Gnomes are the pint-sized tinkers and energetic thinkers in Dungeons & Dragons 5E. A Gnome stands short, even amongst Small races, and is light for their size. They have pretty dark skin and a constant smile, with eyes shining with ingenuity and ideas. Gnomes have wild hair, colorful personalities, and often wear their emotions on their sleeves. These warren-dwellers make for fun, hilarious adventurers. And making a name is one of the best parts! Check out our Gnomish Names guide if you want to know why!
Gnomish Names 5E Guide
Gnomes are eccentric, energetic, and adorable. Their names don’t hold too much reverence in their community, but that actually means you have more work to do; Gnomes love names. They can select over two dozen names at a time, because everyone a gnome meets can give them a nickname. Names are given to gnomes by family members.
How Do Gnome Names Work?
Above all, Gnomes are placed on the Forgotten Realms to enjoy life. They want to get every single drop of happiness out of whatever they’re doing. Gnomes live for 3-5 centuries, so they have a lot of experimentation to do. How can they do everything they want in a meager 500 years? They’ll have to work quickly.
Gnomes are fast talkers and great listeners. They are exceedingly animated in conversation, used to years of talking with other gnomes, and find great joy in puns and pranks. Similarly, gnomes work fast on their serious tasks, such as alchemy or tinkering. They make mistakes often, laugh them off, and get better… though, not a small number of gnomes lose their lives while chasing perfection.
Gnomes live most of their lives in burrows; underground like Dwarves, but near the surface. Rather than setting up a militia, gnomes protect their burrows with illusions – one who is not welcome into a burrow will never find it at all.
Gnomes outside of the burrow are renowned tutors, despite their fast talking or fun nature. Their personalities allow gnomes to really click with kids: combining intelligent tutelage with fun experimentation. A gnome outlives five or more generations of humans over the course of their life, so they can literally watch villages grow.
See Also: Gnoll Names Guide
Examples of Gnomish Names
The combination of longevity and a childlike mysticism in the world give gnomes a lot of time with names. Each relative in a gnome’s family gives them a name, and whoever they meet give them a nickname. For other races, that’s rather overwhelming. So, gnomes meet them halfway and select a name, nickname, and clan name. This choice can be quite important; out of all of the names given to them by relatives, a gnome can only select 3. And, given enough time with an adventuring party, perhaps the gnome will ask them to select a name!
Being fey, Gnomes don’t have heavily cemented naming structures. They will be relatively complex, using 1-5 syllables, and will typically not be harsh at all.
Male Gnomish Names
- Alston
- Ettrgell
- Dimble
- Fonkin
- Clamdor
- Bitty
- Begnym
- Sarug
- Erpos
- Gimble
- Glim
- Kellen
- Namfoodle
- Roondar
- Warryn
- Zook
Female Gnomish Names
- Bimpnottin
- Carlin
- Ella
- Ellywick
- Loopmottin
- Nissa
- Nyx
- Oda
- Roywyn
- Tana
- Lyda
- Quiri
- Rena
- Tawyn
- Zanna
Clan Names
- Beren
- Folkor
- Nackle
- Ningcl
- Seheppen
- Timbers
- Thimblecup
- Winters
- Sandbottom
- Turen
Nicknames
Nicknames can be Gnomish words, or cool combinations of Common words that they enjoy.
- Aleslosh
- Badger
- Cloak
- Fnipper
- Ku
- Nina
- Oneshoe
- Sparklegem
- Scumbleduck
And that concludes our guide to Gnomish names. We hope you find this guide helpful! Are you making a new gnome? Be sure to see our starting gold 5E guide for tips on character equipment.
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