You’re staring at a blank character sheet or a blinking cursor on page one of your novel, and the pressure is starting to set in. Choosing good names for a wizard feels like a high-stakes gamble because, honestly, a name carries the entire weight of a character’s perceived power. If you name him "Bob," he better be the funniest guy in the room or a subversion of every trope in the book. If you name him "Althalazar the World-Ender," you’re leaning into a tradition that stretches back to the roots of mythology, but you also risk being a bit eye-rolling.
Names matter.
Think about how names sound in your mouth. Some words feel heavy, like "Morgoth," while others feel sharp and quick, like "Kvothe." Language is basically just a series of vibrations, and when you're dealing with magic, those vibrations need to feel intentional. If you get it wrong, the reader or player never fully buys into the fantasy.
Why Most People Pick Terrible Wizard Names
The biggest mistake? Over-complication. People think they need ten apostrophes and five silent vowels to make someone sound "magical." It’s a mess.
Ursula K. Le Guin, the legendary author of A Wizard of Earthsea, understood this better than anyone. In her world, a wizard’s "True Name" was the source of their power. Her protagonist’s common name was Sparrowhawk, but his true name was Ged. Simple. Short. Punchy. It feels ancient because it doesn't try too hard. When you’re looking for good names for a wizard, you’ve gotta decide if you want that "True Name" gravitas or something more descriptive.
Often, we lean too hard on Latin roots. Sure, Ignis means fire, but naming your fire mage Ignis is kinda like naming a dog "Dog." It’s literal. It lacks soul. Instead, look at Old English, Old Norse, or even Welsh. These languages provided the foundation for Tolkien’s Middle-earth for a reason. They feel grounded in the earth.
Names like Gandalf weren't just pulled out of thin air. Tolkien found "Gandalf" in the Völuspá, an Old Norse poem. It literally translates to "Staff-elf." It’s descriptive, but because it’s in an archaic tongue, it feels mysterious to a modern ear. That's the secret sauce. You take something mundane—a guy with a stick—and you translate it through a historical lens.
The Phonaesthetics of Magic
Phonaesthetics is just a fancy way of saying "how words sound." Linguists like David Crystal have talked about how certain sounds evoke specific feelings.
Soft consonants like L, M, and N (think Galadriel or Merlin) feel flowing, ethereal, and ancient. These are great for "good" wizards or those who study celestial or healing magic. On the flip side, hard plosives like K, T, and P, or guttural sounds like G and Kh, feel aggressive and earthy. Think of Saruman or Voldemort. The "V" and "D" sounds create a sense of friction.
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If you're building a character, say it out loud. Does the name "Zarathor" sound like someone who heals orphans? Probably not. It sounds like someone who summons demons in a basement.
Historical and Mythological Goldmines
If you’re stuck, stop looking at fantasy name generators. They’re mostly repetitive. Instead, look at real history. The world is full of people who actually believed they were magicians, and their names are fascinating.
- John Dee: Queen Elizabeth I’s advisor. He was a mathematician, astronomer, and occultist. It’s a short, sharp name that feels academic.
- Nicolas Flamel: Yes, he was a real person, not just a character in Harry Potter. He was a 14th-century French scribe who gained a posthumous reputation as an alchemist.
- Abe no Seimei: A legendary Japanese cosmologist (onmyōji) from the Heian period.
- Cassandra: From Greek myth. A name associated with prophecy and the tragedy of not being believed.
These names work because they have "weight." They aren't just collections of random syllables. They carry the dust of history on them.
Sometimes, the best good names for a wizard come from nature, but not in the "Leaf-Whisperer" kind of way. Think about minerals, weather patterns, or obscure anatomy. Names like Obsidian, Corbel, Sirocco, or Vane. These words have a texture to them. A wizard named Bramble feels very different from a wizard named Aether. One lives in a hedge; the other lives in a tower.
Breaking the Rules with "The" Titles
Sometimes the name isn't the point. The title is.
