One simple method is to make up words that sound like city names. For instance, 'Glowston' or 'Mistville'. You can also take inspiration from nature. If there's a beautiful flower like 'Lily', you could create 'Lilytown'. Additionally, using old - fashioned or archaic words can be interesting. For example, 'Thornbury' which gives an old - world charm to the story's setting.
To generate random city names for stories, start with your own experiences. Maybe you visited a place with a unique name and can modify it. Say you went to 'Bridgetown', you could create 'Bridgeville'. Or, you can use foreign words. The Spanish word 'oro' means gold, so you could make 'Oroville'. You can also use alliteration like 'Piney Peak' which has a nice ring to it and can be used as a city name in a story.