Most witches at Hogwarts have perfectly ordinary names: Hannah, Katie, Susan. The grand ones (Bellatrix, Narcissa) belong to the old pure-blood families, and say so. This Harry Potter witch name generator gives you both: choose an everyday or a pure-blood first name, and a surname that suits your house.
How the books name their witches
- Ordinary names for ordinary families. Hannah Abbott, Katie Bell, Susan Bones: the students sound like any British school register of the 1990s, which is part of the joke and part of the charm.
- Stars for the Blacks. The Black family names its children after stars and constellations: Bellatrix is a star in Orion, Andromeda a constellation. Narcissa comes from Greek myth instead.
- Names that hint at the character. Minerva McGonagall shares her first name with the Roman goddess of wisdom, Pomona Sprout with the goddess of fruit and orchards, and Sybill Trelawney's name recalls the sibyls, the prophetesses of the ancient world.
- Alliteration. Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood: a matching first letter makes a name easy to remember.
- Surnames from the map. Many come from real places: Dursley is a town in Gloucestershire, Bagshot one in Surrey, and Snape a village in Suffolk.
Surnames by house
- Gryffindor: sturdy, bold English names. Hardcastle, Ironside, Hartwell.
- Hufflepuff: homely and earthy, like Helga's own kitchens and greenhouses. Applegate, Kettlewell, Honeycutt.
- Ravenclaw: a little bookish, a little odd. Pennyfeather, Bookbinder, Starling.
- Slytherin: old money and old families, often with a French or Norman ring. Mordaunt, Valmont, Malvoisin.
Houses don't really decide names, of course: the Sorting Hat comes after the christening. But a surname that fits is a nice nod to where your witch ends up.
Everyday or pure-blood?
The first name says a lot about your witch's family. An everyday name like Emma or Siobhan suggests a Muggle-born or a half-blood from an ordinary household, the kind of student who found out about magic from a letter. An old pure-blood name like Ottoline or Hesperia suggests a family with portraits on the walls and opinions about blood status.
The contrast can be a story in itself: an everyday name with a grand Slytherin surname, or a pure-blood name in Hufflepuff.
Using the name
- Fan fiction: none of the names belong to characters in the books, so your witch won't be mistaken for a canon one.
- Games: for Hogwarts Legacy, set in the 1890s, the Hogwarts Legacy Witch Name Generator has names from that era instead. These suit games and role-play set in Harry's time.
- Wizards too: for a boy, try the Hogwarts Legacy Wizard Name Generator.