Look at The Nameless One from Planescape: Torment. Or simply The Pale Lady. Adding a "The" before a descriptor can make a character feel legendary before they even speak. It suggests that their original name has been forgotten or is too dangerous to utter.
How to Name Based on the Type of Magic
You wouldn't name a necromancer "Sunny." Unless you're going for irony, which is a choice, but a risky one.
For Necromancy or Dark Arts, you want heavy, dragging sounds. Think of names that use "O" and "U" sounds. Morgar, Thul, Golgoth. These feel like heavy stones or deep graves.
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For Elemental Magic, use the phonetics of the element. Air names should be breathy with H, W, and S sounds (Hesper, Winn, Serein). Fire names should be sharp and crackling (Pyke, Ignaz, Flint). Water names should be fluid (Maris, Caspian, Rill).
Diviners and Seers need names that feel "light." High-frequency vowels like "I" and "E" work well. Sibyl is a classic for a reason. Iris, Veda, Linus.
Avoid the "Glottal Stop" Trap
We've all seen them: the K'zreth, the D'tan, the M'morah.
In the 90s, everyone thought apostrophes made things look alien or magical. Now? It just looks like a typo. Unless you have a specific linguistic reason for a glottal stop—meaning you've actually mapped out how the language works—just skip the punctuation. It makes the name harder to read and even harder to remember.
The "Coffee Shop Test"
Here is a practical trick. If you think you've found a good name for a wizard, imagine someone at a busy coffee shop shouting it out because your latte is ready.
"I have an oat milk latte for... Xylantharothep?"
If you feel embarrassed just imagining it, the name is probably too much. Good names should be evocative but not impossible. You want your audience to be able to pronounce it in their heads without stumbling. If they have to stop and sound it out every time they see it on the page, you've broken the "flow" of the story.
Names like Raistlin Majere or Elminster are iconic because they are unique but phonetically straightforward. They follow the rules of English (or common) pronunciation while still feeling "otherly."
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Nuance in Cultural Context
Consider where your wizard grew up. A wizard from a seafaring culture shouldn't have the same name structure as one from a desert empire.
In a desert-themed setting, you might use more "kh" or "sh" sounds, drawing inspiration from Semitic or Middle Eastern linguistic patterns (without being reductive). In a cold, northern setting, you might lean into the harsh, clipped consonants of Germanic or Scandinavian languages. Consistency within a culture makes the magic feel like a part of the world rather than an add-on.
Names That Are Secretly Just Words
A lot of the "best" fantasy names are just archaic words we don't use much anymore.
- Fletcher: An arrow-maker.
- Cinder: A burnt fragment.
- Malady: Sickness.
- Prospero: Shakespeare used this for his wizard in The Tempest. It literally means "prosperous" or "fortunate" in Italian.
You can find incredible inspiration in old dictionaries or medical texts. "Calamity" is a great name for a chaotic sorcerer. "Blight" works for a druid gone wrong.
Finalizing Your Choice
Finding good names for a wizard is a process of elimination. You start with ten, realize eight of them sound like medicine brands or car models, and whittle it down to the two that actually stick.
Check for "unintentional puns." You don't want to name your grand magus something that sounds like "A Bowl of Soup" if you say it too fast. It happens more often than you'd think. Read the name aloud in a sentence. "By the staff of Glist, I command you!"
Does it sound cool? Or does it sound like a sneeze?
Actionable Steps for Naming Your Wizard
If you are still staring at that blank page, do these three things right now:
- Pick a "Texture": Decide if the wizard is "Hard" (aggressive, rocky, sharp) or "Soft" (ethereal, flowing, wise). Use plosives for hard and sibilants/liquids for soft.
- Steal from History, Not Fiction: Don't look at Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Look at a list of 12th-century French bishops or 5th-century Roman governors. Change two letters.
- Use a Descriptor as a Placeholder: If the name won't come, call them "The Gray" or "The Weaver" for now. Often, the right name will reveal itself once you see how the character behaves in the story.
The name isn't just a label; it's the first spell you cast on your audience. Make sure it's a good one.