Empire name generator

Names for the power that fills half your map: galactic imperiums, sun-worshipping dynasties, merchant thalassocracies and the dark empire your heroes are meant to bring down.

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90+ empire name ideas

  • The Aurelian Empire
  • The Dominion of Kareth
  • The Valdric Imperium
  • The Sunward Throne
  • The Empire of Nine Rivers

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Empire names that sound like they conquered something

Real empires took their names from a small number of sources. Some are named for a founder or dynasty: the Ottoman Empire for Osman, the Achaemenid for Achaemenes. Some carry the name of a people, like the Mongol Empire, or of the city they grew from, like Rome. A few are named for an idea, as the Holy Roman Empire was. A fictional empire feels real when its name follows one of these routes instead of sounding like a random stack of syllables.

Describe the empire: who founded it, what it worships, how it holds its provinces together, whether your story sees it rising or rotting. The generator returns names with a line on where each comes from, so you can also pull out a dynasty name, a capital and the word its citizens use for themselves.

  • A name with a founder

    Suggestions come with an origin: a conquering house, a holy city, a tribal confederation. That gives you an adjective as well, the way Rome gives Roman and Byzantium gives Byzantine.

  • The right word for the state

    Not every empire calls itself one. Results use Imperium, Dominion, Hegemony, Khaganate, Caliphate, Sultanate, Dynasty, Ascendancy and Concord where they fit the culture you describe.

  • Fantasy, history or deep space

    Works for a D&D homebrew world, a Stellaris or Civilization playthrough, a tabletop wargame faction, an alternate-history novel or a space opera spanning a thousand worlds.

5 tips for naming an empire

  1. Decide what the name is made from

    Pick one source: a dynasty (Sassanid), a people (Aztec), a capital (Byzantine) or an ideal (Holy). Mixing all four gives you the Grand Holy Eternal Empire of Valdor, which tells the reader nothing.

  2. Make sure it forms an adjective

    You will write the adjective far more often than the full name: Roman roads, Ottoman cavalry, Imperial fleet. Say the adjective aloud before you commit. Tarsian works. Xqothlian does not.

  3. Give it two names

    Empires have a formal style and an everyday name. The Sublime Ottoman State was simply the Ottomans; the Empire of the Great Qing was the Qing. A long ceremonial title plus a short common name makes a setting feel lived in.

  4. Let enemies call it something else

    Byzantines called themselves Romans; the word Byzantine came later from outsiders. A rebel, a rival court and a conquered province can each have their own name for the same empire, and that is free worldbuilding.

  5. Match the sound to the culture

    Hard consonants and short vowels read as martial: Karthak, Drovnar. Long vowels and soft endings read as old and refined: Aurelian, Seluvia. Keep the empire's name in the same sound family as its cities and rulers.

Want names made for yours? Describe what you're naming and Nomi finds names that fit.

Frequently asked questions

Start with what the empire is named after: a founder, a people, a capital city or a belief. Build a short root word from it, test that it forms a clean adjective, then add the right word for the state, such as Empire, Imperium, Dominion or Khaganate. The Achaemenid Empire, the Mongol Empire and the Roman Empire each use exactly one of those sources.

A kingdom is one realm under one monarch, usually with a shared people or culture. An empire rules several peoples, kingdoms or territories under a central power, often gained by conquest. A king can be the vassal of an emperor, which is why an emperor was sometimes styled King of Kings.

Imperium, Dominion, Hegemony, Ascendancy, Sovereignty, Mandate, Throne, Dynasty, Concord and Commonwealth all work in fiction. Historical terms tied to real cultures include Caliphate, Sultanate, Khaganate, Khanate, Shogunate and Tsardom. Choose one that fits how the state is actually ruled.

Yes. Generated names are original and yours to use in a homebrew campaign, a published novel, a game or a map. If you plan to publish commercially, search the name first to make sure it does not match a well-known existing setting.

Keep them in the same sound family as the empire. If the empire is the Tarsian Ascendancy, a capital called Tarsis and a ruling House Tarsene tie together at a glance. Ask the generator for a capital and a dynasty in the same style and it will keep the phonetics consistent.

The Galactic Empire in Star Wars, the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40,000, the Tevinter Imperium in Dragon Age, the Cyrodiilic Empire in The Elder Scrolls and the Klingon Empire in Star Trek. Note how few of them use an invented word alone: most pair one distinctive name with a familiar term for the state.

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