How it works
This changeling name generator gives a shape-taker of the old stories its two names: a short true name and the ordinary village name it goes by. A third row adds the small sign that gives it away.
Read the full guide
Deal a changeling, then keep what fits
Press New changeling name. Tap a part to lock it, then press again for the rest. Lock the everyday name to try true names behind one mask. Lock the tell and every changeling in the village shares one sign.
What comes from the old stories
In the tales, a changeling may dance or play an instrument when it thinks it is alone, and in German, Irish and Welsh stories it is surprised into telling its age by someone brewing in eggshells. Those tells are in the list. The others are invented.
Tips
- Every invented tell is a sign in the world around it; the three from the old stories are things it does.
- For a mystery, print twenty and let the players match the tell to a villager.
Questions and answers
What is a changeling in folklore?
In European folklore, a changeling is a substitute left by a supernatural being, such as a fairy or a troll, in place of a person it has taken. Most often it is made to look like that person.
How do changeling names work?
A changeling in a story has two. Its true name is short and strange, like Kelth. The name it goes by is as ordinary as the village can offer: a common first name with a trade, a place or a nickname.
Does this work as a doppelganger name generator?
Yes. Any shape-taker that lives under a borrowed face needs the same three things: its own name, the name it wears and the slip that gives it away.
Are these names from a game?
No. The true names are made up and were screened against the sample names a published tabletop game prints for its changeling people, and against fan wikis. The page follows the folklore and names no game.