How it works
These fantasy bank names come one press at a time, as in "The Honest Ledger, a counting house." The two-word names are our own; the kinds of money house are real, from the mint to the goldsmith's bank.
Read the full guide
Two words and a kind
Press New bank name. Lock the kind on assay office and press for a street of them, or lock a first word such as Triple-Locked and try second words on it: The Vigilant Lockbox, The Unbroken Quill.
The kinds are real
A counting house was the office where a business kept its books. A money changer's table and a goldsmith's bank came before modern banks; a strongroom, a mint and an assay office still exist. The list under the tool has a line on each.
Questions and answers
Where does the word bank come from?
The word bank was taken into Middle English from Middle French banque, from Old Italian banco, meaning "table", English Wikipedia says. That is why one kind on this page is the money changer's table.
What is a counting house?
A counting house, or counting room, was traditionally an office where the financial books of a business were kept. English Wikipedia says it began in Italy and was a central feature of commerce in the High Middle Ages.
What came before banks?
Money changers, whose trade English Wikipedia calls a predecessor of modern banking, and the goldsmiths of London, with whom merchants stored their gold and who in time lent money out.
Are these the names of real banks?
None that we found. Each name was checked against the bank names in the public list of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and against Wikipedia. That is a spot check for a story, not a search of business registers.