Giant Names: Original Fantasy Giant Names for Stories and Games

Short answer

• For a quick pick, choose by temperament first. Mountain giants suit heavy rock compounds such as Bouldergash, Stonejaw and Cragmore. Storm giants suit wind and thunder names such as Galehammer, Tempestia and Zephrak. Frost giants suit sharp, cold sounding inventions such as Hrimvar, Isvarra and Nivrak. Gentle giants suit softer farming compounds such as Barleybrook, Willowmere and Brambleheart. Fearsome giants suit blunt inventions such as Gorvash, Bonegrind and Skullrend. A good giant name has strong, clear consonants, a rhythm you can say without stumbling, and a short form you like, because other players and readers will shorten it whether you plan for that or not. If you are naming a giant for the game Mabinogi, favor the sturdy, grounded names from the mountain and gentle lists, because giants there are a playable people rather than monsters, and check the current in game naming rules first.

By Emma Hudson

A giant name has to do work before the character does anything. It should suggest size, weight and temperament in a few syllables, and it should still be easy to say out loud at a gaming table or to remember after one chapter of a novel. This guide gives original giant names for stories and games, grouped by the kind of giant you actually have in mind: mountain, storm, frost, gentle and fearsome. It also explains how giant names are built, so you can adapt a listed name or construct your own, and it sets out the real mythic background behind giants in Norse, Greek, Welsh and British tradition, clearly separated from the invented names. Mabinogi giant name ideas are covered as one use case among others. This is a naming guide for fiction and games, not a guide to that game and not a list of historical giant names.

Every name in the lists below is an invention for this article unless a section explicitly says otherwise. Traditional names from mythology, such as Ymir, Porphyrion and Gogmagog, appear only in the background sections and are never mixed into the invented lists.

What Makes a Giant Name Work

Size alone is the weakest thing a name can signal. Forgettable giant names are usually just a word for big attached to a word for scary. Names that stick signal something specific: where the giant lives, what the giant does, or what the giant is like to talk to. A shepherd giant and a siege giant can both be twenty feet tall. Their names should not sound interchangeable.

Sound carries much of that meaning. Hard consonants such as k, g, t and b, and clusters such as gr and br, read as heavy and grounded in English. Long vowels read as older or grander. Soft consonants such as l, m and w, with plant and water words, read as gentle. These are reader expectations, not rules, and breaking them often gives the most memorable name: a terrifying giant with a soft name, or a kind one with a fearsome name.

Sayability is a practical test. Say the name out loud three times, once as if calling across a field. If you stumble, simplify the spelling, because a name that collapses in speech will be replaced by a nickname you did not choose. Decide the short form yourself: Cragmore becomes Crag, Tempestia becomes Tess, Brambleheart becomes Bram.

Finally, search the exact spelling once. Finding a clash with a well known character early is far easier than renaming in chapter twenty.

How Giant Names Are Built

Most invented giant names here use one of five constructions. Knowing them lets you repair a nearly right name instead of discarding it.

1. The landscape compound

Two concrete words joined: a landscape or material word plus a body, tool or action word. Bouldergash, Galehammer, Willowmere and Bonegrind all work this way. The first half sets place or element, the second sets character, so Stonejaw the stubborn negotiator and Stonefist the brawler can plausibly be brothers.

2. The single heavy word

A short invented word with no obvious English parts, such as Mullock, Gorvash or Nivrak. These read as names from the giant’s own language and suit settings where giants are a distinct people. Pair one with a title on first use, such as Gorvash the Tollkeeper, so readers get something to picture.

3. The epithet or byname

A plain given name plus a descriptive byname: Haldrok the Slow, Ogvar Nine Chains. Bynames distinguished people who shared a given name in many real traditions, and suit giants because a byname can record a deed, job or trait, and can change over a long life.

