Place names don't come from nowhere.
When people give a name to a village or a river or a mountain range, it usually has a meaning behind it. That might be a description of the place, a reference to the people living there, or something more reverant (referencing a god, for example).
Many places in England or the USA are called "New" Something. Newcastle, New York, etc.
Or a place name might relate to its location: Berwick-upon-Tweed means "barley farm upon the River Tweed".
A lot of place names in England get their origin from the person or people living there. For example: Kenilworth (meaning: enclosure of Cynehild) and Hastings (meaning: the settlement of Heasta's people)
So what does that mean for your worldbuilding?
Something that really makes a fantasy world feel alive is the names of the people and places within it. That doesn't mean you need to create a whole new language! Instead, creating a list of vocabulary you can use for your place names (and a few "common" names too!) can help make your world come alive.
Here's an example list of words with their equivalent in my own fantasy language "Asterian":
- River, rasu
- Cave, vomu
- Kingdom, Country, gardu
- Ditch, nigaulu
- Forest, reli
- Woods, sey
- Hill, arlu or vovu
- Lake, mennu
- Garden, tedzmu
- Gully, ey
- Mountain, storru
- Field, rru
- Farm, zamu
- Spring, mgualearru
- Port, damnva
(for more inspiration see here)
Your list should probably be a lot longer than this, but it's a jumping off point. Combine these terms with the names of your word's deities, words for common animals (for example "pig farm"), and boom you have yourself a list of place names you can use for your fantasy that feel authentic and consistent.
Tip: all languages have a set of sounds that they use. This is called a "phonology". Here's some resources to help you make a phology for your list (remember, go for the ones who can pronounce yourself!)
So you have a bunch of words but you're looking for inspiration?
Check out my place name generator here
Here's an example!
@dndalley #stitch with @dndalley #conlang #dndalley #fantasyworldbuilding #fantasyplace #fantasylocation #dndelves #dndelf #dndhomebrew ♬ original sound - Zaz