How to name your world in 11 steps (no conlang required)

Worldbuilding
Written By TJ Trewin
How to name your world (11 steps):

When it comes to worldbuilding, naming things is difficult, especially when it comes to the most important name of all: the name of your world.

Whether you're naming the world of your game, the setting of your novel, the realm of your TTRPG campaign, or just your hobbyist project that you build for fun - it feels like a daunting task to get it right and make a name that fits the vibe of your world.

If you’re sick of generic-sounding, cliché names and want to make something memorable with a bit more oomph to it, the TL;DR trick is to rule out all the trash ideas first. 💩

Quick note for clarity:
I’m using: world, setting, and project interchangeably because the scale of your “world” might be a region, a city, a planet, a whole universe, or something else entirely!

Here are the methods I've learnt that work consistently and led me to create my award-winning worlds: Melior, and Journals of Yesteryear. Oh and don’t worry - it doesn’t include baby name ideas, and you won’t need to invent a conlang either.

Let’s explore these step-by-step so I can explain how it works and show you some examples.

Step 1 - Write a list of your world's core concepts

Write down a list of key concepts that relate to your setting such as genre, mood, tone, and recurring themes. This will be the starting point to explore words and sounds that you’ll use in the following steps as ingredients to inform the name of your world.

Leave out anything that isn’t relevant to your world (e.g. don’t write down “space cannons” if your world is set in the Middle Ages). Include broad topics and tiny details, as you never know what might spark the best ideas!

Step 2 - Write words and sounds related to your world's inspirations

Look at the influences and inspirations of your world and add to your list some words and letter sounds that are associated with these.

This can also include names of worlds in existing franchises - you’re not going to copy them directly but you can pick apart what aspects of the name you like (perhaps a group of letters that look cool, or some vowels that sound nice to the ear).

As you add things to your list, write down any name ideas that come to mind, even if they’re not going to be the final one. In the next steps you’ll deconstruct these into new variants!

Step 3 - Explore synonyms and related words

Explore synonyms and related words of things on your list and highlight any that stand out or feel interesting (based on their meaning, their sound, or the way the word looks).

If you’re stuck for ideas, I find that these free tools really useful:

Step 4 - Experiment with spelling variations

Pick a few words (or sounds) that you like and try different spellings by swapping consonants and vowels. Smush words together, explore multiple variations, and note down any you like the look of or sound of.

Oftentimes you’ll find world name ideas at this stage that end up being the one!

How I came up with the name for my dark fantasy world, Melior:

I had clear in my mind that it would be my long-term worldbuilding project where I improve and develop my skills over time.

I started by listing a bunch of words relating to both "improvement" and "dark fantasy" and started moving letters around or writing words backwards to get ideas, but that wasn't working so I started to look up synonyms instead.
That's where I was reminded of the word ameliorate - to make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better.

I played around with some variants of this word like: Meliora, Meiora, Melora, Amelor, but ultimately stuck with the middle part, Melior, to keep more of its meaning identifiable.

Remember: don’t delete or erase any name ideas from your process. Not only will it help spark ideas for you, by the end of this exercise you’ll have a bank of words that you can use as a starting point for future projects, or other locations in your world’s lore.

Step 5 - Write things backwards

What do some of your words look like backwards? For example, if your world has dark moods or genres and you wrote down the word RAVEN, how does NEVAR sound as a name?

If that’s a bit too obvious and you don’t want your fans / readers to make the obvious connection, from there you can explore variations on the word using the previous step to get results like:
Novar, Nevor, Nuvir, Nivar, Nevir, Novir, Novor, Novur (etc).

It’s not just the vowels you can change, try out different consonants and merge it with other things you’ve come up with!

Step 6 - Make anagrams

Anagrams are where you shuffle the letters of a word up to make a new one. It’s a fun little challenge and even if you can’t get a perfect fit with all the letters, you’ll get some great ideas along the way.

Fun fact when I do this step for my worlds, I always end up saving the extra ideas to use as names for: regions, seas/oceans, religious or mythical places and realms, or even character surnames.