4. The patronymic style

A name built from a parent’s name. In historical Norse custom a son took a name formed with a son ending and a daughter with a daughter ending, stating whose child someone was, not a fixed family surname. Borrow that logic: Orunna’s son might be Kelldun Orunnason, her daughter Veska Orunnadottir. Use the pattern consistently or not at all.

5. The soft farming name

A plant, crop, water or craft word used plainly: Barleybrook, Fernwick, Tillyard, Goodhild. Gentle giant names work best when they sound like names a human village would use, because this giant lives alongside people. Size then does the contrasting work alone.

Giant Names by Type

The lists are grouped by temperament and homeland. Each name is tagged masculine leaning, feminine leaning or neutral, as a guide to how it is likely to be read in English. These are presentation notes, not rules: any name here can belong to any giant if your setting says so. All names in this section are invented for this article.

Mountain and stone giant names

Mountain giants are builders, miners and border wardens. Their names favor rock words and endings that land heavily.

• Bouldergash (neutral): a compound suggesting a giant named for a split boulder. Short form: Boulder.
• Thrumma (feminine leaning): a single heavy word with a low, humming first syllable. For a matriarch or bell keeper. Short form: Thrum.
• Gravelord (masculine leaning): a title like compound, best for a giant who rules or guards something. Short form: Grave.
• Stonejaw (neutral): a byname style compound for a stubborn, taciturn giant. Short form: Stone.
• Karrgath (masculine leaning): a bare invented word with hard k, g and th sounds. Short form: Karr.
• Mullock (masculine leaning): a blunt two syllable invention, a working giant’s name. Short form: Mull.
• Graniteer (neutral): an occupation shaped compound, as if the trade were granite itself. For a mason or quarry worker. Short form: Gran.
• Thudrun (feminine leaning): a heavy impact sound with an old sounding ending. Short form: Thud or Runa.
• Cragmore (masculine leaning): crag plus a greatness shape, for a high mountain clan leader. Short form: Crag.
• Bouldenna (feminine leaning): a softened boulder compound, formal rather than brutal. Short form: Denna.
• Haldrok (masculine leaning): an invention built on hold and rock sounds, for a gatekeeper or oath keeper. Short form: Hal.
• Veska (feminine leaning): a short, sharp invention for a mountain scout or messenger. Short form: Ves.
• Bramhold (neutral): hold softened by bramble sounds, for a giant who defends a pass or household. Short form: Bram.
• Orunna (feminine leaning): an open vowel invention, older and more ceremonial. For a clan matriarch. Short form: Orra.

Storm and sky giant names

Storm giants are travelers, sailors and heralds. Their names favor wind and thunder words and endings that rise.

• Thundermaul (masculine leaning): weather paired with a heavy weapon, for a warrior giant. Short form: Maul.
• Skydrumm (neutral): a drumbeat shaped invention for a herald or storm priest. Expect it written Skydrum. Short form: Drum.
• Galehammer (neutral): a faster compound than the mountain names, because gale moves. For a smith or ship’s champion. Short form: Gale.
• Stormbrak (masculine leaning): an abrupt invention with a hard final stop, for a giant who arrives suddenly. Short form: Brak.
• Cloudrender (neutral): a grand compound for a giant of exceptional height or pride. Short form: Ren.
• Tempestia (feminine leaning): a ceremonial storm name for a queen, oracle or admiral. Short form: Tess or Tempest.
• Valtorin (masculine leaning): a noble shaped three syllable invention, for a sky courtier. Short form: Val.
• Zephrak (neutral): a wind rooted invention ending in a hard k, for a fast, unsettling giant. Short form: Zeph.
• Ozrik (masculine leaning): a compact, old sounding storm clan invention. Short form: Oz.
• Hallvara (feminine leaning): a carrying name for a caller or singer whose voice crosses valleys. Short form: Halla.
• Brontessa (feminine leaning): an invention echoing bronte, Greek for thunder, not an ancient Greek name. Short form: Tessa.
• Kelvarn (neutral): a cool, high sounding invention for a giant of the upper passes. Short form: Kel.

