Choose the object, not the mood
Start by asking whether you are naming a settlement, a state, a broad world voice, or the people derived from a place.
Guide
When to Use Map, Realm, Resident, and Broad Naming Pages
A chooser guide for the four naming jobs that worldbuilders most often blur together.
Definition
These four pages solve different naming stages
These pages overlap on surface topic, but they solve different moments in the workflow. The broad page handles early ideation, the local map page handles settlement labels, the realm page handles the political layer above them, and the resident-label page handles the people-name that usually comes after a source place is already stable.
Broad comes before specialist
If the project is still fuzzy, the broad page can establish the sound family before you lock in narrower tools.
Resident labels are usually downstream
People-labels are strongest when they inherit a stable source root rather than leading the process.
Patterns
How to choose the right page first
Use local map labels for playable nodes
Ports, capitals, market towns, and frontier settlements usually belong on the local map branch first.
Use state labels for sovereignty and territory
If the story revolves around crowns, borders, dynasties, or realm identity, the state branch is the better starting point.
Use broad labels for world voice
When characters, factions, and places are still being explored together, the broad-entry branch keeps the project flexible.
Common mistakes
Wrong-page mistakes to avoid
Using resident forms to invent the place
That often forces an awkward reverse-engineered settlement or state label later.
Naming every map layer with one broad tool
A single tool can help early ideation, but final labels usually improve once the layer is explicit.
Making local and state labels interchangeable
Readers should feel the difference between a destination and the polity above it.
Worked example
Seven chooser branches from one campaign brief
The brief says: "I need labels for a rebel port, its crown enemy, and what outsiders call the locals." Each candidate below belongs to a different branch of the chooser.
Greyharbor
Choose the local map workflow because the port is a playable destination. The label needs map readability before politics.
The Veyr Dominion
Choose the state workflow because the enemy is a polity. Dominion carries control and expansion better than a local label.
Greyharborers
Choose the resident-label workflow after the port is stable. The people-label is downstream from the settlement.
Salt Veyr Compact
Choose broad fantasy only if the rebel organization is still fuzzy. It mixes faction and regional cues before specialist refinement.
Lower Grey Quay
Stay in city work for districts. The label is smaller than the port and should not sound like a realm.
Veyrian
Use demonym logic for citizens of the dominion. It should relate to the state, not the port.
The Salt Oath
Use a faction or broad pass if the brief shifts to an organization. The chooser prevents forcing every label through place tools.
Application note
Resolve the branch before generating more
When the brief is blurry, adding more candidates can make the decision worse. Stop and write one sentence that names the object: a settlement people visit, a state that rules territory, a people derived from a place, or a broad world sound still being explored.
Once the object is named, the next action becomes smaller. Local map work needs playable geography, state work needs political scale, resident-label work needs root preservation, and broad work needs cross-surface listening. Mixing those jobs is what creates duplicate-feeling pages and muddy shortlists.
Workflow checklist
Chooser branch checks
- Name the object first: world voice, settlement, state, or people.
- Use broad only while multiple object types are still unresolved.
- Create resident labels after their source places are stable.
- If two labels sound identical, check whether they are actually different map layers.
Next step
Follow the chooser result
This guide should end in a clear branch decision, not another broad explanation of all tools.
Broad world page, Settlement page and Resident label page match broad voice, settlement work, and resident grammar once the branch is known.