Aside from doing it manually, there’s only one tool I’m going to recommend for this and it’s the best one I’ve used since the early internet as a young 90’s kid. 👴

Step 7 - Translate words into other languages (with caution)

This is an optional step and should be explored with caution because you need to be mindful and respectful of what connections you're making to real world cultures.

If it’s appropriate to do so, you might consider translating some of the words on your list into languages relating to the genre, tone, and theme of your world. Unless you have a good reason to, I’d advise that you use the translated words as a starting point to evolve further rather than using them as-is.

A couple of free tools you can use are: https://bulktranslator.com/ and https://www.deepl.com/en/translator.

You need to check with native speakers if your translated words have any other meanings because most online tools give direct translations without the extra nuance. You can ask around in communities on Reddit or language-learning forums, but I highly recommend hiring a sensitivity reader (especially if you’re naming a world for a commercial IP) to check for unintended associations.

Step 8 - Decide if your world needs a short name or a series title

Think about what you’re going to use your world for and the audience who’s going to read it. Does your setting need a short name (like Tamriel) or a series title (like The Elder Scrolls)?

This really depends on the scope of your project and it’s okay to change your mind later. You could also choose to use both!

Still not sure? Weigh up the pros & cons, or ignore this step and just let your ideas evolve!

Using a short name for your world

Benefits:

  • Memorable

  • Can be used to describe both a physical place or the setting as a whole

Drawbacks:

  • Harder to make a unique name

Using a series title for your world:

Benefits:

  • Easier to make it unique

  • It’s more futureproof if you want to develop your world into further content or expansions

Drawbacks:

  • It can sometimes be mistaken for a different medium (novel series, video game franchise, cinematic universe)

Step 9 - Experiment with acronyms

This method is particularly useful if you want to have a longer world name or series title rather than one word. Here’s how it works: start with a short word (3-4 letters long is ideal, but you can try longer ones after) and then try and make words fit those letters relating to what your world is about.

I used this method to come up with the name of my optimistic, bright fantasy world: Journals of Yesteryear. I started with the word JOY as an acronym, and made two lists: one of words that I associated with fantasy settings, and the other of words I associate with good feelings. It took a bit of work to find the right words starting with J and Y, and some variants used similar words like: jolly, journey, yesterday, yearning.

If you want an acronym, it doesn’t have to be a word. Look at titles in similar genres to your own and see if you like the way any of these are presented. How would your fanbase refer to your setting on reddit?

Examples (from different medias): TLoZ, ASoIaF, TES, D&D, AoE, SWTOR, GTA, MTG, WoT - EotW

Check that your acronym isn’t a word for something else:

Step 10 - Ask for feedback

Narrow down your list of ideas and ask for feedback on how it sounds and what it reminds people. Ask a few people to pronounce it because they might say it differently than you intended!

Here’s what I asked my friends (feel free to copy this and put your world name in):

Is anyone up for giving a quick bit of feedback? 👀

I’ve been workshopping a name for my [mood/tone] [genre] world about [topic/theme], and I’d love some opinions!
I’ve come up with the name: [name], does it fit the vibe of this kind of world? What does it remind you of?

Cheeky bonus question: how would you pronounce it?

Step 11 - Check if the world name is already being used

Check them in a search engine to see if they're already in use by someone else, or if your world name has a meaning in another language or is used as slang that you didn't know about!

Different search engines will show different result pages. When you type your world name, what do the suggested autocomplete terms say? It’s also worth checking images pages to see if anything questionable shows up related to your chosen world name:

Here are some places I like to check (in addition to search engines) to see if a world name is taken:

If your world name is prominently in use (especially by large companies, or if it’s registered ® or trademarked ™) then you’ll need to make some changes or explore another idea from your list.

If this is just for a personal project, hobby, or for your TTRPG group then you’re likely fine (this isn’t legal advice though)!

Best Practices

  • Say your world name ideas out loud. They might look cool on paper, but does it sound how you intended? (This is why it’s important to ask people to pronounce it when asking for feedback!)

  • When naming your world, the aim is to get all of the crappy ideas out of your system as fast as you can. Don’t delete or erase these because they might spark an idea further in your exploration! Once you’ve finished, save the list to use as a starting point for future projects or other location ideas.

