Before Tolkien, a wraith was a Scottish death omen — the ghostly double of someone about to die. After Tolkien, a wraith became something far worse: a king who forgot his own name. The Nazgûl — the nine ringwraiths — are never named in The Lord of the Rings. Not because Tolkien forgot, but because the rings consumed their names along with everything else. A wraith, in the modern fantasy sense, is what's left when death takes your identity but leaves your power.
Naming a wraith means navigating this paradox: you're naming something that has, by definition, lost its name. The solution — and the art — lies in creating names that sound like the RUINS of other names. Names that carry the echo of what they used to be, corroded by centuries of undeath into something cold and terrible.
The Phonology of Undeath
Death changes how names sound. Living names are warm, voiced, full of breath. Wraith names strip that warmth away, leaving:
- Hollow vowels: Long AH, OH, and EE sounds that echo in empty spaces. These replace the bright A and I of living names, creating a sense of vast, cold emptiness
- Bone consonants: Hard K, TH, DR, and CR sounds that crack and scrape. These are the sounds of crypts opening, of skeletal hands, of things that should be still but aren't
- Tomb sibilants: S, SH, and Z sounds like wind through a mausoleum. Whispering, hissing — the sounds of air moving through spaces where no one breathes
- Missing syllables: The most distinctive wraith naming technique. Death erodes names: "Theodore" becomes "Theodrath" becomes "Thordrath" becomes "Thrath." Each stage of undeath strips more of the mortal name away
Wraiths Across Traditions
The Tolkien Wraith
Tolkien established the modern wraith archetype: beings who faded rather than died. The Nazgûl didn't die and come back — they were gradually consumed, becoming invisible, existing in the wraith-world, losing their names one syllable at a time. The Witch-king of Angmar has a TITLE, not a name, because names require identity and wraiths have none. This "fading" concept is uniquely powerful for naming: wraith names aren't corrupted dead names, they're living names in the process of disappearing.
The Norse Draugr
Norse undead are the opposite of Tolkien's: they retain their identity completely. The draugr Glamr (from Grettis saga) remembers his name, his grudges, and his superhuman strength. Draugr names are simply Viking names spoken by dead lips — the horror isn't in the name changing but in the dead person refusing to let go of it. When a draugr says its own name, it's both an introduction and a threat.
The D&D Undead Hierarchy
D&D creates a clear relationship between undead power and naming. At the bottom: Shadows (CR 1/2) — nameless, barely formed. Specters (CR 1) — fragments of names. Wraiths (CR 5) — corrupted names, enough identity to command lesser undead. Ghosts (CR 4) — full mortal names, bound by unfinished business. Liches (CR 21+) — complete names, often enhanced with titles of dark power. This hierarchy makes naming intuitive: more power = more name.
For related naming, see our specter name generator, ghost name generator, necromancer name generator, or demon name generator. For the masters who create wraiths, try our lich name generator or dark elf name generator.
Common Questions
What is the difference between a wraith and a ghost?
In most fantasy traditions, ghosts retain their mortal identity and are driven by unfinished business — they remember who they were and why they can't rest. Wraiths have lost most of their mortal identity and are driven by hatred, hunger, or dark power. A ghost haunts a place because of personal attachment; a wraith haunts because death has made it into something predatory. In D&D terms, ghosts (CR 4) keep their memories and can be reasoned with, while wraiths (CR 5) are consumed by malice and can only be destroyed. The naming reflects this: ghost names are mortal names preserved; wraith names are mortal names corrupted.
What are the Nazgûl's real names?
Tolkien never named most of the Nine. The Witch-king of Angmar is identified by title only. In supplementary materials (Iron Crown Enterprises' MERP, later adopted by some fans), names like Khamûl (the Easterling, the only Nazgûl Tolkien gave a cultural origin) were assigned to others, but these aren't canonical. This namelessness is deliberate — the Nine gave up their names along with their mortality when they accepted the rings. The absence of names IS the horror: nine kings so consumed by power that not even their names survived.
How do wraiths work in D&D?
D&D wraiths are CR 5 incorporeal undead formed from evil humanoids or created by other wraiths. They have Life Drain (reducing max HP on hit), Sunlight Sensitivity, and the ability to move through solid objects. Most importantly, any humanoid killed by a wraith's Life Drain rises as a specter under the wraith's control after 1d4 hours. Wraiths are immune to poison, exhaustion, and most conditions. They resist acid, cold, fire, lightning, and thunder damage. Only radiant damage and magic weapons affect them at full strength.
Should wraith names be pronounceable?
That depends on what you want. For RPG use at a table, pronounceability matters — your DM needs to say it, your players need to remember it. Names like "Vaelkrath" or "Thordren" work: dark, undead-feeling, but speakable. For fiction, you have more freedom — a name like "Kh'thraal" creates an alien, unspeakable quality that suits truly ancient wraiths. The general rule: the more human the wraith once was, the more pronounceable its name should be. The more alien or ancient, the more uncomfortable the phonology can become.
