A good university name tells you how old it is before you read the prospectus: a saint's college with a Latin motto, a redbrick named after its city, a state university named after a river. This university name generator makes fictional ancient colleges, redbrick and modern British universities, American state universities and institutes of technology, fantasy collegiums and sci-fi orbital universities, each with a Latin or English motto if you want one.
Eight good university names
All eight came from the generator, across its five styles:
- St Ethelbert's College, motto “Scientia et labore” (by knowledge and work): an ancient college named after an Anglo-Saxon saint.
- Bosanquet and Danvers College, motto “Nunc aut numquam” (now or never): named after two benefactors, as some old colleges are.
- Grimchester School of Mines, motto “Built to last”: a Victorian technical college with a practical motto.
- Nedchester Lowry University, motto “For the good of the city”: a civic university named after its city and a founder.
- Glen Mesa College of Liberal Arts, motto “Nec aspera terrent” (hardships do not deter us): an American college with a classic Latin motto.
- The Lorehouse of Kyrandel: a fantasy university that sounds like a library.
- The Chantry of Learning at Ravara: a fantasy college with a religious past.
- Tavis Deep Space Institute, motto “From one world, many”: a sci-fi institute with a motto about colonising.
How universities are named
The word college comes from the Latin collegium, a group of colleagues, and the oldest universities still feel like communities with Latin names. Oxford's motto is Dominus illuminatio mea, "the Lord is my light", from the Psalms.
- Ancient colleges are named after saints, founders and benefactors, and almost always have a Latin motto.
- Redbrick universities are the civic universities founded in Victorian industrial cities. The name took hold after a 1943 book about them, and they're named after their cities. A School of Mines trained engineers for local industry.
- American universities include state universities, liberal arts colleges and institutes of technology, named after towns, rivers and landscapes: Sycamore Plains State College, Rock Bend Tech.
- Fantasy universities borrow old words for places of learning: collegium, scholarium, lorehouse, chantry.
- Sci-fi universities are orbital, colonial or polytechnic, with mottos about the stars.
Choose With a Latin motto for a crest with a translation, or With an English motto for a modern one. The Latin mottos are real phrases: Plus ultra (further beyond) was the motto of the Spanish king Charles V.
Using a university name
- For a campus novel, the college's age sets the mood: a saint's college means quads and gowns, a redbrick means a city and a students' union.
- For a character's backstory, a university name and motto say a lot about where they came from.
- For D&D, a fantasy university makes a good home for a wizard, a sage or a library heist.
- Avoid real names. Many towns have real universities, so search before you set a story in one.
For younger students, try the School Name Generator, and for spellcasters, the Magic School Name Generator. After graduation, there's always the Hospital Name Generator for the medics.
For more, see all the place name generators.