  • Use the format that works best for you to get the ideas flowing. I like using either a notebook or a whiteboard, but you might prefer typing a document, writing digitally using a tablet, organising using a kanban board or spreadsheet, or even using a voice memo or speech-to-text tool.

  • Consider hiring a sensitivity reader if your setting is for a commercial product or IP and go through your entire list of name ideas with a specialist consultant (especially if your world relates to real world places or cultural influences).

  • On a related note, if you translated words from other languages, double check with a native speaker because online tools often use direct translations which don’t always have the same context or nuance. Asking in a country’s subreddit will give you quick answers. 😁

Final thoughts

Have fun with it! You don’t have to do it all in one sitting, in fact, letting the ideas stew for a few days means you come back to it with a fresh perspective.

I hope these tips help make it easier for you!

How did you come up with your world name?
I’d love to hear what you decided on! 😁

FAQ

  • Keep your list of notes for another day and take a pause from it. You can try exploring ideas starting from different aspects of your world, such as words relating to characters, geographical features, magic or technology, or species.

    If figuring out a name is still challenging, ask for help from friends, or other worldbuilders on Reddit and in Discord communities. You can also message me for help if you get stuck, too! 🥰

  • That sucks, I’ve been there! You’ve come up with the perfect name, you’re super excited, you type it in a search engine and BAM. Already in use by a well established domain.

    Don’t worry, you’ve got some options:

    • First off, you can go back to the drawing board and adjust your favourite name so that it’s distinctly different (not just a change in 1-2 letters).

    • Second option, you could contact the legal team (or help assistant) to explain your situation and ask for approval to use the name. If they grant it, make sure it’s in writing and signed.

    • Lastly, if the name isn’t registered, trademarked, or patented, you may still be able to use it if your intended use is in an entirely different industry and couldn’t be mistaken for the existing one.
      For example, when I came up with the name for my world Melior, a brand of wine showed up. This isn’t likely to be a problem. If, however, a popular franchise or author had named the world/realm in their setting the same - then I could face legal issues down the line. (This last option should not be treated as legal advice. Consult a legal expert if you’re not sure!)

  • If you like it, there’s nothing stopping you from using it! Fans will grow to love your setting for the richness of its lore and the immersiveness of it’s content, not just the name alone.

    But if it still doesn’t feel right for what you’re making, here’s how to put a twist on it:

    • Identify what part of your world name feels generic. Really dig into why that is.

    • Research world/setting/IP names in similar genres to yours and sort them into two lists: ones that sound generic, and ones that sound unique.

    • Compare these two lists and see if there are any patterns or common themes in each. Learn what makes the cliché ones feel so generic, and think about why the other ones stand out in comparison.

    • Explore new variations of your world name using what you’ve learnt from this, and get some fresh feedback afterwards!

  • Sure. It’s more likely that you’ll end up with an existing name though!

    So if you do, I recommend using the outcome as a starting point to speed run the steps above to make something truly be your creation (especially if you’re naming a world as part of a commercial IP)!

  • I had that happen to me and I felt so bad for not realising! 😭
    Context: I’d made a super fancy map of my world and I named one of the regions Porosa - which, to my native English brain, sounded kinda cool, right? It was only until I met my husband (from Argentina) who asked with genuine interest “Oh, is this place full of big holes?” … what?? “The word porosa in Spanish means porous.” … oh.
    Thankfully my blunder wasn’t a dirty slang word lmao

    So here’s what you can do if this happens to you:

    • If the other meaning doesn’t have negative or inappropriate context, you could just keep it and work it into the meaning and identity of your world. (In my example, I rolled with it and made the region full of caves dug out by a native species that lives there.)

    • Second option: use it as a starting point and go back to some of the previous steps to evolve it further (and then check it again with more feedback).

TJ Trewin

TJ Trewin is a trans pixel artist and award-winning worldbuilder. Having moved from Bristol to Buenos Aires, he has (mostly) overcome his fear of the outside world, but is still very much afraid of wasps, giant house spiders, and Whitney's Miltank.

He enjoys making silly noises while the kettle's on, and once thwarted a DDoS attack by ordering a pizza. TJ wonders why author bios are written in third person and can't help but read them with a Khajiit voice. This one thinks you do too now, yes?

https://tjtrewin.com/
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