Villager Names Mod (1.21.11, 1.20.6) – You Can Now Identify Villagers

Villager Names is a quality-of-life mod that automatically assigns unique names to every villager in your Minecraft world, available for Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, and Quilt mod loaders. Created by Serilum, the mod draws from a built-in library of over 5,000 names and supports fully custom name lists, giving each villager a distinct identity without any manual effort from the player.

Vanilla Minecraft treats villagers as interchangeable trading machines. You build elaborate trading halls, breed dozens of villagers for the perfect enchantments, and yet every single one remains a nameless, identical entity. The only way to name them is to craft a name tag, find an anvil, type a name, and right-click — for every single villager. In a world with 30 or more villagers, that process becomes tedious fast. Villager Names solves this entirely by automatically generating a name for every unnamed villager the moment they spawn or are detected. With over 8.5 million downloads on Modrinth, it has become one of the most popular quality-of-life mods in the Minecraft ecosystem, and for good reason — it transforms anonymous NPCs into characters that feel like they belong in your world.

Key Features of Villager Names

• Automatic naming from 5,000+ built-in names — Every unnamed villager in your world receives a randomly selected name the moment the mod detects them. This applies to both existing villagers and newly spawned ones, so you never have to manually track which ones you have already named. It is a truly set-and-forget experience.
• Custom name lists — You can create your own name list by editing a simple text file at ./mods/villagernames/customnames.txt. When custom names are present, the mod uses those instead of the default list. This lets you theme your world — name villagers after friends, fictional characters, or historical figures to create a more personal experience.
• Profession display on trade screens — When you open a villager's trade interface, their profession appears alongside their name. This is invaluable in large trading halls where you need to quickly identify which villager offers what without memorizing positions. Professions are also localized to your game language, so non-English players benefit equally.
• Modded villager support — The mod does not limit itself to vanilla villager entities. It also detects and names villager-like entities added by other mods, making it compatible with modpacks that introduce custom village content. If a modded villager is missed, the developer actively accepts reports to expand coverage.
• Configurable display options — Multiple config settings let you control exactly what information appears on the villager trade screen. You can toggle between default female names, male names, or custom lists, and fine-tune what gets shown on the nameplate. This flexibility means the mod adapts to your preferences rather than forcing a single style.
• Works on old and new worlds — You do not need to start a new world for the mod to take effect. Installing it on an existing save automatically names all previously unnamed villagers on their next load. This makes it safe to add mid-playthrough without losing any progress or requiring world resets.
• Multi-loader availability — Villager Names supports Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, and Quilt simultaneously. No matter which modding ecosystem you prefer, you can install it without switching loaders. This broad compatibility is a hallmark of Serilum's mod library.

Screenshots

How to Install Villager Names

1. Install your preferred mod loader: Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, or Quilt Loader.
2. Download and install the Collective library mod, which is a required dependency for Villager Names to function.
3. Download the Villager Names file that matches your Minecraft version and mod loader from the download section below.
4. Place both the Villager Names and Collective .jar files into your .minecraft/mods folder.
5. Launch Minecraft with your mod loader profile. Villagers in your world will begin receiving names automatically — no further setup required.

Requirements & Compatibility

What's New

• Updated to support Minecraft 26.1, ensuring compatibility with the latest game version.
• Continued multi-loader support across Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, and Quilt for the newest releases.
• Ongoing maintenance and updates since the original 2022 release, with the most recent update on March 25, 2026.
• Full changelog history is available on the developer's changelog page.

Pros and Cons

Alternatives to Villager Names

• Guard Villagers — Adds combat-capable villager guards that defend villages, complementing Villager Names by giving your named villagers protectors to keep them alive.
• Easy Villagers — Lets you pick up and manage villagers as items, solving the logistics side of villager management while Villager Names handles the identity side.
• More Villagers — Expands the pool of villager professions and trades, pairing well with Villager Names to create a richer and more diverse village economy.

Download Villager Names

Always download mods from official sources to stay safe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Villager Names work on multiplayer servers?

Yes — Villager Names works on both singleplayer and multiplayer servers. When installed on the server side, all players will see the same villager names regardless of whether they have the mod installed on their client.

Can I use my own custom names instead of the default list?

Yes, you can fully customize the name pool. Edit the file located at ./mods/villagernames/customnames.txt and add your preferred names separated by commas. When custom names are detected, the mod ignores the default 5,000-name list entirely and uses yours instead.

Will this mod name villagers I already renamed with a name tag?

No — the mod only targets unnamed villagers. Any villager you have already named with a name tag will keep its existing name. The mod specifically detects unnamed entities and leaves manually named ones untouched.

Does Villager Names affect game performance?

The mod appears to be lightweight and should not noticeably impact performance. It only activates when an unnamed villager is detected in a loaded chunk, so it is not running constant background processes. Worlds with extremely large numbers of villagers may see a brief moment of processing on first load.

Is Villager Names compatible with other villager mods?

Yes — the mod is designed to work alongside other villager mods and even supports naming modded villager entities. It is part of Serilum's "The Vanilla Experience" modpack, which bundles dozens of compatible quality-of-life mods together, confirming broad compatibility across the modding ecosystem.

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