Good valley names say what's there or who lived there, with a real valley word on the end: Hazeldale, Rookscombe, Wolf Clough. Real valleys are named for a river, a bird, a tree or a long-dead farmer, which is why Ketteldale and Owlcombe sound lived in. This valley name generator builds fantasy, British, elven, dark and hidden valley names, with an optional line about what lies there.
Eight good valley names
All eight came from the generator, across its five styles:
- Hazeldale: a hazel tree and the northern word for valley.
- Cwm Aur, where red kites circle above the oaks: a Welsh valley name meaning "golden valley".
- Wolf Clough, where curlews call over the rough grazing: a steep northern valley with an animal in its name.
- Heatherfold, a long valley of sheep farms and drystone walls: a fantasy name that sounds like real hill country.
- The Vale of Naelindë, lit by lanterns hung in the willows: an elven vale with a picture in the description.
- Widow's Hollow: a dark valley with a story waiting to be told.
- Valley of Silent Bells, where every scarecrow faces the same way: dark, with one detail that's wrong.
- The Hollow Behind the Waterfall: a hidden valley whose name tells you how to find it.
Valley words and where they come from
Britain has a word for every kind of valley, and most of them came from the people who settled there:
- Dale, from Old Norse and Old English, all over the north: the Yorkshire Dales.
- Glen, from the Gaelic gleann, a narrow Highland valley: Glencoe.
- Strath, from the Gaelic srath, a wide, flat-bottomed valley.
- Combe, from Old English, a short valley in the south-west, and cwm, the Welsh word it's related to.
- Clough, a steep, narrow valley in the north of England.
The styles follow those words. British valleys use them straight; fantasy valleys use -fold and -reach; elven valleys are vales; dark valleys are gulches, gorges and hollows; and hidden valleys are named for what hides them. Choose With a description for a line about what lies there.
Putting valleys on your map
- Name the valley after its river, or the river after the valley. Real ones often share a name.
- Match the word to the region. A glen in the north and a combe in the south tell readers where they are.
- Give hidden valleys a way in. A pass that opens at midsummer is a quest in itself.
For what runs through it, try the River Name Generator; for what surrounds it, the Mountain Name Generator; and for who lives there, the Village Name Generator. An elven vale needs an elf city.
For more, see all the world-building name generators.