Minotaur Name Generator
Minotaur names from real Greek elements — bronze, bull, horn, labyrinth — each fragment glossed, with the numbered turning a bloodline holds.
7,167,600 combinations
Male, female and neutral minotaur names, each with a matching minotaur last name and the meaning of every element shown. The same build gives you D&D minotaur names.
- Helicobolos Third Landing
Helico spiral + bolos thrower
Third third in order + Landing step platform
- Deinahaima Drowned Vault
Deina terrible + haima blood
Drowned standing in water + Vault arched roof
- Myriosoma First Bend
Myrio countless + soma body
First first in order + Bend change of course
- Onychopyrgos Fourth Gallery
Onycho claw + pyrgos tower
Fourth fourth in order + Gallery roofed walk
- Phoinissanassa Double Span
Phoinissa crimson + nassa queen
Double twice repeated + Span measured distance
- Palinperas Inner Column
Palin again + peras limit
Inner toward the centre + Column upright pillar
- Dermopnoos Inner Bend
Dermo hide + pnoos breath
Inner toward the centre + Bend change of course
- Erythradora Cold Ambit
Erythra red + dora gift
Cold unheated + Ambit outer circuit
- Amphimeros Narrow Court
Amphi on both sides + meros part
Narrow close-walled + Court open enclosure
- Helicozelos Lower Portal
Helico spiral + zelos zeal
Lower under the floor + Portal formal doorway
- Cheladameia Inner Return
Chela cloven hoof + dameia tamer
Inner toward the centre + Return way back
- Polythriggos Blind Portal
Poly many + thriggos cornice
Blind leading nowhere + Portal formal doorway
- Hoplonomos Quiet Ambit
Hoplo armed + nomos herdsman
Quiet where nothing echoes + Ambit outer circuit
- Labryathyella Seventh Gate
Labrya double axe + thyella storm
Seventh seventh in order + Gate barred opening
- Exoedaphos Drowned Reach
Exo outer + edaphos floor
Drowned standing in water + Reach straight run
- Alkophoros Fifth Corridor
Alko strength + phoros bearer
Fifth fifth in order + Corridor long passage
- Moschahegemone Fifth Return
Moscha calf + hegemone leader
Fifth fifth in order + Return way back
- Tetrabathron Cold Bend
Tetra four + bathron step
Cold unheated + Bend change of course
- Pyrotauros Blind Portal
Pyro fire + tauros bull
Blind leading nowhere + Portal formal doorway
- Xanthachele Sealed Sill
Xantha tawny + chele cloven hoof
Sealed shut with stone + Sill door base
- Isohypsos Sealed Ambit
Iso equal + hypsos height
Sealed shut with stone + Ambit outer circuit
- Phoinikomenes Upper Return
Phoiniko crimson + menes might
Upper at roof level + Return way back
- Amethypyle Eighth Chamber
Amethy unmixed + pyle gate
Eighth eighth in order + Chamber enclosed room
- Panhedos Blind Portal
Pan entire + hedos seat
Blind leading nowhere + Portal formal doorway
Need a name that means something in particular? Build one from its meaning.
How minotaur names are built
¶Minotaur names are Greek compounds, and the halves do different jobs. The first element is material or temper: chalko bronze, sidero iron, marmaro marble, tauro bull, kerato horn, melano black, meno fury, brycho gnashing. The second is a role or a body part: machos a fighter, phylax a guard, keras a horn, pous a foot, lophos a crest, phthoros destruction. Chalkomachos is bronze-fighter, Keratophylax is horn-guard. Read the halves and you have the creature's job and its metal.
The gendered forms follow Greek morphology rather than invention. Masculine compounds close on the familiar -os and -as endings: Tauromachos, Skotobrychos, Melanokeras. Feminine forms end in a long -a or -e and take the feminine second elements Greek actually used in names — mache, nike, kleia, dameia, chaite, damalis, which is the word for a heifer. Melainadamalis is black heifer. The unmarked set is different again: spatial prefixes and neuter -ma nouns, so a name reads like a line from a floor plan.
The second name is a place in the maze, not a family. The labyrinth is charted in numbered turnings, and a bull-line is known by the turning it holds — Ninth Turning, Third Gate, Blind Coil, Sunken Stair. Blind means the way ends, false means the way lies, so the title carries a warning as well as an address. The Minotaur of Knossos was called Asterion, the starry one, which is why astero survives here as a first element with no violence in it at all.
