This bounty hunter name generator makes up a hunter in one line: Ezekiel "Paper Trail" Hargrove, who hunts claim jumpers and is paid by a railroad that wants it kept quiet. Names come in three settings: frontier, space and fantasy.
Read the full guide
Five parts, three settings
Press New bounty hunter. Tap a part, press its padlock, then press again. Every list under the tool is sorted into Frontier, Space and Fantasy, but the parts are dealt blind, so Nova can turn up beside Emberford. Tap a part and press its arrows until the setting matches.
Earned aliases and the real trade
Each alias has a line on how it was earned: Slingshot swings around a moon to catch ships twice as fast. The trade is real: in English legal history a thief-taker was a private individual hired to capture criminals, and in the United States a bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman, officially a bail enforcement agent.
Questions and answers
What is a good bounty hunter name for a western?
Tap the first name, then the surname, and press the arrows of each until both come from the Frontier group, such as Ezekiel Hargrove. Pick an alias with a trail behind it, such as Paper Trail. The Frontier surnames are real American surnames.
Does it make names for a space bounty hunter?
Yes. The Space group has short modern first names such as Nova, made-up surnames such as Coldwake and quarry such as salvage poachers. Tap each part and press its arrows until it comes from that group.
What did a thief-taker do?
In English legal history a thief-taker was a private individual hired to capture criminals. Thief-takers were usually hired by crime victims, while bounty hunters were paid by bail bondsmen.
Are these hunters from a film or a game?
Not that we found. Every pair of first name and surname was checked against Wikipedia page titles and taken out if it matched, and each made-up surname was searched for in Wikipedia's text. A name can still match a real person.
How this list was compiled: 74 real given names, our own choice, made on 2026-10-03 and sorted by the setting each suits: old American names for the frontier, short modern ones for space and medieval ones for fantasy. Every first name was paired with every surname and looked for that day among the page titles and redirects of English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/, CC BY-SA 4.0); names were taken out until no pair was a title. 5 candidates were cut (3 other reasons; 2 a Wikipedia page title), among them Leofric, Tancred, Ottoline, Gideon, Levi. A result can still be the name of a real person: no result describes anyone. Licence: own work
Alias: all 69 aliases
Frontier 20
Bent NickelPays informants with the same lucky coin and always gets it back.
BootjackFound a fugitive by the boots left outside a door.
Half DayIs always half a day behind, and always catches up.
Hat in HandAsks politely, hat off, before anything else.
Last FerryCatches the last ferry so often that the ferryman waits.
Show all 69 aliases (64 more)
Frontier, continued
Late MailDelivers bad news and letters from home on the same trip.
LedgerWrites down every expense, to the nail.
Long SupperOnce waited out a fugitive by eating at the same table for nine days.
LonghandFills out every form in full, in ink.
Mule PatienceOutwaited a mule at a river crossing; the mule moved first.
No HurryHas never once run.
One-Hand KnotTies every knot so that it can be undone with one hand.
Paper TrailNever lost a warrant, a receipt or a map in twenty years of rain.
Porch LightLeaves a lamp lit for the ones who come in on their own.
Quiet SpurFiled the points off both spurs so as not to wake the town.
Second NoticeAlways sends a polite letter first, and a politer one after.
Slow KnockKnocks three times, slowly, and waits to be let in.
SourdoughKeeps a bread starter alive in a saddlebag.
Two CanteensCarries the second one for the quarry.
Wagon RutReads tracks the way other people read newspapers.
Space 27
AirlockHolds the door for everyone, every time.
Beacon KeeperLeaves a beacon on for anyone who wants to turn themselves in.
Blue ShiftIs always the one coming toward you.
Burn RateKnows to the gram how much fuel a runaway has left.
ChecksumCatches forged papers by adding up the numbers.
Cold StartCan wake a ship that has been asleep for years.
CustomsReads every cargo manifest twice.
