# Free Period Character Name Generator > Pick a birth year or period, then roll a cast of era-accurate given names from US birth records and English period lists. Private in your browser. Pick a birth year or period, then roll a cast of era-accurate given names from US birth records and English period lists. Private in your browser. Name the cast from a birth year A seventy-year-old in a 1995 story was born in 1925. The desk uses that birth decade — US national records from 1880 on, and English-language period lists before that. 1920s ## Born 1928 Keep a name, then shuffle. Reroll replaces one unlocked card. 1. ELLA ### Ella Adams feminine \#95 for girls in the 1920s Peaked in the 2010s at #14. 2. CALVIN ### Calvin Wright masculine \#80 for boys in the 1920s Peak decade for this list. 3. ALBERTA ### Alberta Gray feminine \#146 for girls in the 1920s Peaked in the 1900s at #116. 4. RONALD ### Ronald Richardson masculine \#93 for boys in the 1920s Peaked in the 1940s at #10. 5. KATHERINE ### Katherine Young feminine \#63 for girls in the 1920s Peaked in the 1990s at #27. Greek; often linked to “pure.” 6. CLYDE ### Clyde Long masculine \#68 for boys in the 1920s Peaked in the 1900s at #56. Useful output, not a score ## What this tool gives you ### Birth year, not story year A seventy-year-old in 1995 was born in 1925. The desk uses that decade so the name fits the generation, not the year the scene is set. ### A cast that does not collide Shuffle a set of given names and surnames, lock the ones you want, reroll one card, and skip names already in the draft. ### What the record actually says US decades show rank and peak decade from the national birth file. Earlier English period lists are membership, not a fake rank. ## How to use it 1. 1 ### Place the character Enter the story year and age, pick a birth decade, or open a period list for births before 1880. 2. 2 ### Set the mix Choose gender mix, how common the name should feel, a starting letter, and surnames. Add given names to avoid. 3. 3 ### Shuffle, lock, and copy Keep a name, reroll one card, or copy cues and a memo into notes. ## How to read the result Treat every US rank as a record of how often a name was filed on a Social Security card in that decade, not a world census and not a verdict on the character. Names with fewer than five occurrences in a year are omitted from the national file, early decades undercount registration, and the 2020s slice uses 2020 only. Period lists are curated English-language given names for writers working before 1880 — they are not ranked. US Census surnames describe recent American frequency; English, Irish, and Scottish lists are traditional flavors. ## Questions writers ask ### Why do you ask for age and story year? Readers hear generation. A detective born in 1952 should not be named Jayden; Linda or Gary holds. The birth year is story year minus age, and that decade is what the desk reads. ### Where do the names come from? Given names from 1880 onward come from the US Social Security Administration's public national baby-name file — Social Security card applications, aggregated by decade. Births before 1880 use curated English-language period lists. Nothing is fetched while you use the page. ### Is this only for American stories? The ranked decades are US records. For earlier English-language stories, use a period list. Surnames can be US Census, English, Irish, Scottish, or mixed. The page does not invent ranks for countries it does not have files for. ### Can I check a name I already wrote? Yes. Look up a given name against a birth decade to see whether it appears in that decade's top recorded names, when it first does, and where it peaked. ### Does anything leave my browser? Only if you choose Continue in Plot. The name lists ship with the page, and rolling, looking up, and copying all run here. Continue in Plot sends your cast list so it opens as a new Plot project, and Inkwell keeps that copy for 24 hours. ## Defined in the glossary - [Character Introduction](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/character-introduction) [The first time a speaking (or important) character appears on the page: name in caps, plus a short visual or behavioral hook that makes them legible before they talk.](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/character-introduction) - [Characterization](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/characterization) [How a character becomes specific on the page — the traits, tactics, and contradictions that show up in choices, not a résumé of adjectives parked in an action paragraph.](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/characterization) - [Character Cue](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/character-cue) [The speaker’s name above a dialogue block, conventionally in uppercase — the label that tells the reader who is talking.](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/character-cue) - [Minor Character](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/minor-character) [A character with a small part, on the page for a few scenes and present mainly to serve the plot, the setting or a major character, like a ticket clerk or a messenger.](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/minor-character) ## Keep working with the draft ### [Free Fantasy Character Name Generator](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/fantasy-character-names) [Generate elf, dwarf, tiefling, orc, goblin and aasimar names for a fantasy story or D\&D campaign. Keep favorites, add character notes and download your cast.](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/fantasy-character-names) [Open tool](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/fantasy-character-names) ### [Free Fantasy Place Name Generator](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/fantasy-place-names) [Name kingdoms, countries, cities, towns and worlds. Build a naming family and export editable place briefs for your fantasy story or D\&D campaign.](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/fantasy-place-names) [Open tool](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/fantasy-place-names) ### [Free Character Profile Builder for Fiction Writers](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/character-profile) [Build a character profile through goals, relationships, and choices in scenes. Edit a worked example or start blank, then download your Markdown worksheet.](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/character-profile) [Open tool](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/character-profile) ### [Free Writing Deadline & Word Goal Planner](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/writing-goal-planner) [Turn a word-count or page goal into realistic writing-day targets, weekly pacing, buffer time, milestone dates, and a copyable schedule.](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/writing-goal-planner) [Open tool](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/writing-goal-planner) ### [Free Screenplay Rehearsal Sides Builder](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/rehearsal-sides-builder) [Create actor-ready rehearsal sides from Fountain: filter by character, select exact scenes, include directions, or mask the role's lines for cue practice.](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/rehearsal-sides-builder) [Open tool](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/rehearsal-sides-builder) ### [Free Fountain Screenplay Outline Extractor](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/screenplay-outline-extractor) [Turn Fountain sections, synopses, scene headings, and opening action into an ordered visual story map with clean Markdown export.](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/screenplay-outline-extractor) [Open tool](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/screenplay-outline-extractor) ### [Free Screenplay Table Read Time Planner](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/table-read-planner) [Estimate a cast table-read session from dialogue and action word counts, then tune reading pace, directions, setup, breaks, and scene timing.](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/table-read-planner) [Open tool](https://www.inkwell.software/tools/table-read-planner) Write your cast into a draft in Plot. 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