Frost giant names

Frost names feel cold through sharp consonants and clipped syllables, without adding frost to everything. All are invented, although Hrimvar borrows Old Norse hrim, rime or frost, as in hrimthursar, frost giants.

• Hrimvar (masculine leaning): a frost rooted invention for a northern border warden. Short form: Hrim.
• Isvarra (feminine leaning): an ice shaped invention with a rolling middle, for an elegant frost leader. Short form: Isva.
• Nivrak (neutral): a short, clipped snow syllable invention, for a hunter or tracker. Short form: Niv.
• Koldessa (feminine leaning): a cold stem with a formal ending, for a winter court giant. Short form: Dessa.
• Skarinn (masculine leaning): a sharp, scar like invention for a duelist. Short form: Skar.
• Thjelmar (masculine leaning): a frozen ground shaped invention. Expect it to shorten quickly. Short form: Mar.
• Glaessa (feminine leaning): a smooth, glassy ice invention for a quiet, watchful giant. Short form: Glae.
• Brumhold (neutral): a heavy winter mist compound shape, for an elder. Short form: Brum.
• Snarra (feminine leaning): a brisk wind sound softened by its ending, for a young, impatient giant. Short form: Snar.
• Ormfrost (neutral): serpent plus frost, for a giant of frozen rivers that wind and trap the unwary. Short form: Orm.

Gentle and hill giant names

Gentle giants are farmers, shepherds and neighbors. Their names use plant, crop and water words. The contrast between an ordinary name and an enormous person is the effect to aim for.

• Barleybrook (neutral): crop plus water, for a farming giant by a stream. Short form: Barley.
• Meadowlark (neutral): meadow plus bird. Meadowlark is also the ordinary English name of a real songbird, part of its gentle effect. Short form: Lark.
• Humblefoot (masculine leaning): a byname for a giant careful around smaller people’s homes and crops. Short form: Hum.
• Orchardson (masculine leaning): a patronymic shaped orchard name, for a giant raised by orchard keepers. Short form: Sonny.
• Willowmere (feminine leaning): willow plus a lake word, for a giant of low, wet ground. Short form: Willow.
• Fernwick (neutral): fern plus a settlement ending, for a giant who belongs to one village or valley. Short form: Fern.
• Brambleheart (neutral): prickly outside, kind underneath. Short form: Bram.
• Tillyard (masculine leaning): a familiar name shape joined to an enclosure word, for a gardener or animal keeper. Short form: Till.
• Goodhild (feminine leaning): a virtue word plus a battle rooted ending, a deliberate mismatch for a peaceable giant from a warlike clan. Short form: Hild.
• Lowanna (feminine leaning): a gentle low meadow shaped invention, for a shepherd giant. Short form: Anna.
• Harrowmere (neutral): worked field plus lake, heavier than Willowmere, for an older farmer giant. Short form: Harrow.
• Perrinlow (masculine leaning): a neighborly invention for a giant known on first name terms at market. Short form: Perrin.

Fearsome giant names

Fearsome giants are raiders, tyrants and cautionary tales. Use these names sparingly: if every giant sounds dangerous, none does.

• Gorvash (masculine leaning): a bare, guttural invention with no soft parts, for an ogre like raider. Short form: Gor.
• Skullrend (neutral): a blunt threat compound, best as a name others gave the giant. Short form: Rend.
• Maelruna (feminine leaning): a maelstrom shaped invention, for a giant whose danger is clever as well as physical. Short form: Runa.
• Bonegrind (neutral): a grinding compound that belongs in a warning song. Short form: Grind.
• Varkessa (feminine leaning): a sharp, formal invention for a tyrant who keeps a court and collects tribute. Short form: Kessa.
• Dreadmere (neutral): fear plus lake, quieter and colder than its neighbors, for a giant who never shouts. Short form: Dread.
• Ogvar (masculine leaning): a short, old sounding invention for a giant from before the current kingdom. Short form: Og.
• Hexhild (feminine leaning): curse plus battle shape, for a giant linked to omens or forbidden bargains. Short form: Hex.
• Mordrunn (masculine leaning): a murder toned invention. Use only where readers should dislike the character on sight. Short form: Mord.
• Cagebreaker (neutral): a deed name, for a giant famous for freeing prisoners or escaping every prison built for him. Short form: Breaker.

