Demons, like dragons, do not carry a first name and a surname. They have a single invented name from the lower planes, harsh or sibilant depending on their nature, usually paired with a dread title or a compound epithet. The aim is a name that sounds ancient and hostile, the sort of thing best not spoken aloud.
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Open the demon name generatorInvent the infernal name
A demon's given name is a single grand word built for menace. Hard, clotted consonants suit fiends of fire and chaos; sibilant, hissing sounds suit creatures of shadow; wet, festering syllables suit things of rot. The name should be a little unpronounceable, because that strangeness is part of the dread. This is invented sound, so lean into the uncomfortable.
The title hangs off it
What completes a demon's name is the epithet. The Defiler, the Accursed, the Unmaker, of the Brimstone Pit: a title tells you what the fiend is and what it does. As with dragons, it comes in a few forms. A dread title suits old, scheming devils. A compound name like Ashmaw or Bloodfang suits feral, beast-like fiends. A pit-name like of the Screaming Deep ties the demon to the place it crawled out of. Pick the form that matches the fiend you have in mind.
Five breeds, five flavours
Not all demons sound alike, and keeping them distinct stops a cast of fiends blurring together. Infernal demons burn with brimstone and fire; Abyssal ones are guttural and hungry; Umbral ones are sibilant and sunless; Plague ones are festering and wet; Blood ones are visceral and savage. Each shapes both the sound of the name and the kind of title it earns, so choosing a breed is the fastest way to a coherent name.
Temperament steers the epithet
How old and proud the demon is should guide the title. An elder fiend leans toward lofty, ancient titles; a tyrant toward names of dread and dominion; a savage or cursed thing toward brutal compound names like Bloodmaw. Deciding the temperament first tells you whether to reach for a grand title or a snarling compound.
Using a generator
Because demon names are invented rather than borrowed, the demon name generator builds them phonetically, one infernal name at a time, then adds a dread title or compound epithet, across Infernal, Abyssal, Umbral, Plague and Blood breeds, with save and refine. Generate a batch, speak them if you dare, and keep the one that raises the hair on your neck. For the broader principles, see the guide on how to name a fantasy character.
A few pitfalls
- The two-name trap. A demon with an ordinary first name and surname loses its menace. One grand name plus a title.
- Title overload. One dread epithet lands; a string of them tips into pantomime.
- Sameness. If every fiend is an Ash-something, vary the breed so they are not interchangeable.
The single-name-plus-epithet shape is shared with the great wyrms, so if your demons share a world with dragons, see how the same structure plays out in the dragon guide. For the aristocratic undead, who do take a given name and a surname, see the vampire guide.