About Drow Names

Meaningful Names

The first 4 names consist of existing name elements, which means all these names have a meaning in Drow culture. Each name part has a specific meaning that combines to form a complete meaning.

Made-up Names

The next 4 names are made up from name elements to increase variety, while still maintaining drow naming style. These names still maintain the syllable patterns and structure distinctive to drow culture.

Existing Names

The last 2 names are based on drow characters from official D&D novels and lore, such as the famous Drizzt Do'Urden or Jarlaxle Baenre. These are canonical drow elves in the Dungeons & Dragons setting.

Dungeons & Dragons Drow Lore

Origins & Culture

In D&D, the drow (dark elves) were banished to the Underdark after following the spider goddess Lolth into corruption. Sporting obsidian skin and stark white hair, these denizens of the dark evolved to thrive in lightless caverns.

Drow society is a matriarchal one, ruled by priestesses of the spider goddess Lolth. Their social structure revolves around powerful noble houses, with House Baenre being the most infamous. Power struggles, intrigue, and betrayal are the norm in drow society.

Literature & Pop Culture

Notable drow include Drizzt Do'Urden and Jarlaxle Baenre from R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf trilogy. Drizzt is a rare good-aligned drow who rejected his race's evil traditions and chose to live on the surface world. These characters have become some of the most popular figures in the D&D universe and have influenced portrayals of dark elves in many other fantasy works.

Naming Conventions

Drow names feature a combination of harsh, sibilant sounds and elaborate syllables, often starting with prefixes like "Akor" (beloved) or "Alaun" (lightning) and ending with suffixes like "da" (illusionist) or "dra" (lover).

Names often echo their dark lives, drawing from the Underdark's deadly beauty and their devotion to Lolth. For example, "Alaunaonar" means "powerful guardian" while "Dirzdrin" hints at a "dreaming rogue."

Mythological Origins

D&D's drow were inspired by the dark elves (Dökkálfar) of Norse mythology. However, D&D drow have a more complex social structure and cultural background. This concept has become popular in modern fantasy, with similar races appearing in The Elder Scrolls series as Dunmer and Warhammer's Dark Elves.

Example Drow Names

Example Drow Names with their meanings, origins and genders
Name Meaning Origin Gender
Akorcyrl Beloved ally Drowic Male
Qithrac Serpent dragon Drowic Female
Balintra Burning envoy Drowic Male
Rhyros Eye path Drowic Female
Chessda Noble illusionist Drowic Male
Sormar Magic creator Drowic Female
Dirzcyrl Dreaming ally Drowic Male
Traantlab Darkness hunter acolyte Drowic Female
Eclavina Chaos adept Drowic Male
Haelqualyn Marked ally Drowic Female