Viking Town Name Generator
Name a town, village or homestead with the same place-name endings that built English towns like Selby, Scunthorpe and Grimsby.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Works on mobile
- Sources listed
Your name appears here
Press the button and your first result shows up here.
Your settlement names will appear here.
Complete guide to Viking settlement names
How to use this generator
- Optionally enter a base word.
- Choose what kind of place it is: farm or settlement, landscape, or water feature.
- Set how many names you want.
- Press Name the Settlement.
How Viking place names actually worked
When Vikings settled in places like Northern England, they named their farms and villages using a base word (often the founder's own name, or a description of the land) plus an ending that told you what kind of place it was. Grimsby means "Grim's farm or settlement." Wetherby means "sheep farm." Scunthorpe traces back to a personal name plus -thorpe, "village."
The real endings
| Ending | Meaning and example | Type |
|---|---|---|
| -by | farm, town (e.g. Selby, Derby) | Farm and settlement |
| -thorpe | village, hamlet (e.g. Scunthorpe) | Farm and settlement |
| -toft | homestead (e.g. Langtoft) | Farm and settlement |
| -thwaite | a cleared patch of land (e.g. Yockenthwaite) | Landscape |
| -dale | valley | Landscape |
| -ness | a headland or cape | Landscape |
| -holm | small island | Landscape |
| -keld | spring | Water |
| -wick | bay | Water |
| -firth | fjord | Water |
| -kirk | church | Other |
Real examples this pattern actually produced
Selby, Grimsby, Derby, Hemsby, Wetherby (all -by), Scunthorpe and Scagglethorpe (-thorpe), Langtoft (-toft), and Yockenthwaite (-thwaite) are all real English towns that trace back to this exact naming pattern, centuries after the Vikings who founded them. For more on how Old Norse names carry meaning generally, see our real names and meanings reference.
Good uses for these names
Naming a home base, village, or kingdom in Norse-inspired fiction; a settlement in a tabletop or video game campaign map; worldbuilding for a Viking Age or Viking-inspired setting.
Worked example
Type Grim and keep the settlement endings, and you might get Grimby, with the note “-by: farm, town.” Compare Grimsby in England, which has the same Grim and the same -by (the Old Norse word for village), with an s between them. The generator does not add that linking letter, so its results read as new places in the old style, not as reconstructions of real ones.
Frequently asked questions
Are these real historical town names?
No. The endings (-by, -thorpe, -keld, and the rest) are real and historically attested, but the specific combinations this generator produces are new. If you want real examples, see Selby, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, and Wetherby above.
What does the base word field do?
Real Viking place names were often built from a personal name (Grimsby, from "Grim") or a description of the land (Wetherby, from "wether," a sheep). Type any word to build your settlement name from it, or leave it blank for a random one.
Can I use these for a map or campaign setting?
Yes, that's exactly what this generator is built for.
Related generators
Sources
Real Viking-founded English towns follow a real pattern: a base word (often a personal name or a description of the land) plus a place-type ending, like -by ("farm, town"), -thorpe ("village"), or -keld ("spring"). This generator builds new place names using those same real endings. The specific combinations here are new, not attested historical towns, but every ending and its meaning is real and checked against two independent sources. Checked on September 10, 2026.
Page last updated November 1, 2026.