More minotaur names
Male minotaur names
- Gorgokratos Second Passage grim power
- Deinomykos Unnumbered Angle terrible bellow
- Menophoros Quiet Reach fury bearer
- Asterophoros Outer Angle starry bearer
- Moschomenes Ninth Angle calf might
- Moschonomos Lower Coil calf herdsman
- Kraniopotes Double Return skull drinker
- Makrosthenos First Portal long vigour
- Thermolaos Counted Column heat war-host
- Petrokampos Unnumbered Turning rock bend
- Alkophthoros Sealed Fork strength destruction
- Moschoergos Fourth Portal calf worker
- Deinonomos Broken Return terrible herdsman
- Kleithrobrychos Eighth Corridor barred roar
- Xiphobrychos False Coil sword roar
- Melanonomos Sixth Fork black herdsman
- Taurophoros Long Turning bull bearer
- Kentromochthos Twelfth Vault goad toil
Female minotaur names
- Aitheleaina Eighth Junction burning lioness
- Phoinissastrophe Narrow Sill crimson turning back
- Bathyakemas Tenth Descent deep young deer
- Moschaphora Upper Coil calf bearer
- Baliakemas Counted Sill dappled young deer
- Poliapoine Counted Lintel grey retribution
- Nyktatima Fourth Span night honour
- Melainachaite Sealed Threshold black mane
- Kraneachele Second Circuit cornel wood cloven hoof
- Amethystrophe Unnumbered Threshold unmixed turning back
- Helikamyrrha Lower Span spiral myrrh
- Leukathyella Fifth Angle white storm
- Helikazone Sunken Stair spiral girdle
- Marmarachlaina Sunken Seal marble cloak
- Taurapyle Last Bend cow gate
- Amethychele Blind Fork unmixed cloven hoof
- Bathyapoine Quiet Chamber deep retribution
- Amethykemas Inner Circuit unmixed young deer
Neutral minotaur names
- Diastoa Ninth Seal through colonnade
- Pentamekos Upper Return five length
- Chilioplatos Broken Fork thousandfold breadth
- Synsema Ninth Lintel together sign
- Katapropylon Narrow Fork downward entrance gate
- Lathrotmema Drowned Gallery secret section
- Periklima Last Fork around slope
- Bathygriphos Thirteenth Turning deep riddle
- Tephrodiodos Ninth Descent ash-grey passage
- Synmeros Thirteenth Portal together part
- Pentaperas Narrow Descent five limit
- Pentagramma Drowned Stair five letter
- Progriphos Outer Threshold before riddle
- Telobathos Unnumbered Junction distant depth
- Metaderma Fifth Cistern beyond hide
- Heptatmema Twelfth Sill seven section
- Neoderma Cold Corridor new hide
- Telotelos False Junction distant end
Questions
What are good minotaur names?
Build a Greek compound out of a material and a role: Chalkokeras, Siderolophos, Tauromenes, Skotophylax. Keep both halves to two or three syllables so the name can be shouted, and let the first half do the describing. A minotaur named bronze-horn or iron-crest tells a player what it is before it moves, which is exactly what a Greek audience expected from a name.
What was the Minotaur's real name?
Asterion, or Asterios in some sources, meaning starry. He is also called the Minotaur, which is simply the bull of Minos and is a description rather than a name. That distinction is worth keeping: the descriptive title belongs to the people outside the maze, and the compound name belongs to the creature and to whoever taught it to speak.
Are minotaur names male or female?
Both, and Greek marks the difference in the ending. Masculine names close hard on -os, -as or a consonant; feminine names end in a long -a or -e and take feminine second elements such as mache, kleia, dameia and damalis. The unmarked set uses neuter nouns and spatial prefixes and suits a minotaur that is a construct, a guardian or an ancestor spoken of in the third person.
What does labrys mean?
Labrys is the double-headed axe found all over Bronze Age Crete, and the usual etymology derives labyrinth from it: the place of the double axe. Whether or not that is right, it makes labry a good first element, and pelekys, the ordinary Greek word for an axe, works the same way for a minotaur who carries one rather than merely being named for one.
How do I name a minotaur clan or house?
Give the clan a turning of the maze instead of a surname. Ninth Turning, Outer Coil, Broken Stair, False Gate. Every bull-line holds a stretch of corridor and defends it, so the address is the lineage, and a clan that loses its turning loses its name. It also gives you a map: two clans that share a corridor are neighbours and probably enemies.