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If you’re crafting a story, you know how vast the options for place names can be.
Narrowing them down to the perfect name for your beach town can be a real challenge.
There are quite a few things you can consider when naming your fictional beach town.
What geographical features are nearby? What is the atmosphere you want to convey? Do you want your beach town’s name to convey something about the history of your world?
Here’s a list of options and inspirations for a fantasy beach town name.
Hopefully, this guide will help you give your new beach town a name that fits it well.
Great Names for a Beach Town
Here are some first and last names which point to qualities you might want in your beach town:
- Barbeau – means fisherman
- Fisk – means fisherman
- Douglas – dark water or stream
- Eldoris – Greek, means “of the sea”
- Pearl
- Coraline – named after semi-precious sea coral, English origin
- Azure or Azurine – French names meaning blue
- Doria or Dorian – also Greek meaning “of the sea”
- Galia – Hebrew, means wave of God or God shall redeem
- Maurea – Latin name for a genus of sea snails
- Acquarone – Italian, meaning water
- Brodny – Slavic, means person who lives near a stream
- Kersey – English, meaning either watercress or island
- Mizushima – Japanese, meaning water island
- Urbina – Basque, meaning a place where two waterways meet
- Hama – Japanese, meaning seashore
- Anker – means anchor in Dutch, Danish, and Norwegian
- Bachmeier – German, means a farmer who works near water
- Koskinen – Finnish, means rapids
- Lynch – Irish, means descendant of a mariner
Charming Names For A Beach Town
If you’re creating a touristy beach town, it should have a cute and charming name to draw in visitors.
Charming names for beach towns include:
- Blue Oyster Ridge
- Pristine Cove
- Glasslight Oceanfront
- Sunny Sands
- Hope Isle
- Calm Shores
- Bliss Bay
- Peaceful Reef
- Surfside Beach
- Driftwood Sound
Natural Names for a Beach Town
Sometimes you want your town’s name to reflect the natural beauty of its surroundings.
You can take inspiration from anywhere: plants, birds, trees, and rocks can all work in the name of a beach town.
Here are some natural inspirations for names for your beach town:
- Heather
- Limestone
- Seagull
- Sandpiper
- Plover
- Moss Rose
- Sea Holly
- Artemisia
- Feather Grass
- Snipe
- Oystercatcher
- Lapwing
- Gorse
- Avocet
- Basalt
- Chalcedony
- Sandstone
- Palmetto
- Oak
- Crape Myrtle, Myrtle
- Hackberry
- Cypress
- Beach Plum
- Dunlin
- Godwit
Pirate Beach Town Names
Are there pirates in your universe?
Then you might want to give your beach town a name based on figures from the Golden Age of Piracy.
Here are some beach town names with a pirate feel:
- Blackbeard Cay
- Port Bonney
- Smuggler’s Bay
- The Bonnet Isles
- Calico Jack Lagoon
- Francis Drake Beach
- Jolly Roger Reef
- Skull and Crossbones Cove
- Swashbuckler’s Ridge
- Skullduggery Channel
Real-World Beach Town Names
Some creators like to base their names on real-world places.
You can take any of these beach towns, change a letter around, and have a brand-new place name.
Of course, if you’re setting your story in a real-life town, you’ll want to do plenty of research about it first.
Here are some real-life beach towns on Earth:
- Carmel-by-the-Sea
- Nags Head
- Cannon Beach
- Tybee Island
- Perth
- Isle of Mull
- Bournemouth
- Newquay
- Syros
- Madeira
- Cap Ferret
- Split
- Wadden Sea
- Istria
- Rai Leh
- Miyako Island
- Pianemo Beach
- El Nido
- Perhentian Islands
- Gokarna
- Yarmouth – Cape Cod
Names Based on Mythical Creatures For A Beach Town
It’s no surprise that the ocean is the rumored home of many mythical creatures.
You can also point to the location and geography of your beach town by naming it after a regional seaside legend.
Here are some options for myth-inspired names for a beach town:
- Selkie Sands – selkies are people who live as seals in the ocean and remove their skins to walk on land as humans, popular in both Celtic and Norse mythology.
- Mermaid Reef
- Kraken Inlet – the Kraken is a giant squid or octopus which pulls ships and sailors to their deaths, a Norse mythological creature.
