A monster's name should sound like the place it lurks: something that scratches under the bed, gulps in a bog or sleeps at the bottom of the sea. This monster name generator makes grim names with epithets for stories and games, and funny, friendly names for kids.
Monsters and where they lurk
- The word: monster comes from the Latin monstrum, an omen or warning, from monere, "to warn". Many folklore monsters were exactly that: a warning to keep children safe.
- Under the bed: the bogeyman has no single shape. He's whatever lurks in the dark corner, which is why under-the-bed names are all fingers, whispers and waiting.
- In the swamp: English folklore has Jenny Greenteeth, a river hag said to drag children into weedy ponds. The story kept children away from deep water.
- In the sea: the kraken comes from Norwegian sailors' tales, and was described by the Danish-Norwegian bishop Erik Pontoppidan in his natural history of Norway in the 1750s.
- In the mountains: Scandinavian trolls live under the hills and, in many tales, turn to stone in sunlight.
- Eldritch: an old Scots word for weird or unearthly, made famous by H. P. Lovecraft's tales of things too strange to describe.
Naming your monster
- Make it sound like its home. Swamp monsters squelch and gurgle; sea monsters are long and salty; mountain monsters crunch.
- An epithet tells the story: "the Lantern-Lurer" says how it hunts before anyone meets it.
- For children, choose the funny style or Friendly monster. A monster who steals socks is scary enough at bedtime.
For more creatures, try the Dragon, Goblin and Werewolf name generators.