diff --git a/src/client/component/bots.cpp b/src/client/component/bots.cpp
index 019242fd..731f1c0d 100644
--- a/src/client/component/bots.cpp
+++ b/src/client/component/bots.cpp
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
 #include "loader/component_loader.hpp"
 
 #include "command.hpp"
+#include "console.hpp"
 #include "scheduler.hpp"
 #include "network.hpp"
 #include "party.hpp"
+#include "scripting.hpp"
 
 #include "game/game.hpp"
 #include "game/scripting/execution.hpp"
@@ -12,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <utils/hook.hpp>
 #include <utils/string.hpp>
 #include <utils/cryptography.hpp>
+#include <utils/io.hpp>
 
 namespace bots
 {
@@ -53,10 +56,8 @@ namespace bots
 				return;
 			}
 
-			static auto first_bot = true;
-
-			const auto bot_name = game::SV_BotGetRandomName();
-			const auto bot_ent = game::SV_AddBot(bot_name);
+			const auto* const bot_name = game::SV_BotGetRandomName();
+			const auto* bot_ent = game::SV_AddBot(bot_name);
 
 			if (bot_ent)
 			{
@@ -70,6 +71,58 @@ namespace bots
 				}, scheduler::pipeline::server, 100ms);
 			}
 		}
+
+		utils::hook::detour get_bot_name_hook;
+		std::vector<std::string> bot_names{};
+
+		void load_bot_data()
+		{
+			static const char* bots_json = "h1-mod/bots.json";
+
+			std::string bots_content;
+
+			if (!utils::io::read_file(bots_json, &bots_content))
+			{
+				console::error(utils::string::va("%s was not found.\n", bots_json));
+				return;
+			}
+
+			rapidjson::Document bots;
+			bots.Parse(bots_content.data());
+
+			// must be in a ["name1, "name2", "name3"] format
+			if (!bots.IsArray())
+			{
+				console::error("bots.json must be a array of names.\n");
+				return;
+			}
+
+			const auto names = bots.GetArray();
+			for (const auto& name : names)
+			{
+				bot_names.emplace_back(name.Get<std::string>());
+			}
+		}
+
+		static size_t bot_id = 0;
+
+		const char* get_random_bot_name()
+		{
+			if (bot_names.empty())
+			{
+				load_bot_data();
+			}
+
+			// only use bot names once, no dupes in names
+			if (!bot_names.empty() && bot_id < bot_names.size())
+			{
+				bot_id %= bot_names.size();
+				const auto& entry = bot_names.at(bot_id++);
+				return utils::string::va("%.*s", static_cast<int>(entry.size()), entry.data());
+			}
+
+			return get_bot_name_hook.invoke<const char*>();
+		}
 	}
 
 	class component final : public component_interface
@@ -82,6 +135,8 @@ namespace bots
 				return;
 			}
 
+			get_bot_name_hook.create(game::SV_BotGetRandomName, get_random_bot_name);
+
 			command::add("spawnBot", [](const command::params& params)
 			{
 				if (!can_add())
@@ -102,6 +157,13 @@ namespace bots
 					scheduler::once(add_bot, scheduler::pipeline::server, 100ms * i);
 				}
 			});
+
+			// Clear bot names and reset ID on game shutdown to allow new names to be added without restarting
+			scripting::on_shutdown([]
+			{
+				bot_names.clear();
+				bot_id = 0;
+			});
 		}
 	};
 }