Generate Random Pathfinder Names
Select a Golarion race or ethnicity from the navbar to generate random masculine or feminine names. Surnames are also available in limited cases. All the major races and human ethnicities from the Inner Sea World Guide and the Tians from the Dragon Empires Gazatteer are supported.
Most of Pathfinder's human ethnicies are modeled after a historical ethnicity or blend of ethnicities in Earth's history. There is not a perfect 1-to-1 mapping between them, but there are enough similarities to make it possible to randomly construct names using historical names as guides. That being said, just becuase a Golarion ethnicity may be based on a particular Earth culture, that doesn't necessarily mean that the names are, too.
Where are Half-elves?
OK, I support all the major races but Half-elves. I'll be honest here: I think Paizo goofed on Half-elf names. Half-elves are described as "lacking a culture of their own", and "adopting the societies in which they find themselves". If you think about this logicially, a race with no culture of its own is not going to have established names of its own, either. Their names will either be human, elven, or when they strike off on their own, tossed aside in favor of one they choose for themselves. A half-elf name generator does not make a lot of sense in this context. If you need to name your half-elf, go with an elven name or an ethnic human name, and modify it if so inclined. I think that's a much better solution.
How the Name Generators Work
The name generators presented here are based on Markov chains, and construct names that tend to follow the same letter/syllable combinations and distributions as the source names from which they were seeded. Note that these algorithms are not perfect, and you might need to generate several names before settling on one that you like: it is the nature of the Markov chain to occasionally produce silly gibberish, names that do not "fit", or even "real" names. These accidents are part of the fun.
Feedback
Have some constructive criticism? Have these name generators helped your campaign? Did the right Half-orc name save your life, or the life of someone you love? Do you just want to talk? I would love to hear from you. Email me at moc.liamg@salahcem.nhoj (and if you just tried to cut & paste that, I'm sorry: I hate spam bots).
When choosing names that start with a letter or letters, keep the prefixes short. One or two letters work best!
Advanced Options
Adjusting these settings can help fine-tune your name list, but if you make them too aggressive you might not get any results at all.
More name generators
Can't get enough names? Check out Emily's Fantasy Name Generators, the most comprehensive collection of name generators on the planet. It covers everything from the real to the imaginary, with generators for people, places, creatures, things, and more...including her own take on the Pathfinder system that you should definitely explore. Her input helped make this site possible.