- Funayurei Island – Funayurei are the vengeful spirits of those who have died in shipwrecks. These are from Japanese folklore.
- Calypso Bay – Calypso was a sea nymph who imprisoned Odysseus for seven years, as part of Homer’s Odyssey.
- Umibozu Cove – Umibozu are sea spirits in Japanese folklore, and their name translates to Sea Priest. Usually, they appear on calm oceans and make them stormy.
- Pontarof Cay – Reportedly a monster of Caribbean folklore, the Pontarof looks like a huge, human-like manta ray and drowns children.
- Ashray Ridge – The Ashray are translucent water people of Scottish mythology. They can only come out during the night and live in dark water during the day.
- Fosse Grim Fjord – A spirit who lures people into the water by playing his enchanted violin, Fosse Grim appears in Scandinavian mythology
- Jengu Beach – Water spirits, often helpful to humans. Jengu are part of the mythology of the Sawa people of Cameroon.
- Kelpie Strand – From Scottish mythology, Kelpies are dark water horses that can sometimes take human form. They try mainly to lure children and women into bodies of water.
- Taniwha Isle – Taniwha are Maori creatures, sometimes guardians, and sometimes monsters.
Ocean Deity Beach Town Names
Across all human cultures are mythical deities associated with the sea and water. You can base your beach town’s name on any of these options:
- Triton – Greek god of the sea, son of Poseidon
- Thalassa – Greek sea goddess
- Neptune – the Roman counterpart of the Greek Poseidon
- Sabrina – Welsh figure of legend, where the name for the river Severn comes from
- Melusine, Melusina – a mermaid from European folklore, usually lives in fresh water or a holy well
- Undine, Ondine – Sea nymph of European legend who fell in love with a human man
- Dylan ail Don – character in the Welsh Mabinogion tales, a sea-god
- Talay, Dalai – sea god in Turkic mythology, may also appear in the mythologies of other cultures from Siberia to Mongolia
- Ezili – in Benin, she is the goddess of sweet water, as well as love and beauty
- Sobek – Ancient Egyptian god of the Nile, a man with a crocodile’s head
- Satet – Ancient Egyptian goddess of the Nile’s floods
- Leviathan – a huge sea serpent that appears in several books of the Hebrew Bible
- Nanshe – Sumerian goddess of the Persian Gulf and its animals, fishing, and fertility
- Tiamat – Sumerian goddess of the primeval ocean, salt water, and chaos
- Brizo – A Greek goddess who protected mariners and fishermen
- Aruna – Hittite or Anatolian sea god
- Tsovinar – Armenian goddess of water, sea, and rain
- Nodens – Celtic god of the sea, as well as healing, hunting, and dogs
- Duberdicus – god of rivers and the sea in Lusitanian mythology. The Lusitanians lived in what is now Portugal.
- Nehalennia – Norse and Germanic goddess of the North Sea
- Dakuwaqa – Fijian shark god
- Ikatere – Maori fish god, and father to all sea creatures, real or mythical
- Sedna – Inuit goddess of the sea and all sea animals
- Aipaloovik – Evil Inuit sea god, mainly focused on death and destruction
- Opochtli – Ancient Mexican god of fishing and birdcatchers
- Chalchiuhtlicue – Ancient Mexican goddess of all waters, storms, and baptism
- Kukulcan – Mayan god of seas, oceans, storms
- Shuimu – Chinese goddess of water
- Gonggong – Chinese water dragon and god, responsible for flooding
- Repun Kamui – Ainu god of the sea, sometimes appears as a young man with a harpoon, sometimes as an orca whale
- Yongwang – Korean deity who lives under the sea and determines the fate of sailors and fishermen
Fish Names for Beach Towns
Beach towns are often fishing towns as well.
Therefore, it’s not a stretch to consider the names of ocean fish, both real and fictional, when crafting your beach town.
Here are some fish and underwater creature names to help inspire you:
- Haddock
- Marlin
- Angelfish
- Minnow
- Shark
- Cod
- Salmon
- Squid
- Shrimp
- Octopus
- Pufferfish
- Frogfish
- Batfish
- Fringehead
- Nautilus
- Sea Dragon
- Trumpetfish
- Ridley
- Baiji
- Flying Fish
Seafood Names For A Beach Town
Speaking of fish, there’s another place they end up in a beach town: on our plates.