Dead ReckoningFound a hidden station with a stopwatch and a star chart.
Docking FeeNever leaves a port without paying, which is why every port talks.
DriftShuts the engines off and lets the quarry come round again.
Flight PlanFiles one for everything, including lunch.
GreenhouseKeeps tomato plants in the hold and shares them.
Half GravityGrew up on a small moon and still walks like it.
HandshakeGets ships to open their doors by asking their computers nicely.
LagtimeAnswers questions a few seconds before they are asked.
Long OrbitTakes the slow route and arrives first anyway.
Low FuelCoasted the last million kilometers of a famous chase.
Night SideWorks only on the dark half of any world.
ParallaxSpots a fake transponder by how the stars sit behind it.
PingSends one signal and waits.
Quiet DockingClamps on so gently that nobody spills a drink.
ReceiptsBills by the kilometer and shows the arithmetic.
SlingshotSwings around a moon to catch ships twice as fast.
Soft SealOnce patched a hull breach with a sandwich wrapper.
Spare FilterCarries extra air for the people being brought back.
StaticTalks to targets over the radio until they give up out of boredom.
TetherHas never lost a tool, a partner or a prisoner off a hull.
Fantasy 22
Borrowed HorseHas never owned one and has never walked far.
Bread-and-SaltOffers a meal first; most quarry surrender by the second course.
BriarFollowed a thief through a hedge maze and came out first.
Dog-RoseWears one in a hat so that the hounds know who is following.
Ferryman's FriendRides free on any river, for a favor nobody will explain.
FogboundWorks best when nobody can see an arm's length.
Gate LatchHas never left one open.
Glass BottleBrings small quarry back in one, with air holes.
HearthstoneAlways asks leave of the house before stepping in.
Hedge-WitnessCan get a statement out of a crow.
Iron NailCarries one in a pocket; the fair folk keep their distance.
Long RoadWalked across three kingdoms after one pair of stolen boots.
ProclamationReads the charges aloud, in full, before anything else.
QuillfeatherSigns every capture into a book with the quarry's own pen.
RiddleGets answers by asking only questions that sound like jokes.
Salt CircleSleeps inside one, to be safe from what is being hunted.
Second BellArrives at the second bell, never the first or the third.
ThimbleOnce caught a pixie under one.
Three CoinsCharges the same fee whoever is asking.
Toll GateWaits at the one bridge everyone must cross.
Wax SealCan tell whose ring pressed any seal.
WritNever moves without a sealed paper from a magistrate.
How this list was compiled: Our own list of 69 aliases, written on 2026-10-03, each with one line on how it was earned. They are earned by patience, paperwork and manners, and none by hurting anyone. Checked against every list on this site for repeats. 11 candidates were cut (10 on another list of this site; 1 taken out on a second reading), among them Dry Boots, Tin Lantern, Sunday Best, Good Morning, Fence Post, Weather Eye. Licence: own work
Surname: all 69 surnames
Frontier 22
Bledsoe
Coulter
Cutler
Dunmore
Granger
Halloran
Hargrove
Holloway
Show all 69 surnames (61 more)
Frontier, continued
Ketchum
Lockhart
Maddox
McCready
Pickard
Pruitt
Rayburn
Redfern
Slade
Stroud
Tanner
Tibbs
Tolliver
Whitlock
Space 35
Blackvane
Coldwake
Corvallane
Dellarond
Driftmoor
Driftwright
Dustrunner
Emberline
Farwake
Ferrosand
Galvarren
Hadrix
Ironvane
Irrowane
Jannivar
Longdrift
Longorbit
Lowberth
Lumarrick
Mordanvale
Norrivant
Orrisant
Pellandry
Quellanby
Ringharbor
Sarnoval
Starmantle
Sunharrow
Tavorrin
Tessarick
Ulvandry
Vantorrel
Vessamer
Voidwright
Zellamont
Fantasy 12
Brackenmere
Duskenholt
Emberford
Emberwade
Hobwater
Mistvale
Pennywade
Rookwater
Tarnholt
Vixenholt
Wolfsgrove
Wolverwick