Choosing a Name by Gender Presentation

Readers make fast assumptions from endings and sounds. In current English language fantasy, endings such as a, ia or essa are often read as feminine leaning, hard endings such as k, th or son as masculine leaning, and landscape compounds as neutral, because the words carry more weight than the ending. These are publishing conventions, not facts about any real language. Old Norse naming marked family relationship in the second name rather than relying on how a given name sounded.

Three approaches work. Follow the convention for instant clarity in a game. Ignore it for a whole culture and let titles and pronouns do the work; that consistency reads as worldbuilding. Or break it for one character only, when contrast is the point, such as Goodhild the peaceable giant from a warlike family. Randomness fails, because readers assume a pattern exists.

For a nonbinary or gender ambiguous giant, a landscape compound or byname is cleanest, since it describes the person rather than coding them: Bouldergash, Fernwick and Cagebreaker all do this.

For more guides in the same cluster, see our cambion names for half fiend characters, our minotaur names for labyrinth and clan naming, and our demon names for darker infernal styles. The forest guardian patterns in our leshy names sit closest to the gentle giants above, while the swamp and clan patterns in our grung names suit small, organized peoples rather than solitary giants.

Naming by Language Style

You do not need a full invented language, only consistent sounds and habits readers recognize as one people’s. Pick three or four and keep them for every giant from that culture.

Old Norse style

Use compact given names, hard consonants and the patronymic logic above. Borrow shapes, not whole traditional names: endings such as var, inn and hild here are stylistic echoes, not claims of historical giant names. Limit difficult clusters. One Thjelmar slows readers enough; a clan full of them is hard work at the table. Traditional Norse background is covered below, separate from these inventions.

Welsh style

Welsh inspired fantasy naming usually draws on soft consonant clusters and place based bynames. Traditional Welsh giants include Ysbaddaden Bencawr in Culhwch and Olwen and Bendigeidfran, Bran the Blessed, in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi: traditional names, not templates to copy. For an invented Welsh styled giant, use a gentler rhythm and a place byname from your setting’s own landscape words. Do not present invented Welsh looking letters as a real Welsh word: give meanings only for parts you invented, or check a reliable dictionary.

Greek inspired style

Greek inspired names tend to use open syllables, endings such as ion, eos and ia, and roots from earth, thunder and stone words. Brontessa in the storm list uses that approach. Keep them distinct from the actual Gigantes, whose traditional names appear below. Inventing a Greek sounding name is fine; claiming it is an obscure ancient giant is not.

Plain English compound style

The most accessible style, and the best default for games. Stonejaw, Fernwick and Cagebreaker need no pronunciation guide. The trade off is tone: plain compounds can sound comic if the second word is too everyday, so test the name as a herald announcing it in a hall.

Mythic Background: Where Giant Names Come From

The invented names above owe their shapes to real traditions, which differ a great deal from each other.

Norse tradition: the jotnar

In Norse mythology the beings usually translated as giants are the jotnar, singular jotunn. They are often set against the gods, the Aesir and Vanir, and are associated with Jotunheimr, a land set apart from the worlds of humans and gods. Crucially, jotnar are not necessarily enormous: giant is an imperfect translation, and size does not define them. Some are described as beautiful, some intermarry with the gods, and several gods have jotunn spouses or ancestry. Skadi, daughter of the jotunn Thjazi, married the god Njordr. Gerd, a jotunn woman, married the god Freyr.

