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I need some ideas for guild names. Trying to come up with an appropriate name for a criminal guild that appears in a story I've been working on but can't quite come up with one that feels right. Here's a few guild names I've come up with so far. (Either as potential names for the guild, or as names for rival guilds.)

1. The Harvesters

2. The Undertakers

3. The Reapers

4. Black Mambas

5. Breakneck Bandits

6. Blades of Justice

Something pretentious and cringey like that. Any suggestions welcome. Not 100% sure what I want to go for. The name could be dark and ominous (like The Undertakers) or deceptively heroic (Like Blades of Justice). I suppose humour could work, but I would probably go for dark/ironic humour rather than whimsical/random humour. No "Super Happy Guild of Rainbows and Unicorns". I suppose inconspicuous could possibly work. Something that wouldn't ring any alarm bells so that people would think they're a legitimate business rather than a criminal guild if they heard the name. Also a name with a story behind it would be most appreciated. (For example the Harvesters are a rival guild in the story I'm working on, who are called "the Harvesters" because they harvest people's organs and sell them on the black market.)

What's the setting and world of the story? It could help with making suggestions.

I'm going for a sort of grimdark/fantasy/steampunk type feel.

Off the top of my head, I would give these:

The Brotherhood of Domestic Posterity (BDP) 

Originally formed to settle local disputes, the BDP eventually organized to form a militia in response to a foreign criminal presence. After this event, there was no going back. Although it was first created to prevent encroaching criminal influences, the BDP ironically became the one thing they despised. They began racketeering, at first from consenting individuals, but as their influence spread, they became more inclined to assert their own sense of authority over those less familiar with their operations. Now, the BDP, while on the surface acts in the best interests of the communities they touch, is not above any action needed to create justification for their own existence, even if it means creating problems preemptively before larger threats to peace emerge. They are known for their influence in labor unions, security contracts, neighborhood watches and "charity" drives.

The Coalition of Obtrusive Permanence (COP)

The first members of the COP had no intention of organizing themselves as a permanent organization. It was a one-time deal to stop a group of young adolescents from littering when the local authorities failed to enforce the law in a timely manner. However, after feeling the thrill of success, the members reorganized to deal with other pressing issues in their local community. After having recognized that crime always seeks to emerge from the shadows, the organization remained an ever-present fixture of passionate individuals seeking to enforce laws in the absence of official authorities, including ones that obviously should exist even without the formal letter of the law. COPs take it upon themselves to enforce a rigid interpretation of moral imperatives agreed upon by the Upper Echelon of the organization. Upper Echelon has the power to recognize or ignore published laws in accordance with their charter of "true law" that guides the organization as whole. Members are also expected to give dues to contribute to the organization's continued success. Thus, COP also implements a system of multi-level marketing in which Upper Echelon collects dues and expects members under them to contract sub-members to continue the flow of dues.

 

 

 

Those names are a bit long for my liking but shortening the first one to "The Brotherhood" sounds really good to me. It's vaguely culty and gives the sense that the guild has a misplaced sense of superiority. Like the kind of guild that would completely massacre a rival faction for "the greater good". ^_^

The Syndicate

The Seven Seas (C's)- a (could be water-based, but doesn't have to be) guild with a long reach, with seven leaders all with names starting with C or something

The Numbers- I actually got this idea from a story that I read before but can't remember the name of where a criminal organization was highly secretive and each member was designated by a number only, with the founder numbered 1 and each subsequent member getting the next number, and no one knowing the real names of any other members and always referring to each other by number only

24K- precious metal/jewelry guild consisting of 24 killers or something like that

By the way, what ever happened to that magical fantasy creatures representing emotions thing that you were working on a while ago?

Those are some cool ideas. The Seven Cs sounds like it would make a badass smuggling ring... Unfortunately also sounds like some kind of educational children's cartoon, so a bit on the fence about it. Kind of just like "The Syndicate" best though. Keeping it simple.

And if you're talking about the tarot deck I was working on, that's part of the same story I'm working on right now (though only a relatively small part). There's a fortune teller in the story that reads people's future with her mythical creature tarot deck. ^_^

Cool. If you're going for simple names, then another one for a jewelry guild might be The Ring.

It might be easier to come up with names for them if you conceive of what kinds of guilds they are and types of crimes they commit first.

Theft, extortion, drug trafficking, smuggling, assassinations, prostitution, pretty much any kind of crime that has the potential to bring in money, they're involved in.

Theft, extortion, drug trafficking, smuggling, assassinations, prostitution, 

Depends on the cultural background of your fantasy world. For prostitution one may imagine lots of euphemisms such as:

• Flower Dealers/Flower bearers/seed bearers/basements florists (as in the flowers are euphemisms for prostitutes)
• Fruit pickers (same as flowers)
• Night walkers (mesh of streetwalkers and Lady of the night)

Drugs - heavily depends on the effect the drug will have and what context people take them

• Dream keepers/dream guides/dream catchers/dream granters - things like opiates
• Candy makers/night confectioners/sugar barons - if the drugs are brightly colored
• Euphemisms for drugs: slum sweets, proles peppermints, poor man's pepper upper
• Joy bringers, 

And if you are lazy, just look up euphemisms for these things and mesh some of them together. Tbf, more innocuous names make things a lot insidious and scary and stuff. Plus it will be a great way to cover up their crimes (like drug dealers used to do with adopting minecraft lingo) (For example if the god of the death is called batum, then the guild may be called; Batum's messengers, Batum's followers, Batum's blessed, Batum's children, Batum's emissaries)

With assassination: what kind of things does your fantasy world associate with death? Does it have angels, do people believe in the afterlife? If you know, then it's very easy to make very unique guild names appropriate to the setting and you will probably not need people's help anymore :).

You could also look at existing names of gangs and maffia (name it after the founder or something of the country of origin). It also heavily depends on the culture within the guild. 

That's a brilliant idea. Didn't think of using euphemisms. Thanks Darius! I'll try and think up some more. ^_^

1. The Executioners (the most notorious killers, often hired by those in power/ other guilds to eliminate the competition)
2. The Snatchers (thieves that will steal almost anything if given the chance)
3. The Shadow (they deal in blackmail, confidential information and secrecy; they often stalk their victims too)
4. The Dangerous Ones (not much is known about them; rumors are spread about whether they're an actual guild or more of a pact between several influential members)
5. Swords of Stealth (assassins and spies, known for their ability to infiltrate the most secure of spaces)
6. Blood & Bones (when they kill a target, they leave behind a single bone surrounded by a circle of blood)
7. Skull Smashers (they smash the skulls of their victims and store them as kill trophies)
8. The Predators ('kill or be killed' mindset; known for leaving their victims barely alive as part of their fearmongering)
9. Arrows of Vengeance (only take on missions where they exact vengeance, e.g. avenging dead family members, retrieving what was stolen, killing a traitor)
10. The Masked Terrors (they wear masks and do unspeakable things)
11. The Silencers (rather than kill their victims, they silence them by cutting out their teeth/ slashing their voicebox/ slicing off fingers)
12. Venom & Vices (sells the most deadly poisons, drugs and venomous reptiles)

Wow, these are all fucking badass! Thanks Mystic. ^_^

I like The Syndicate the best out of all the options put forward so far. It's simple but ominous.