Random Island Generator (Names and Places)

This random island generator picks random islands and island names from all the regions of the world. The generator features thousands of possible results.

Random shapes, random names, random places. This random island generator features real-life islands from all over the world.

The Amount of Islands in the World

How many islands are there in the world? According to estimates, there are around 900,000 islands in the world.

These islands are not spread evenly between nations. Some countries – such as San Marino and Vatican City – have no islands at all. At the other end of the spectrum, over 25 % of the world’s islands are located in Sweden.

Here’s the top five of countries with the most countries according to Wikipedia:

1. Sweden (270,000)
2. Norway (240,000)
3. Finland (180,000)
4. Japan (120,000)
5. Canada (50,000)

If you’d pick a completely random island anywhere in the world, you’d have a 75 % chance of hitting an island in one of the Nordic countries. Such a randomizer would be realistic, but it wouldn’t be much fun.

Because of this, I have balanced the results of this generator. The more islands a country has, the more likely it will appear in the results – but in this case, less island-heavy regions also have a realistic chance of appearing.

There are around 120 Swedish, 90 Norwegian, and 80 Finnish islands in the generator. On the other end, countries with the least archipelagos are represented by 1-12 islands each.

In total, this random island generator features 2,562 different islands, islets, cays, and reefs. These islands represent all the countries and regions of the world.

Random Island Generator

Click the button below to get your random island in the world. Each result comes with links to the island on Google Maps. I’ve also added links to web searches on Ecosia, a search engine that uses its ad revenue to plant trees.

This is not the only random destination generator on Arimo Travels. You can find my 40+ other randomizers on the Random Generators page. These include a random country generator, a random Caribbean island generator, and much more.

Interesting Islands Around the World

Here are three interesting islands that can appear in this random island generator:

Monuriki, Fiji

What’s the first story with a desert island that comes to your mind?

If you’re born in the 1700s, it’s probably Robinson Crusoe. For millennials, it might be the TV show Lost. And if you’re born at some point in between, it’s most likely the 2000 film Cast Away starring Tom Hanks.

Monuriki, Fiji is much like dozens of other uninhabited islands of Fiji. However, it was used as the filming location of the Cast Away film. Since then, it has become a popular tourist attraction.

Random Island, Canada

Funnily enough, there’s an actual island called Random Island in Canada. The island, located in the easternmost part of Canada. Random Island has a population of around 1,200 people.

The islands name is probably unrelated to randomness, though. The Canadian Encyclopedia deduces that the island’s name might come from randon (= disorderly), referring to the turbulent seas.

Tristan da Cunha, United Kingdom

I have a slight obsession with Tristan da Cunha, and I simply had to include it in this random island picker. Located in the middle of the Atlantic between South Africa and Brazil, Tristan da Cunha is the most isolated inhabited archipelago/island on Earth.

I actually once wrote an email to the administrator of Tristan da Cunha and asked about a possible visit. This was during my mostly flightless 2-year trip around the world. However, I never received a reply, and as my time and money were running out, I decided to simply continue my journey through Africa.

Random Island Name Generator

I know many of you came here to find a random island name generator. For example, you might need to name a fictional island for a DnD campaign or come up with a fake Animal Crossing island name.

Even though all the islands in this generator are real, you can use the generator as an inspiration in your name-searching. As the generator covers nearly all the countries of the world, it also features dozens of different languages.

For other random words and place names, you can use my random city and random language generators as an inspiration. The random language name generator includes all 7,000+ languages of the world, so it is a great starting point for very varying names.

However, instead of just using an island name generator, I encourage you to think further. Most importantly, ask yourself the following question: who would have named the island, and why?

A name can tell a story, and an island name is no different. Many islands are named after past leaders. For example, there are several Elizabeth Islands in places related to the British Empire.

Some island names tell about the local culture and fauna. Others are related to the island’s features. There are dozens of Long Islands and Snake Islands with narrow and twisting shapes.

A name can carry meaning and add a sense of history to your fantasy world. Don’t waste that opportunity.

Random Island Map Generator

Besides random island names, some of you need a random island map generator or a shape for a fantasy island. Once again, this generator is not exactly what you’re looking for, but it can help you get started.

As all the results include links to Google Maps, you can follow those links to find a random island map. Just don’t be disappointed if many of the islands appear as rather unremarkable, round blobs.

For beautiful island shapes, I recommend you zooming in on Indonesia on Google Maps. The island country contains over 18,000 islands. Those islands come in many shapes and forms, offering a great starting point for a classical tropical island.

If you want to get creative, you can use a stain as a starting point for your fantasy island map. For example, you can spill a drop of liquid on a piece of paper. Free-handedly trace the edges of the stain with a pen, and continue from there.

For a long time, I knew about the demand for an island generator like this one. However, I kept the idea on the back burner for ages, as I thought it would take too much time and effort. 

However, my thoughts changed when ChatGPT came out.

As I was playing with the chatbot, I thought I could leave all the mundane bits to the AI. I also discovered Geokeo, an online database that lists many of the islands of the world by country. I got my hopes up and started working on this island randomizer.

After a while, though, I realized my plan wasn’t working. ChatGPT didn’t do what I wanted. I also noticed that Geokeo was full of false information, rendering it unusable.

In the end, I created the whole generator from scratch. As I wanted to implement Google Maps, I could only pick islands that were featured in the mapping platform.

And how could I make sure all my islands would appear on Google Maps? There were no shortcuts available: I scrolled through the maps of all the world’s countries. writing down the names of all the 2,562 islands in this generator.

It took me around 20 hours to create this random island generator. I hope you enjoy it.