The first being in the Norse creation story is a jotunn, Ymir, who emerged where the ice of Niflheim met the heat of Muspelheim. Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve killed Ymir and made the world from his body: flesh became earth, blood sea, bones mountains and skull sky. Other named jotnar include Thrym, the giant king who stole Thor’s hammer Mjolnir and demanded the goddess Freyja in exchange, and Surtr, the fire giant of Muspelheim central to the destruction at Ragnarok. Frost giants are called hrimthursar in Old Norse. The naming lesson: a Norse styled giant can be a ruler, spouse or ancestor, not only an enemy.

Greek tradition: the Gigantes

The Greek Giants, the Gigantes, are a specific group, not a general word for large beings, and they are not the Titans, an earlier generation. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Gaia, the earth, bore the Gigantes from the blood that fell on her when Cronus castrated his father Uranus, the sky. Hesiod calls them great and describes them gleaming in armor with long spears. Early Greek art often shows them as human shaped warriors; only later depictions give some of them snake like legs.

Their famous story is the Gigantomachy, their war on the Olympian gods. Later accounts, including Apollodorus, say the gods could not finish the Giants alone and needed a mortal, Heracles, whose arrows were decisive. Named Gigantes include Porphyrion, among the greatest, killed by Zeus and Heracles together; Enceladus, said to be buried by Athena beneath Mount Etna; Polybotes, crushed by Poseidon with part of an island and associated with Nisyros; and Alcyoneus, said to be unkillable on his home ground, so Heracles dragged him away from it.

British and Welsh folklore

Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in the twelfth century in his Historia Regum Britanniae, described Britain as inhabited by giants before Brutus and his Trojans arrived. The best known is Gogmagog, twelve feet tall and strong enough to tear up an oak as if it were a hazel wand, kept alive to wrestle Corineus, a companion of Brutus, and thrown by him from a cliff into the sea. Treat Geoffrey as a medieval storyteller shaping a foundation legend, not a historian reporting facts.

Cornish tradition gives Cormoran, giant of St Michael’s Mount, credited locally with building the Mount and appearing as the first giant killed by the hero in Jack the Giant Killer. Blunderbore, another giant of that tale, is associated with Penwith and preying on travelers. Such giants are tied to specific places, which is why place based bynames work so well for British styled giants.

Welsh tradition has its own word for giants, cewri. In Culhwch and Olwen, preserved in the Mabinogion, the chief antagonist is Ysbaddaden Bencawr, often rendered Chief Giant, father of Olwen, who sets Culhwch seemingly impossible tasks and is killed once they are completed. In the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, Britain is ruled by Bendigeidfran, Bran the Blessed, a king so large no house could contain him.

Note the terms. The Mabinogion is the modern title for a collection of medieval Welsh prose tales. Mabinogi, the game below, is a modern online game named from that tradition. Related by inspiration, not the same work.

Using Giant Names in Mabinogi and Other Games

In Mabinogi, giants are a playable race introduced to the North American version with the Pioneers of Iria expansion in 2009, alongside elves. They come from Physis, a snowy region of Iria, and are built around strength and close combat. Your character is a citizen of a giant community, not a random monster, so a mountain, frost or gentle name will usually fit better than a fearsome name such as Bonegrind.

Check any online game name against the current rules and server availability first, because both change. Keep within the character limit, and test the name in the game’s font.

In tabletop games, tell the group the name and short form in session one. Game masters should pick a name signaling how to approach the encounter: Fernwick invites negotiation, Cagebreaker invites questions, Skullrend invites preparation for a fight.

For fiction, keep a naming ledger of full name, short form, byname and meaning. It prevents a giant acquiring three spellings and two fathers by chapter fifteen.

Build Your Own Giant Name

1. Fix the temperament: mountain, storm, frost, gentle or fearsome. Write down two landscape words and two character words for it.
2. Choose a construction: landscape compound, single heavy word, byname, patronymic style or soft farming name.
3. Combine and say it aloud. If you cannot say it three times without stumbling, remove a syllable.
4. Decide the short form and test it too, since it is the name you will hear most.
5. Add a byname only if it earns its place. One clear byname beats a string of titles.
6. Search the exact spelling once for collisions with well known characters, products or real people.
7. Record the name and its intended meaning in your naming ledger, so both stay consistent.

