Lich Name Generator
Lich names in a dead scholarly register: a Latin or Greek assumed name plus a taken title, with every fragment glossed.
9,076,200 combinations
Male, female and neutral lich names, each with a matching lich last name and the meaning of every element shown.
- Tenebrofossor The Ninefold Canon
Tenebro darkness + fossor grave-digger
The Ninefold nine times over + Canon authoritative rule
- Glabraoratrix The Iron Decretal
Glabra smooth + oratrix pleader
The Iron unyielding + Decretal binding decree
- Papyrokeimelion The Deathless Compendium
Papyro reed paper + keimelion treasure
The Deathless past dying + Compendium abridged work
- Algidocurator The Sealed Registrar
Algido chill + curator overseer
The Sealed shut fast + Registrar roll-keeper
- Arcanamoderatrix The Withered Compendium
Arcana secret + moderatrix regulator
The Withered dried up + Compendium abridged work
- Chronothesauros The First Scholiast
Chrono time + thesauros treasury
The First earliest + Scholiast margin commentator
- Surdoaudax The First Praeceptor
Surdo hushed + audax daring
The First earliest + Praeceptor instructor
- Exiguaphiala The Wan Amanuensis
Exigua scanty + phiala shallow bowl
The Wan bloodless + Amanuensis copying secretary
- Taphosymbolon The Hidden Cipher
Tapho tomb + symbolon token
The Hidden out of sight + Cipher hidden writing
- Mnemopertinax The Hollow Ordinal
Mnemo memory + pertinax persistent
The Hollow emptied out + Ordinal book of rites
- Fuscalectrix The Nameless Sepulchre
Fusca dusky + lectrix reader
The Nameless without a name + Sepulchre burial vault
- Grammolexikon The Frozen Cipher
Grammo letter + lexikon word list
The Frozen locked in ice + Cipher hidden writing
- Ferratovictor The Unbound Cipher
Ferrato iron-bound + victor conqueror
The Unbound loosed + Cipher hidden writing
- Asperalittera The Sunken Archivist
Aspera harsh + littera letter
The Sunken fallen inward + Archivist keeper of records
- Semioeidolon The Hollow Prefect
Semio sign + eidolon phantom
The Hollow emptied out + Prefect appointed overseer
- Mutovector The Bound Chancellor
Muto wordless + vector carrier
The Bound held fast + Chancellor keeper of seals
- Pallidasera The Withered Sexton
Pallida pale + sera door bolt
The Withered dried up + Sexton grave-keeper
- Kenologion The Deathless Quaestor
Keno empty + logion saying
The Deathless past dying + Quaestor investigator
- Solvoharuspex The First Homily
Solvo loosed + haruspex entrail-reader
The First earliest + Homily preached discourse
- Sigillaruina The Bound Sepulchre
Sigilla sealed + ruina collapse
The Bound held fast + Sepulchre burial vault
- Grammopinax The Unlit Threnody
Grammo letter + pinax tablet
The Unlit without light + Threnody song of mourning
- Mnemopraeceptor The Leaden Auditor
Mnemo memory + praeceptor instructor
The Leaden heavy as lead + Auditor one who hears
- Xerafavilla The Silent Praeceptor
Xera desiccated + favilla embers
The Silent making no sound + Praeceptor instructor
- Onomatopapyros The Nameless Sexton
Onomato name + papyros reed paper
The Nameless without a name + Sexton grave-keeper
Need a name that means something in particular? Build one from its meaning.
How lich names are built
¶A lich does not keep the name it was given. The birth name is filed away with the rest of the estate, and what remains is an assumed name in the language the work was done in — Latin for the western schools, Greek for the older ones. The first element states a condition: pallido pale, arido parched, tacito unspoken, nihilo nothing, xero desiccated, vetusto ancient. The second states an office: lector a reader, fossor a grave-digger, artifex a craftsman, haruspex a reader of entrails.
The endings are grammatical, not cosmetic. Masculine offices take the Latin agent forms in -or, -fex and -ex: Pallidolector, Cinereofossor, Nihilovorax. Feminine offices take -trix, which is the real feminine of the same nouns, so lectrix, scriptrix, ultrix and obstetrix all sit correctly beside Latin nouns such as arca a chest and sera a door bolt. The third set is Greek and archival — biblion a book, soros a funeral urn, kenotaphion an empty tomb, stele a grave pillar.
The title is taken, not given, and it is the half that carries the threat. It follows the shape of a scholastic office: The Sealed Codex, The Wan Praeceptor, The Unlit Glossator, The Ninefold Threnody. Each of those is a real function in a library or a chapter house, which is the joke — the creature has kept the paperwork and discarded the person. When two liches share a title they are rivals for the same post, and only one of them holds it.
