Origins and Meaning
What Makes a Memorable Witch / Wizard Name?
The words we use for magic-users give clear first impressions of the magic they wield. “Witch” comes from Old English wicce: craft, cunning, something earned through practice rather than granted. “Warlock” originally meant oath-breaker, which hints at a darker past. “Wizard” derives from wys, meaning wise, while “mage” traces to Latin magus: learned, deliberate, and a little cold.
Where Witch Names Come From
Where a character’s magic comes from often shapes their name. A witch with inherited abilities sits in a different tradition from a warlock who bargained for his power:
The oldest names come from folklore and fear—cunning folk, wise women, the accused. Witch trial records, The Witcher, and Wicked all draw from this source, producing names that sound old and plain-spoken, closer to a real village record than to high fantasy.
Others come from classical myth and literature, like Circe, Merlin, and Morgan le Fay. Harry Potter and Dungeons & Dragons leaned on such archetypes, which is why so many fantasy magic-user names feel vaguely Latin or Arthurian.
Necromancy has its own distinct style. The Greek nekros and Latin mortis make names like Mortem or Nyx feel cold and severe, useful when you want a magic-user who unsettles people.
How Witch and Wizard Names Are Made
Alignment tends to shape sound. Light-aligned practitioners lean toward soft, natural names (Willow, Sage, Rowan), while darker ones favour harder consonants and archaic roots (Morrigan, Grima, Nox). Titles and epithets are common across both traditions, and surnames often signal a specialisation, coven, or place of practice.
The most distinctive names connect back to the source of power. A hedge witch might carry a name drawn from herbs or the turning of seasons. A warlock bound to a patron might echo that entity’s language or domain. A necromancer’s name should probably sound like something unearthed, Latin and Greek roots tied to death and shadow tend to do that work without trying too hard.