Fantasy names occupy useful middle ground: they sound deliberate without belonging to anyone's living tradition, so almost nothing here can land badly. Many were coined by writers who knew exactly what they were doing with sound, which is why so many of them are unexpectedly easy to call across a garden.
A fair number are constructed from real roots — Tolkien's Sindarin borrows its logic from Welsh and Finnish — so the meanings listed below are genuine even when the language is invented. Where a name is a pure coinage, the entry says so.
What's in this theme
- Strong for reptiles and cats, which suit a name with some grandeur to it, and no recall to protect.
- The invented-language names tend to have clean vowel endings, which is exactly what you want for a dog.
- If two animals are arriving together, this theme pairs well — see naming two at once.
54 names, with what they mean
A cross-section of the 321 names tagged Fantasy & Magic. Every one of them, and 267 more, is filterable in the name quiz, where you can stack this theme with your animal, a personality and a syllable count.
AmarokFantasyInuit: "the giant lone wolf spirit"
ArmandFantasyGermanic: "soldier"; ancient Rice vampire
ArwenLOTR CharacterCoined by Tolkien; Sindarin: "noble maiden"
CaiusFantasyLatin: "to rejoice"; Volturi leader
DamonFantasyGreek: "loyal one"; Vampire Diaries brother
ElijahFantasyHebrew: "my God is the Lord"; noble Original
ElricFantasyOld English: "elf ruler"; the melancholic sorcerer
ElrondLOTR CharacterCoined by Tolkien; Sindarin: "star-dome"
ElviraFantasySpanish: "true, faithful"; mistress of the dark
FaelanFantasyIrish Gaelic: "little wolf"; forest elf
FeyFantasyOld French fae, "fairy"
FoamFantasyOld English fam, "sea froth"
FrodoOld English/GermanicOld English/Germanic: "wise by experience"
GimliOld NorseOld Norse: "the fiery one"; also a place in Norse myth
GinnyEnglishEnglish: short for Virginia or Ginevra, "maiden/pure"
GloinFantasyOld Norse: "glowing one"
GrimaOld EnglishOld English: "mask, spectre"
HanStar Wars CharacterChinese/Korean surname; also short for Johannes, "God is gracious"
HarryEnglishEnglish: medieval form of Henry, "home ruler"
HedwigGermanicGermanic: "battle/strife" + "fortune"
Ho-OhFantasyJapanese: "male and female phoenix"
HowlerFantasyEnglish: "one who howls"
JacobFantasyHebrew: "supplanter"; Twilight's wolf shifter
JangoStar Wars CharacterCoined; possibly from Django, Romani "I awake"
KanaanFantasySemitic: "lowland"; wolf-clan reference
KyloStar Wars CharacterCoined; possibly from Kyle "narrow strait" + "Solo"
LandoSpanish/ItalianSpanish/Italian: short for Orlando, "famous throughout the land"
LeiaHebrewHebrew: variant of Leah, "weary"; also Hawaiian "child of heaven"
LucyEnglishLatin: from Lucia, "light"
LukeGreek/LatinGreek/Latin: "from Lucania" or "light-bringing"
LunaLatinLatin: "moon"; Roman moon goddess
LupinFantasyLatin lupinus, "wolf-like"; a common werewolf name
MagusFantasyLatin: "wise one, wizard"
MeliaFantasyGreek: "honey, ash tree"; sea nymph
MinaFantasyGermanic: "love"; Stoker's Mina Harker
MollyHebrewHebrew: diminutive of Mary, "bitter/beloved"
NixieFantasyGermanic: "little water sprite"
ObiJapaneseIgbo: "heart"; also Japanese "sash"
OinFantasyOld Norse: "fearful, shy"
OriFantasyOld Norse: "wild, furious"
PercyFrench/NormanFrench/Norman: "from Perci-en-Auge" (Normandy)
PoeStar Wars CharacterEnglish/German surname; from a peacock or "dweller by the pool"
PyreFantasyGreek pyr, "fire"; a burning heap
RegiFantasyOld Norse: "counsel"; smith-dwarf
RonEnglishEnglish: short for Ronald, "ruler's counsel"
SusanHebrewHebrew: from Shoshannah, "lily"
SylphFantasyLatin sylvestris, "of the woods"; air spirit
UlricFantasyOld English: "wolf power"
VidiaFantasySanskrit: "knowledge"; the fast-flying fairy
VladFantasySlavic: "ruler"; the historical Vlad the Impaler
VukanFantasySlavic: "of the wolf"
WargFantasyOld English wearg, "outcast wolf"
WyrmFantasyOld English wyrm, "serpent, dragon"
YodaStar Wars CharacterCoined name; possibly inspired by Sanskrit yoddha "warrior"
Where to go next
Other themes with their own page: