. Feminine second elements end in -a: hrina a screech, fylgja an attendant spirit, valva a seeress, hvirfla a whirl. The unmarked set uses neuter nouns — kaf submersion, djup the deep, él a snow squall, mið a fishing ground — and suits a thing spoken of as weather.
The second name is a sea-kenning and it names the water the creature holds. Skalds did not say sea; they said hvalvegr the whale-road, svanbraut the swan's way, selbað the seal's bath, fiskheimr the fish's home. Pairing a creature with a road, a field or a hall gives you a stretch of ocean and a claim on it, which is the only kind of territory a kraken can hold. Sailors then measure the claim in cable-lengths and stay outside it.
More kraken names
Male kraken names
- Svartgjaldr Selgardr black howler
- Narhleypr Fleybad corpse runner
- Skerhvalr Knarravegr skerry whale
- Eldvaldr Fleybyggd fire wielder
- Bjargstraumr Skerrann crag current
- Logkjaftr Erniheimr sea water jaw
- Nordskrimsl Drekvegr north monster
- Skuggdraugr Nokkvaheimr shadow revenant
- Myrkbakr Stormfold murk back
- Vindkraki Saltbol wind hooked pole
- Hrimmunnr Skerteigr rime mouth
- Logulfr Bylgjuengi sea water wolf
- Vikbakr Otrstigr bay back
- Markadall Mavsstod sea cable
- Bodtangi Isastod breaker spit of land
- Vagsvelgr Nokkvabeit inlet swallower
- Krakfari Selbraut pole hook traveller
- Vikjotunn Svanfjall bay giant
Female kraken names
- Gnipasaga Seltun peak telling
- Leiraunda Drekleid mud flat wound
- Grunnaslonga Kjoltun shallows sling
- Myrkvakviga Isavangr darkened heifer
- Myriglotta Kjolvollr bog grinning
- Grimasleikja Stormmork mask licking
- Stormahrina Ulfslod stormy screech
- Fjaraduna Mavsfold ebb-shore boom
- Vikagata Ormvollr sea-mile path
- Skoraunda Seglteigr notch wound
- Kolgabyrda Hafsalr cool wave burden
- Keldakloa Isavegr spring claw
- Drofnskepna Hafvegr foam-fleck creature
- Skurasvipa Kjolbekkr shower whip
- Hellasleikja Skipvegr flat rock licking
- Unnavitja Bjornmork wave crest visiting
- Leirahola Kjolgata mud flat hollow
- Lindstunga Kjolsalr well stab
Neutral kraken names
- Vadkjolfar Aragardr ford wake
- Elvig Drekengi snow squall slaying
- Kafberg Ernivangr submersion rock face
- Meinslod Fiskmork harm trail
- Vedrkyn Skipheimr weather kindred
- Ordrann Hrafntun word hall
- Vatndjup Drekvollr water deep
- Gullmark Ormheimr gold boundary
- Hjartagap Hrafnbyggd heart chasm
- Skipsvid Isatun ship scorching
- Skymid Hvalbad cloud fishing ground
- Grjotkaf Skipbyggd stones submersion
- Haglfen Skipvegr hail quagmire
- Hjartahorn Sandgardr heart beak
- Balbol Seglteigr pyre lair
- Fallmark Laxvegr ebb boundary
- Regnsog Kjolfjall rain undertow
- Hjartabjarg Vindsalr heart crag
Questions
What are good kraken names?
Take a water word and a body word and let Norse do the rest: Djupsvelgr, Marbakr, Hvalkjaftr, Svartormr. Keep the first element concrete — deep, black, cold, current, cable — because the terror in the old accounts is scale and depth rather than malice. A kraken named deep-swallower or sea-jaw does not need an adjective in front of it.
What is the kraken in Norse sources?
It appears as the hafgufa, the sea-reek, in the Konungs skuggsjá, alongside the lyngbakr or heather-back, a whale so large that crews land on it and light fires. Both are described as hazards rather than monsters. The word kraken itself is later and Scandinavian, and is usually traced to kraki, a pole with hooks, from the shape of the arms.
Does a kraken have a gender?
The names do, because Old Norse nouns do. Masculine elements end in -r, feminine in -a, and neuter nouns take neither. If you want the creature to read as an animal, use the gendered sets; if you want it to read as a phenomenon that fishermen discuss like weather, use the neuter set, which is how the medieval accounts actually talk about it.
What is a cable-length?
A sailor's measure of about two hundred yards, a tenth of a nautical mile, originally the length of a ship's anchor cable. It is the useful unit for a kraken because it is the distance at which things stop being safe: crews in the old reports describe the sea going strange several cables off, and steer by that rather than by any sighting.
What is a sea-kenning?
A skaldic compound that names something by circling it. The sea is the whale-road, the swan's way, the seal's bath; a ship is the wave-horse. Kennings are how Norse verse handled a fixed metre and a small vocabulary, and they make excellent territorial names, since each one describes the same water from the point of view of a different creature.