How this list was compiled: 69 surnames, chosen or made up on 2026-10-03. The frontier group are real surnames, each found in the surname file of the 2020 US Census (https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2020_names.html, a US government work). The space and fantasy groups are our own compounds, screened that day against an English dictionary, the same Census file, GeoNames places (https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/, CC BY 4.0), every list on this site, every word of every page title of 16 fantasy fan wikis, the page titles and redirects of English Wikipedia and a full-text search of it (https://en.wikipedia.org/, CC BY-SA 4.0). Every surname was also paired with every first name, as the note on that list says. 57 candidates were cut (23 on another list of this site; 14 a Wikipedia page title; 14 found in the text of English Wikipedia; 3 a real place; 2 a rude word inside or across the join; 1 a dictionary word), among them Longhaul, Starhollow, Sunward, Vexley, Greywake, Nightwell. No list of names is complete, so search a name before you publish it. Licence: own work
Hunts: all 41 quarries
Frontier 14
a horse thief who only takes gray ones
a land agent with nine names
a man who sold the same well five times
a medicine-show salesman three towns ahead
a runaway circus bear, gently
a rustler who returns the cattle and keeps the bells
bridge-toll dodgers
claim jumpers
Show all 41 quarries (33 more)
Frontier, continued
fence cutters
forgers of train tickets
mail-order swindlers
the outfit that repaints stolen wagons
runaway mules
whoever keeps stealing the courthouse clock
Space 14
a con artist who sells deeds to comets
a forger of gravity permits
a pilot with forty unpaid docking fees
a runaway terraforming drone
a stolen lifeboat that keeps moving itself
an escaped lab octopus in a small exosuit
the cook who vanished with a station's recipe file
data thieves who leave thank-you notes
escaped maintenance robots
hull-plate strippers
salvage poachers
smugglers of unlicensed houseplants
whoever keeps hacking the lighthouse beacons
whoever prints the counterfeit star charts
Fantasy 13
a bard who stole a tune
a ghost that walked out on a haunting contract
a goblin who sells the same bridge every market day
a pixie that robs only left pockets
a shape-changer who owes rent in four shapes
a troll who is behind on its tolls
a wizard's runaway broom
coin clippers
escaped familiars
hedge-wizards without a license
oath-breakers
thieves of names
whoever has the dragon's missing teaspoon
How this list was compiled: Our own list of 41 kinds of quarry, written on 2026-10-03: swindlers, runaways and toll dodgers, with nobody dangerous among them. One candidate was cut (on another list of this site): a knight who never gave back a borrowed horse. Licence: own work
Paid by: all 30 paymasters
Frontier 10
a cattlemen's association
a newspaper that wants the story first
a railroad that wants it kept quiet
a widow with a strongbox and a long memory
the county, at a dollar a day and feed
the stagecoach line
the territorial judge, in arrears
three sheriffs, who split the bill
the town's pie-supper fund
whoever signed the telegram
Show all 30 paymasters (20 more)
Space 10
a mining co-op, by the ton
a robot that says it is acting for a friend
a salvage court
a shipping guild that pays late
a station council that pays in air credits
an anonymous account that tips well
an insurance office on a far moon
the harbor master of a ring station
the lighthouse service
the orbital ferry line
Fantasy 10
a college of heralds
a counting house under the mountain
a dragon who wants no fuss
a guild of honest merchants
a village that passed the hat
a wizard who pays in favors
the crown, in promises
the magistrate of a river town
the royal menagerie
the toll-keepers of the old road
How this list was compiled: Our own list of 30 paymasters, written on 2026-10-03. Each is a plain description and not the name of an office, a company or a court. Nothing was cut. Licence: own work