Steampunk Name Generator
Names for steampunk characters, airships and inventions.
Male Steampunk Names
Related Name Generators
This steampunk name generator makes three kinds of name for stories and games set in an age of brass and steam. Characters get a Victorian first name and a workshop surname, such as Thaddeus Gearwright or Lady Isadora Brasswell. Airships get names such as The Gilded Kestrel. Inventions are named the way a hopeful inventor would write them on a patent: Self-Winding Gravity Compass.
Three Kinds of Name
| Kind | How it is built | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Character | A Victorian first name and a trade surname, sometimes with a title | Horatio Brasswick, Professor Beatrix Brasswell |
| Airship | A describing word and a bird, a virtue with H.M.A., or a lady's name | The Vermilion Petrel, H.M.A. Indomitable, The Lady Lavinia |
| Invention | How it is powered, what it acts on, and what it is | Pneumatic Correspondence Engine, Galvanic Tea Dispenser |
How the Surnames Work
English surnames often end in -worth, -well, -ley, -ford, -croft, -ham, -wick, -shaw or -ton, which were once the names of places, and in -wright or -smith, which were trades. The generator keeps those endings and changes the first half to a word from the workshop: Cog, Brass, Gear, Copper, Rivet, Soot, Kettle. The result reads as a family name that has been in the engine trade for generations. Coppersmith is a real surname. Gearwright is not, but it could be.
Titles and What They Suggest
- Professor and Doctor for the inventor, with or without a university behind the title.
- Captain for anyone who commands an airship, a submersible or a train.
- Sir, Lady and Dame for the patron who pays for the workshop and wants results.
- Inspector and Colonel for the people sent to find out what the inventor has done.
The word steampunk was coined by the novelist K. W. Jeter in 1987, as a joke on cyberpunk, for stories that put advanced machines in a Victorian setting. For the genre it was named after, see the Cyberpunk Name Generator. Clockwork servants can be named with the Robot Name Generator, sea-going vessels with the Ship Name Generator, and the inventors' club with the Guild Name Generator.
How to Use the Steampunk Name Generator
- Choose characters, airships or inventions: Each gives a different kind of name.
- Choose a gender: This applies to characters only.
- Generate and copy: Each press gives six new names.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a steampunk name?
A name that sounds as if it belongs to the nineteenth century and to a workshop. The first name is one the Victorians used, such as Thaddeus or Ottoline. The surname is built from a word of the trade, such as Brass, Gear or Rivet, and an ordinary English surname ending.
What are good female steampunk names?
Beatrix Coppersmith, Rosalind Tinkerley, Dorothea Sootby and Professor Wilhelmina Tinkerwick are typical of this generator. Choose female for six more.
How do I name an airship?
Three ways work. A describing word and a bird or a weather word: The Gilded Kestrel. A virtue with a naval prefix: H.M.A. Vigilant. Or a lady's name, as merchant ships often had: The Lady Ottoline.
What does H.M.A. stand for?
His or Her Majesty's Airship. British military airships carried the prefix in the early twentieth century, in the way warships carry H.M.S.
Are the invention names meant to be funny?
Some are. Victorian patents had long, solemn names for small things, and steampunk enjoys the joke. A Galvanic Tea Dispenser is in the right spirit.
Can I use the names in a novel or a game?
Yes. There is no fee and no credit is needed.