Dwarf names are short and hard, like something struck on an anvil, and a dwarf is never just a name: they come with a clan, a father and a grudge or two. This dwarf name generator gives you male and female names in the Norse style, with a clan name to match a mountain or hill dwarf, or the old son of form.
Where dwarf names come from
- The Norse myths are where it starts. The dwarves Brokkr and Eitri forged Thor's hammer; Andvari guarded a cursed ring and a hoard of gold.
- Tolkien took his dwarves' names from the Dvergatal, the "tally of dwarves" in the Old Norse poem Völuspá. Durin, Thorin, Fíli, Kíli, Bombur and the rest are all there, and so, oddly, is Gandalf.
- Secret names. Tolkien also decided that his dwarves kept their real names, in their own language, secret from outsiders. The names we know are just the ones they use among other peoples.
- German legend has Alberich, king of the dwarves in the Nibelungenlied. Through the French form Auberon, he became Oberon, king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Male and female dwarves
Male names here end in hard sounds like -rik, -grim and -dak; female names in Norse endings like -hild (battle), -dis (goddess) and -run (secret).
Fantasy has fun with dwarf women. Tolkien wrote that they were so like the men that other peoples thought there were no dwarf women at all. In Terry Pratchett's Discworld, every dwarf has a beard and is traditionally called "he", until Cheery Littlebottom starts wearing a skirt.
Clans and lineage
- Mountain dwarf clans are named for stone, metal and war: Stonevein, Anvilbrow, Coalbreaker.
- Hill dwarf clans are homelier, named for ale, hearths and good eating: Barleybrew, Peathollow, Honeycask.
- Son of… is the oldest form, as in Gimli son of Glóin, and the way Norse names worked before surnames: Sigurd son of Sigmund. Choose it for a dwarf who'd rather be known by their family than their clan.
In D&D, a dwarf's clan name is their surname, and a dwarf who's been cast out of their clan is a story waiting to happen.
Playing a dwarf
- Give them a craft. Most dwarves in fiction are known for what they make. Let the clan name hint at it: a Forgehammer is a smith, a Copperkettle a brewer.
- Give them a grudge. Dwarves remember. A clan feud, a lost hall, an unpaid debt: decide what your dwarf hasn't forgiven.
- Short names travel well. Your party will shorten whatever you pick, so make sure the short form works too.