Troll Name Generator
The Troll Name Generator creates names for trolls — the ancient, powerful beings of Scandinavian and Norse folklore. The names draw from phonological traditions spanning African-influenced and Scandinavian-influenced naming, producing names that feel both guttural and mysterious, fitting for creatures associated with mountains, forests, rivers, and the deep wilderness.
Male troll names carry a rough, gravelly quality — hard consonants and blunt endings that evoke strength and ancient age. Female troll names have a stranger, more otherworldly character, reflecting the huldra and troll-woman traditions of Norse folk belief where female trolls are often portrayed as seductive, dangerous, and fundamentally alien.
Perfect for Norse mythology-inspired fiction, Scandinavian folklore retellings, fantasy tabletop RPGs including D&D and Pathfinder, and any creative project featuring trolls in their classical tradition as ancient, powerful beings rather than simple brutes.
Trolls in authentic Scandinavian folklore are far more complex than the simple bridge-dwelling brutes of later popular imagination. In Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish tradition, trolls are ancient, powerful beings connected to the wild landscape — mountains, deep forests, rivers, and the spaces between human settlements. They represent the untamed, pre-human world that civilization pushed back but never fully eliminated.
Traditional trolls come in many forms: the large jotnar-like mountain trolls (fjordtroll) of Norwegian legend; the smaller but cunning forest trolls; the nocturnal cave-dwelling trolls who turn to stone in sunlight (an ancient belief still referenced in Tolkien's The Hobbit); and the human-like huldra, female forest spirits with hidden troll nature revealed only by a tail they must hide from humans they wish to seduce.
In Norse mythology proper, the relationship between gods and giants (jotnar) overlaps significantly with troll mythology — many beings described as trolls in folk tradition are recognizable relatives of the giants who conflict with Odin and Thor. Trolls in this tradition are not evil per se but are forces of chaos and wildness that the ordered world must contend with.
Enormous, ancient beings who have become half-stone over centuries, as much a part of the mountain as the rock itself. In folklore, old mountains are sometimes explained as petrified trolls who were caught by sunrise. Names should feel ancient and massive.
Smaller but craftier than their mountain cousins, forest trolls are associated with misdirection, illusion, and leading travelers astray. In some traditions they are almost indistinguishable from wild humans. Names can be rougher and more varied.
D&D and Pathfinder trolls are large, regenerating humanoids with stone-like green skin and immense physical power — terrifying combatants that only fire and acid can permanently destroy. These trolls are more beast-like but benefit from proper names when they appear as recurring characters.
Trolls have been a fixture of fantasy fiction since Tolkien gave us the petrified trolls of The Hobbit (their names — Bert, Tom, and William — were deliberately mundane and comic, contrasting with their dangerous nature). Later fantasy traditions restored trolls to their more dangerous folkloric roots, with Terry Pratchett's Discworld trolls being made of silicon and operating as stone-based lifeforms.
Video games have been particularly influential in shaping modern troll mythology: the enormous cave trolls of World of Warcraft, the regenerating horrors of D&D video game adaptations, and the challenging troll enemies of the Dark Souls series all draw from different aspects of folkloric tradition while adding their own game-mechanical interpretations.
In Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, trolls appear as antagonists with names drawn from Norse tradition. Giving troll characters proper names — rather than just calling them "the troll" — instantly elevates them from generic monsters to characters with personality and history.
Troll names work best when they convey age and a certain alienness from human naming traditions. Unlike human names that carry clear cultural affiliations, troll names should feel like they belong to a different naming tradition entirely — one that developed without human influence over centuries of isolation in mountains and deep forests.
For named troll NPCs in tabletop RPGs, a memorable name makes the creature more of a character and less of a combat encounter. A troll who has been a recurring threat for three sessions deserves a name that players will remember — something distinct enough to stick in memory without being so exotic it's unpronounceable at the table.
Copy and paste the below code in your site and you will have a fully functional Troll Name Generator in an instant.