Here are some seafood dishes which could inspire good names for your beach town:
- Scampi
- Bouillabaise
- Paella
- Bacalhau
- Fish and Chips
- Sushi
- Fischbrotchen
- Ceviche
- Moqueca
- Clam Chowder
- Frogmore Stew
- Lohikeitto
- Daing
- Pecel Lele
- Cioppino
- Polvo a Lagareiro
- Fish Head Curry
- Ikan Bakar
- Saba Zushi
- Halaszle
- Aguachile
- Marmitako
- Espetos
- Pinangat
You might also want to add these dishes to your weekly menu.
Spooky Beach Town Names
Maybe your beach town is less ice cream and sand and more mysterious coves and ghosts of the drowned.
There’s no shortage of creepy names available for any town you create.
Here are some options for your ghost beach town:
- Phantom Island
- Raven Cove
- Skull Sound
- Nighttide
- Cave of the Forgotten
- Banshee Bay
- Bone Sands
- Shipwreck Channel
- Wraith Beach
- Fjord of the Sirens
- Dark Cay
- Ghost Ridge
- Cursed Tombolo
- Weeping Isle
- The Haunted Headland
Funny Names for a Beach Town
There’s no reason why your beach town name ideas can’t express your sense of humor.
Here are some funny and punny names for beach towns:
- Old Bay
- Whale of a Tale
- Fine and Sandy
- Beachy Keen
- Sun-Day
- Feeling Crabby
- Whale Hello
- Tide Down
- Out-sanding
- Big Sea-cret
- Isle of Ewe
- Aching Mussels
- Going Coconuts
- Holding Water
- Shore is Nice
Beach Town Names from Television and Film
Sometimes our greatest inspirations come from the TV and movies we watch.
Here are some examples:
- Cabot Cove – Murder, She Wrote
- Beach City – Steven Universe
- Cape Suzette – TaleSpin
- Amity Island – Jaws
- Seahaven – The Truman Show
Town Name Inspiration
When naming a beach town, you might want to consider a few aspects of the surrounding area.
There are lots of different beaches all over the world, and each has its own ecology and structure.
Maybe you want a cold weather and a rocky beach, with a town of grizzled sailors and fishermen.
Maybe you want to go more tropical, relaxed, and touristy.
Each would have a different and unique name, drawing inspiration from the geography and the culture.
If you have an idea of what your beach town looks like, you can search for pictures online.
This might help you form a better mental picture of your town, and might help you decide on its name.
You can also look into the names of coastal features on Earth to inspire the name of your fantasy beach town.
Here is an article with over 70 features to inspire your name and what your beach looks like.
If you’re still struggling to choose, here are some geography terms for shoreline features:
- Pebble Beach
- Cape – a curved piece of land extending into the water
- Coastal Plain – flat land next to a sea coast
- Shell Beach
- Isthmus – a narrow piece of land connecting two larger pieces of land
- Tombolo – a sandy isthmus that connects a smaller island to a mainland
- Bay
- Fjord – narrow and steep inlet filled with seawater, usually in places with glaciers
- Cove
- Sound – large inlet usually separating an island from the mainland and connecting bodies of water
- Barrier Island
Help Choosing the Perfect Name
If you’re still struggling to name your fantasy beach town, you can definitely ask for outside help.
There are tons of online forums, Discord channels, and writing groups that you can bounce ideas off.
If you give them an idea of the overall vibe and construction of your beach town, they might come up with some great ideas for you.
If you’re strapped for time and need your beach town name on the fly, a beach name generator might be a great option for you.
This is especially useful if you just need a random beach name.
You can also use a fantasy name generator if you want your fictional beach town to bear the name of a historical figure in your world.
Just take the last name from the generator and put it in front of a geographical feature of your beach.
Conclusion
Whether you’re writing a novel or planning that next roleplaying campaign, your place names can convey culture, geography, history, and other features.
Coming up with a great beach town name enriches your world.
If you’re struggling to describe your beach town, coming up with a name might be the next step in formulating what your town looks and feels like.
The name could also be the last thing you choose, tying all features of your beach town together.
Maybe you want to convey a certain mood or atmosphere with your name.
There are all kinds of choices available in the world of writing and creating.
Choosing a name can be one of the most enjoyable parts of worldbuilding.