The griffin has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, and in ancient Greek stories it guarded gold in the mountains of the north. This griffin name generator makes noble heraldic names, fierce sky-hunter names and ancient-sounding names for gryphons in D&D, games and stories.
Where the griffin comes from
The griffin, with a lion's body and an eagle's head and wings, appears in art across the ancient Near East and Greece.
- Gold guardians: the Greek poet Aristeas, in a lost poem known through Herodotus, told of griffins guarding gold in the far north, fought by the one-eyed Arimaspians.
- A fossil theory: the historian Adrienne Mayor has suggested that the legend began with nomads finding dinosaur skeletons, such as Protoceratops, in the gold-bearing deserts of Central Asia.
- Three spellings, griffin, gryphon and griffon, are all correct. Griffin is the most common in British English.
Naming a griffin
A griffin is royalty twice over, king of the beasts and king of the birds, so its name can be proud.
- Noble names sound heraldic: the griffin is one of the most common beasts on coats of arms, and names like Aurelian Goldcrest would fit on a shield.
- Fierce names are all talon and beak: Talonstrike, Talonshriek.
- Ancient names use Greek and Latin words for eagle and gold, like Aetos and Chrysanthe, with a home "of Scythia" or "of the Riphean Mountains", where Greek writers placed the gold.
For more winged beasts, try the Phoenix and Pegasus name generators.
For more beasts of legend, see all the mythical creature name generators.