Country Name Generator

Are you a writer creating a fictional country for your heroes to work within? Are you looking for a way to name that country that will be unique and good for memorizing? Then you might need to use a country name generator for your fictional writing. These can help you to speed up the naming process and come up with something unique for you.

In this article, we look at how you’re able to use the country name generator to support your fictional writing to build a believable world that your characters can live in.

Why Use a Country Name Generator?

There are numerous reasons why you should be using a country name generator instead of just using a typical list of names. For one, you might want to create a unique name that others wouldn’t have heard before.

Psychologically, when people name things, they tend to stick to the same names that they’ve always heard. This can be detrimental to your story if you’re basing it in a different era than the current one. For instance, the names of countries in the Roman period are going to be completely different from those in the Napoleonic period.

Therefore, a country name generator can help you generate a great name that is more effective for the period that you’re setting the story in.

Another reason is that you might want to spend less time naming your country and more time building the world and writing the story.

Tips for Naming a Country

While the name of a country might seem trivial, there are several reasons why you might want to have a good country name for your story. Even a couple of mentions of a country’s name could drop hints or throw off readers as to what is going on. It can also help you to set the fictional world into the right context across your world.

Therefore, you want to spend a significant amount of time building the world that you’re setting the characters in, and this will include the name. Here are some tips for you to name your country that is fit for your fictional world.

Tip One: Consider the Era

The first tip that is important to think about is the era that your story is set within. Are you building a story that is set in the far future or something that is in the ancient Greek period? This can have a massive impact on the success of your story and belief in it.

For example, if you’re going to base your name on the Roman period, there were a lot of different names used like Gaul. Even in the early 18th century, many areas of the world had different names like Prussia. Understanding the common language for the location and period can also be important.

The future can be more challenging as you’re not sure how the language or culture is going to change. But it can also be more rewarding as you can make your own rules up. But be sure that they make sense. A lot of words are shortened as we evolve, so it is something to consider.

Tip Two: Naming Conventions

Another factor for you to consider is the naming conventions for your region. There are lots of cultures around the world where the places are named for the person that founded them. For example, there are lots of cities that are named for Alexander the Great and towns named for King James of England. These are just two examples. Countries could have the same idea.

Other places are named after local landscapes and features. For instance, there are countries where they’re named for their weather or how cold they are (Iceland).

Some have their names based on religion or local beliefs. Or some name themselves based on the political systems that they would like to emulate. For example, there are countries that state they’re the Democratic Republic of XX.

You might also want to consider that you could name your country based on something that it doesn’t represent. Greenland, for example, was named as a marketing ploy to encourage settlers to move there, despite the cold and icy weather.

Tip Three: Storylines

Another important factor that might play a part in the naming of the country is the part of the country within the storyline. The name of the country can determine the culture of the characters that live within the world. For instance, there are lots of fictional names that have rather harsh sounds that are often portrayed as police states.

Using these conventions within your writing can set the expectations of your audience (More of that later). You might also want to have a name that is more relevant to what is going to happen within the story and the country’s fate. If it is going to be destroyed, perhaps a name that is related to fate or religion.

The storyline element could also be reversed. You could name the country in such a way that you are throwing the audience off and moving them to think that something else is going to happen.

Tip Four: Think About the Community

The culture of the leadership and the people can have a specific way that a country is named. This could be the official or the unofficial name. For example, you could have a very police state that would have a more harsh and short name. Or you might have a more religious state that uses a longer, more artistic name.

Consider how the country interacts with the environment that is around it. It is a country that is out to strip-mine an entire area, does it help its neighbors against threats or is it an isolated nation that doesn’t allow people to enter or exit?

While this might not seem important, the name can help put that image into the readers’ minds.

Tip Five: Links

You might also want to think about the links between the current country and where it might have come from. New Zealand, for example, was named after an Island from Europe. There are lots of examples of cities and areas within the USA where this has been done before, New York, for example, is named for York in the UK.

There are also other places in the world like New South Wales in Australia that are named for the South Wales area within the UK.

Places in South Africa can often have dutch sounding names as a reference to the Dutch settlers who made it their home in the 19th century.

Tip Six: Meet Expectations

Another factor is the expectations of your audience. Some of your audience is going to have things that they’re looking for in the story. If you’re setting your story in space, they might expect a more exotic-sounding name than one that is based in the modern period.

Another factor is if you’re setting your story within the Middle Earth environment with a recognizable species like Elf or Halflings. These have their own, already established naming conventions that you might need to learn about before you start to name your country.

How to Use the Country Name Generator

When it comes to using the country name generator, it is very simple to do. Here are the instructions that you will want to use for your fictional storytelling.

Step 1 – Create a List

The first thing that you will want to do is to write a list of the things that are more relevant to the country you’re creating the name for. Using the above tips, create a list of the history, plot points, characters, culture, and more. This list is going to be used in a later step.

You want to make sure that you have a large list of names. Not all of these will not be used in the country name generator, but it means that you don’t want to leave something out that could be important.

Step 2 – Reduce Down the List

Now you need to take the list from step one and start to reduce the list so you’ve got just the most important words that you’ve used. You want to be crossing words off the list that might offer too much of a clue as to what is happening, something that would be hard to write all the time or something that the audience might not like.

This can be the most challenging part of the process because you need to have between three and five good words that you need to have for the next step. If in doubt, you can speak to friends, family, fans and fellow authors for their opinion.

Step 3 – Add your Words to the Country Name Generator

Now add the words that you’ve come up with into the country name generator. Every time that you click on the ‘Generator’ button, a new list of names will appear. This can be for the same word or a different word. You can use the generator as much as you like.

Country Name Generator

You can try the country name generator below.

Step 4 – Reduce the List Further

Now you need to reduce the potential names list down a lot more. You should have hundreds of names from the generator. But you want to have just 10 names now which are the ones that you really like.

Step 5 – Check for Usability

Now you should check that you can use the name within your story. Some names sound really good but have been used within other fictional works. You don’t want to be using the same names as those because it can confuse audiences.

Remove any name that has already been used.

Step 6 – Check Domain Name Status

Finding a domain name for your new country might sound strange, but as an author, you should be looking at multiple ways to engage audiences to improve your revenues. One way is to have a fan page to sell merchandise and provide new news for your audience. Having that linked to a place within your writing is a good idea, many films and television programs do the same.

Step 7 – Choose your Name

Now you should name your country by choosing the name from the list of the potential names that have not been discarded.

Country Name Generator FAQs

Do you have questions about the country name generator? Here are some of those questions for you.

How Much is it to Use the Country Name Generator?

You do not need to make a payment for using the country name generator. Any name that is developed with the country name generator is also free. The only payment that might be required is if you choose to buy a domain name for the country name.

Can you Guarantee the Names are Available?

There is no way that the country name generator can not check if names are available. This is a process that you have to complete, as mentioned in the steps above.

Can Two Countries have the Same Name?

Technically, two countries from different literature can have the same name. But that doesn’t mean that this is the best option for your country. However, there are times when two countries do have similar names, like North Korea and South Korea.

Can you Copyright a Country Name?

It is possible. Numerous entities within fiction are trademarked. But it can be very expensive.

Final Word: Country Name Generator

The above steps are there to help you name a new country with the help of a country name generator. This process can help your writing when you’re creating a new fictional world for your new stories where your fictional characters can live and interact.