More lich names
Male lich names
- Ultimoconditor The Wan Decretal final founder
- Silentiscriptor The Grey Scholiast soundless scribe
- Tenebroauctor The Last Hierophant darkness originator
- Vacuolector The Crooked Ordinal void reader
- Perpetonumerator The Leaden Palimpsest unceasing counter
- Xerotutor The Ashen Vicar desiccated guardian
- Cryptoultor The Nameless Warden concealed avenger
- Pulverocensor The Bound Notary dust assessor
- Glaciocensor The First Vicar icy assessor
- Vacuocurator The Grey Testament void overseer
- Vinctoarbiter The Grey Exegete bound judge
- Mnemoauctor The Iron Antiquary memory originator
- Silenticarnifex The Sallow Prefect soundless executioner
- Plumbocodex The Hidden Warden leaden tablet book
- Tenebrofossor The Sealed Canon darkness grave-digger
- Mutocensor The Bound Archivist wordless assessor
- Primofaber The Sealed Ordinal earliest smith
- Vacuocomputor The Faceless Cantor void reckoner
Female lich names
- Lethacamera The Wan Amanuensis forgetting vaulted room
- Osseamemoria The Sealed Ledger bony remembrance
- Ferratatesta The Crooked Glossator iron-bound earthen jar
- Vetustasera The Withered Prefect ancient door bolt
- Lapidavictrix The Silent Hierophant stone conqueress
- Nocturnapagina The Buried Lector nightly page
- Severaregula The Last Rubric stern straight rule
- Pulvereatabula The Nameless Testament dusty writing tablet
- Torpidatabula The Crooked Chancellor numb writing tablet
- Lapidacharta The Hidden Exegete stone paper sheet
- Clausaianua The Grey Hierophant shut doorway
- Vacuacharta The Leaden Quaestor void paper sheet
- Tacitavigilia The Patient Chancellor unspoken night watch
- Ferratalectrix The Ninefold Threnody iron-bound reader
- Vitreafavilla The Wan Canon glassy embers
- Marcidalittera The Bound Glossator withered letter
- Torpidaianua The Iron Chancellor numb doorway
- Surdaministra The Hidden Rubric hushed attendant
Neutral lich names
- Stygobiblion The Wan Auditor loathed book
- Thekokanon The Patient Rubric repository measure
- Kathodiphthera The Buried Exegete downward hide scroll
- Kathorhema The Bound Exegete downward utterance
- Philoarche The Sallow Chancellor loving beginning
- Telogramma The Ninefold Glossator far off written letter
- Phasmosoros The Nameless Ordinal apparition funeral urn
- Skeletokatalogos The Black Amanuensis dried up list
- Orthopinax The Buried Ledger correct tablet
- Sophorhema The Ashen Hierophant wise utterance
- Semiotypos The Unquiet Exegete sign impression
- Skiopsephos The Crooked Scholiast shadow pebble counter
- Asthenopsephos The Endless Exegete feeble pebble counter
- Kryotaphos The Crooked Sexton icy tomb
- Semiolexikon The Pale Homily sign word list
- Autographon The Unbound Homily self written thing
- Autoskeletos The Silent Syndic self dried body
- Kraniokenotaphion The Ashen Decretal skull empty tomb
Questions
What are good lich names?
Build the assumed name from a condition and an office, then add the title: Aridoscriptor, The Sealed Codex. Sicconotarius, The Patient Auditor. The name should sound like something that would appear on a title page rather than in a family tree, because that is the point — the creature has replaced a person with a position.
Should a lich keep its living name?
Most tables play it the other way, and it works better. Give the character a mundane birth name that appears once in an old document, then have everyone use the taken name and title. Anyone who says the birth name aloud is claiming to know something, which is a scene, and it explains why the lich went to the trouble of shedding it.
What is a lich title?
A scholastic or clerical office, taken and held: Praeceptor, Archivist, Glossator, Quaestor, Cantor, Sexton, Exegete. Pair it with a qualifier that describes the body rather than the mind — wan, sallow, withered, sealed, unlit — and the pairing does the work. Titles like the Sealed Codex or the Unquiet Ledger name the thing the lich keeps rather than the lich.
Are lich names male or female?
Latin marks agent nouns for gender, so yes, and correctly. Masculine offices end in -or, -fex or -ex; feminine offices end in -trix, which is the genuine feminine of the same word — lector and lectrix, victor and victrix. The Greek set is unmarked and reads as older, which suits a lich that predates whichever school of magic is currently claiming it.
What is the difference between a lich and a necromancer?
A necromancer works on the dead; a lich has finished the work on itself. That difference shows in the names. Necromancer names are built from graveyard nouns in the vernacular, while a lich name is Latin or Greek, professional, and structured like a citation, because the creature's remaining vanity is bibliographic rather than sepulchral.