Worked example: a gentle frost giant who ferries travelers across a frozen lake. A compound gives Iceferry or Shorewarden. A softer route gives Glaessa the Ferrykeeper, from the frost list: the byname explains, so the given name can stay quiet.

Common Naming Mistakes

Overloading a name with size words is the most common mistake: big, huge and mighty all say the same thing, worse when stacked. Next is inconsistent naming inside one culture, where Karrgath’s sister is Kayleigh and their father is Sir Reginald, with no story reason. Next is borrowing a traditional name while claiming the character is unrelated: calling a cheerful baker Ymir pulls the whole mythology in with it. Next is a name that only works in writing, for a game played in voice chat. Finally, do not give a gentle giant a threat compound for a cheap laugh and then expect a serious scene to land later. The name sets the contract.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a good giant name?

Weight and sayability. Strong, clear consonants, a rhythm you can repeat without stumbling, and a meaning pointing at the giant’s home, work or temperament rather than only at size. A short form you like matters as much as the full name.

Are these names from Mabinogi?

No. The list names are original inventions for this article. Mabinogi is discussed as a use case because giants are a playable race in that game, and readers searching for mabinogi giant name ideas need names for a playable character rather than a monster. No name here is taken from the game’s characters.

Are any of these names real historical giant names?

The list names are invented. Traditional names appear only in the mythology section, labeled as such: Ymir, Thrym and Surtr (Norse); Porphyrion, Enceladus, Polybotes and Alcyoneus (Greek); Gogmagog, Cormoran, Ysbaddaden Bencawr and Bendigeidfran (British and Welsh). Using one borrows a figure with an existing story.

Can a giant name be gentle?

Yes, and it is often the strongest choice. Hill, farm and village giants suit names such as Barleybrook, Willowmere and Goodhild, and the contrast between a huge character and a kind sounding name is what readers tend to remember.

How do I name a female giant?

Start from temperament and role, as for any giant. Endings such as a, ia and essa are often read as feminine leaning in current fantasy, which is why Thrumma, Tempestia and Isvarra are tagged that way here. A Norse styled setting can instead use a patronymic second name with a daughter ending. Neither is compulsory.

How do I check a name is not already taken in a game?

Use the game’s character creation screen for server availability, its official support pages for the current policy, and a web search of the exact spelling for well known characters. Availability is server and date specific, so this article cannot confirm it. Keep a second choice ready, ideally a variant with a different second half.

Sources & references

• Theoi Project, Gigantes: https://www.theoi.com/Gigante/Gigantes.html
• World History Encyclopedia, Giants: https://www.worldhistory.org/Giants/
• Wikipedia, Jötunn (for jotnar terminology, Jotunheimr, Skadi and Gerd, and the point that jotnar are not necessarily large): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6tunn
• Wikipedia, Giants (Welsh folklore) (for cewri, Bendigeidfran in the Second Branch, and Ysbaddaden Bencawr in Culhwch and Olwen): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants_(Welsh_folklore)
• Sky HISTORY, 6 staggering giants from English folklore (for Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gogmagog, Corineus and Blunderbore): https://www.history.co.uk/articles/giants-from-english-folklore
• GamesIndustry.biz, Mabinogi: Pioneers of Iria expansion announcement, Nexon America, 20 February 2009 (for giants and elves added as playable races and the continent of Iria): https://www.gamesindustry.biz/mabinogi-pioneers-of-iria-expansion-provides-new-races-a-new-continent-and-all-sorts-of-other-stuff
• Ten Ton Hammer, Guide to Mabinogi's Giants (for giants from Physis, melee strength and carrying a human companion): https://www.tentonhammer.com/guides/guide-to-mabinogi-s-giants.amp