The worlds of possibility offered by science fiction are always breeding new genres, with cyberpunk reaching its greatest popularity in recent years. Setting a story in a cyberpunk landscape offers the opportunity to experiment with elements of the past, present, and future, all with a uniquely dystopian lens.
Good Cyberpunk City Names
To set out your grand vision for a cyberpunk city, make sure your name conveys what is unique about the place, what sets it apart from any regular city in the present day. You could include references to bits of technology, whether these are current or parts of equipment that only exist in your mind as of yet. Be sure to include a sense of gritty noir too, which can be achieved with words relating to gambling or the city’s seedy underbelly.
- Neo Culpa
- Pachinko
- Ethera
- Edge City
- The Cloud
- Modem
- The Shades
Casinova
Casinova is a love letter to market deregulation, the product of one organization owning every casino in the city. The house always wins, and visitors rarely leave with their dignity intact.
- Underbelly
- Vespas
- Metropolis Miles
- E-Lysium
- Duskfall
- Subway City
- Mod Towers
- Nu New York
- Checkpoint
- Kenograde
The Content Farm
Cities renowned for bohemian districts and scenic hotspots are a thing of the past. Citizens branded as creative must instead journey to The Content Farm, where their talents may be subsumed for the greater good.
- Night Falls
- Las Alias
- Rhouletta
- Terra
- Depravity Heights
- Data Mines
- Clone Hives
- Ellatron
- Metrograde
- Cumulus
Underpass City
Life in Underpass City may be damp and dimly lit, but its denizens prefer it that way. Every twisting dark tunnel offers a potential escape route, when the forces above ground inevitably come knocking.
- Crypto Quays
- The Big Smoke
- Megaways
- London-On-Edge
- Viper Gang City
- Gambler’s End
- Das Kapital
- Endless
- The Towers
- Monacon
Coder’s Landing
In the first wave of technocratic coups, it was coders who took up arms for the people against mega-corporations. This city was the first place they converged outside of cyberspace.
- Cyphera
- Apocapolis
- Evenstar City
- Casino Hills
- Ghostwires
- Blockchain Ganglands
- Undertron
- Nightcliffs
- The Slots
- Mobius Strip
Las Geiger
A city named with a black sense of humor, after the radiation sensors required for miles around. Only the most desperate scrappers risk scavenging the remains of whatever Las Geiger once was.
- Streamer Hills
- Opticka
- Cryptopolis
- Dice Districts
- The Armaghetto
- Dragon’s Edge
- Blackjack
- Megalopolis
Stratus
As soon as the technology became available, the wealthiest of each nation uploaded themselves to the cloud. Footage of Stratus, their first attempt at civilization, has since been banned from public servers.
- Smog Heights
- Shadowrun
- The Crypto Mines
- Cableton
- Hackergrad
- Fort Escobar
- Chips Down
Micropolis
One of a million cities designed to fit on a pocket-sized circuit board, Micropolis offers the perfect getaway for those in possession of a shrink gun.
- Sieverta
- Slingo Slums
- The Data Hives
- Byte Lights
- Assetta
I loved imagining the dark and twisted futures these city names suggest. Which ones did you like? Let me know in the comments, as well as any of your own ideas. If you have fellow cyberpunk friends, please feel free to share this with them too.
