Witch Name Generator

Witch names and their meanings

Select a name to copy it. Every name below is free to use.

Boundary Stone

A single short name that sounds like a marker on a parish map.

• Teld'low ground' plus the blunt mark of a buried culvert
• VeldA low stone dividing the rush pasture from the sour bog.
• CrumpA blunt marker sunk beside the field where carts bog down.
• PiltA small boundary stone guarding the drain's narrow mouth.
• Jeld'mud' plus the old boundary mark cut beside a flooded field
• Nurd'sour earth' scratched onto a post above black water
• Yeld'dead grass' beside the marker where the old drain ends
• Drel'low ground' marked by a flat stone under the hedge
• Kurn'dark silt' and the post that warns of a hidden runnel

Bog Plant

A two-syllable name drawn from a marsh plant or kitchen herb, softened at the edges.

• Minta'mint' plus the sharp scent crushed beside a peat hearth
• Bessa'bog bean' plus pale blossoms pressed inside a ledger
• Linna'heather' plus a purple sprig pinned to a damp wall
• Dunla'dun' for dark ground, softened into a name by marsh folk.
• Merva'marsh' mingled with an old kitchen word for bitter greens.
• WickaAn invented name for the sour weed growing by witch doors.
• RullaA low herb with round leaves that cling to wet boots.

Name and Habit

A blunt given name followed by a plain epithet describing what she grows or keeps.

• Kett of the jars'kettle' plus the jars she keeps for beetle husks
• Dask of the onions'ditch' plus the onions she grows beneath the wash line
• Tock of the spoons'clockwork' plus the spoons she borrows and never returns
• Gant of the beans'peat bank' plus the beans climbing her broken fence
• Nett of the crows'nettle patch' plus the crows she feeds after dusk
• Keld of the jars'boundary stone' plus the jars she leaves out for rain
• Dreg of the roots'ditch silt' plus the roots drying in her window
• Bakt of the candles'bog road' plus the candles she trims with a fish knife
• Teld of the nettles'low ground' plus the nettles grown thick around her steps
• Gask of the bones'marsh edge' plus the bones she buries beneath the shed
• Kip of the jarsNeighbors named her for jars of beetles kept under the bed.
• Grit of the nettlesShe raises nettles along the path to keep children from wandering.
• Dab of the peatThe neighbors say she stacks peat in neat little walls.
• Pek of the onionsShe grows onions so sharp that even the dogs sneeze.
• Nub of the ragsShe keeps torn cloth tied over every crack in her roof.
• Tup of the snailsHer garden rows are known for fat snails and muddy shells.

Kitchen Tool

A name taken from a pot, a blade or a household implement, flat and unglamorous.

• Motta'mortar' plus the heavy bowl stained with dark seeds
• Kora'paring knife' plus the small blade kept beneath the flour bin
• Geda'griddle' plus the iron plate warmed over a low fire
• PestleA stone grinder kept beside her jars of dried roots.
• TrivetAn iron stand that keeps hot pots clear of damp boards.
• Kavda'crooked scoop' from the iron spoon left in a graveyard pot
• Tegra'lid pryer' from a kitchen hook blackened by candle smoke
• Brikka'bone masher' from the pestle kept beneath the floorboards
• Grodra'ash scraper' from a flat blade used after midnight fires
• Tavka'wick snuffer' from a brass cap with a thumb-shaped dent
• Dulga'root slicer' from a small knife stained with bog water
• Krotna'pot stirrer' from a wooden spoon that knocks thrice alone
• Vekka'hinge pin' from the iron peg found beside a sealed door
• Kadra'coal rake' from the forked tool used to tend funeral embers
• Tunka'jar opener' from a flat key bent against a witch’s cellar crock
• Gavda'dough cutter' from a crescent blade that leaves no crumbs behind

Bare Elder

The stripped-down name of a very old witch, with no epithet left.

• Daw'drain' plus the shallow hollow where elder rainwater gathers
• Gah'peat' plus the low bank worn smooth by many winters
• Maw'mud' plus the black pool hidden under a mat of reeds
• Naw'north marsh' plus the cold wind that rattles dead sedge
• Taw'stone' plus the flat gray face rubbed bare by rain
• Vah'willow roots' plus the dark gap where small things shelter
• Dra'ditch bank' plus the red clay exposed by a winter flood
• Gna'old peat' plus the smoky smell of a buried fire
• FohAn elder's bare name, worn smooth like a stone in floodwater.
• JowA low old name left after every neighbor's nickname fell away.
• YohThe name she kept when the roof beams turned black with age.
• ZohA spare name spoken at the door when the bog fog thickens.
• PohThe old witch answers to this single sound and nothing more.
• LohA quiet name, shortened by years of tending the same drain.

How witch names are made

Witch names in the bog country are short and blunt, usually one or two syllables, and they sound like something you would find on a field boundary or a stone marking a drain. The sound palette leans on closed vowels and stopped consonants: k, t, d, g, with an occasional soft m or n to round the end. Long flowing names are rare and considered affectations, the kind a witch takes up when she wants to be noticed by people from town. Most witches carry a single given name, often taken from a plant, a tool, a weather condition or a patch of ground near the first house they kept. A second element, when used, is an epithet rather than a surname: a small deed, a habit, or a thing she grows.

These are added by neighbors, never chosen. Names avoid anything that sounds like a title or a blessing, and they avoid the names of saints and local officials. Older witches tend to drop the epithet and go by the bare given name, since everyone already knows who is meant. Young witches are often named for what they break or borrow. Shapes include: one syllable, hard stop at the end; two syllables, soft first vowel and a clipped finish; a bare name followed by a plain object or plant.

The witch: bestiary entry

Questions about witch names