How many ethnicities are in the generator?

238 entries, one per country or territory with an ISO 3166 code. Each has a demonym, a country name and the two-letter code.

Is this a random nationality generator or an ethnicity generator?

Functionally it's a nationality generator: every entry is tied to a country or territory. It doesn't include stateless or sub-national ethnic groups, so if you need those you'll have to refine the result yourself.

Can I generate several at once without repeats?

Yes. Ask for up to 10 and the tool takes them from one shuffled copy of the list, so a single batch never repeats an entry.

Can it pick an ethnicity for an OC by region, like only Europe or only Africa?

Not on this page; there's no continent filter. Generate ten and keep the ones from the region you want, or use the Random Asian Country Generator for Asia specifically.

Why do some results show a territory instead of a country?

The list follows ISO country codes, which include dependencies such as Guam, Tokelau and the Isle of Man. Their demonyms are real and in use, so they're kept in.

Random Ethnicity Generator

Get 1 to 10 random nationalities from 238 countries and territories, each with the demonym, country name and ISO code.

More Country, City & Place Generators

National Anthem Generator

Religion Generator

Random Capital City Generator

Random City Generator

Browse all country, city & place generators →

The Random Ethnicity Generator draws 1 to 10 entries from a list of 238 nationalities, one for every country and territory with an ISO code, and shows each as a card with the demonym (Brazilian, Ghanaian, Thai), the country it belongs to and the two-letter country code. It's built for writers and character designers who want a background they wouldn't have picked on their own, and for classroom or quiz use where you need a country and its people's name together.

What it does and doesn't cover

This is a nationality list, not an anthropological one. Every entry maps to a country or territory: Mexican to Mexico, Finnish to Finland, Sri Lankan to Sri Lanka. Ethnic groups that cross or sit inside borders (Kurdish, Yoruba, Tamil, Basque, Han Chinese) aren't separate entries, and neither are broad labels like Hispanic or Asian. If your character sheet needs "ethnicity" in that stricter sense, use the result as the country of origin and refine from there. In practice, "random nationality generator" describes this tool exactly.

Settings and output

Enter a count from 1 to 10 (default 1) and press the button. Each press shuffles the whole list and shows the first entries, so a batch of ten never contains duplicates, though separate presses can. Each card shows three things: the demonym in large type, the country name, and its ISO 3166 code in brackets, for example Country: Norway (NO). Because territories are included, you'll occasionally see entries like Manx (Isle of Man), Tokelauan (Tokelau) or Niuean (Niue), and a few territories reuse their parent's demonym, such as British for South Georgia and Australian for Heard Island.

Ways to use it

Original characters and NPCs: draw one nationality per character, then use the Random Country Generator or Random City Generator to decide where they live now, which might not be where they're from.
Diverse casts without bias: when every character you invent ends up from the same three countries, a random draw fixes that. Draw ten and assign them.
Geography and vocabulary practice: the demonym is often the hard part (someone from Burkina Faso is Burkinabé; from Cyprus, Cypriot). Cover the country, guess it from the demonym, check the card.
Trivia and quiz rounds: pair a drawn nationality with the National Anthem Generator or Random Capital City Generator for a two-part question.
Test data: the ISO code on each card is handy when you need a country_code field populated with realistic values.

For a draw limited to one continent, the Random Asian Country Generator works the same way, and other place pickers are under all country, city & place generators.

A note on writing characters from a random draw

A nationality on a card is a starting point, not a personality. Once you have "Lebanese" or "Bhutanese," spend ten minutes reading about the place before writing the character, and let the draw decide origin rather than traits. That's what the tool is good for: forcing you off your default choices. It's not good for deciding how a character behaves, and it won't tell you anything about religion or language, which vary within nearly every country on the list.

Frequently asked questions

How many ethnicities are in the generator?: 238 entries, one per country or territory with an ISO 3166 code. Each has a demonym, a country name and the two-letter code.
Is this a random nationality generator or an ethnicity generator?: Functionally it's a nationality generator: every entry is tied to a country or territory. It doesn't include stateless or sub-national ethnic groups, so if you need those you'll have to refine the result yourself.
Can I generate several at once without repeats?: Yes. Ask for up to 10 and the tool takes them from one shuffled copy of the list, so a single batch never repeats an entry.
Can it pick an ethnicity for an OC by region, like only Europe or only Africa?: Not on this page; there's no continent filter. Generate ten and keep the ones from the region you want, or use the Random Asian Country Generator for Asia specifically.
Why do some results show a territory instead of a country?: The list follows ISO country codes, which include dependencies such as Guam, Tokelau and the Isle of Man. Their demonyms are real and in use, so they're kept in.