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The 13 Best Baby Name Generators on the Internet

The Magic 8 Ball equivalent of choosing your child's name is as good a technique as any.

by Emily Kelleher
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Adorable smiling beautiful baby girl swims and plays with father in the swimming pool by the sea. Th...
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When choosing a name for their baby girl or baby boy, new parents often seek help from loved ones and experts. But if you’re sick of the baby name books and endless suggestions from friends and family that you have to pretend to consider, it may be time to turn to the internet’s vast supply of baby name generators and genies. Whether it’s a first name or middle name you’re after, a name that’s out there, or a classic one that will go with your last name, baby name generators will present you with a fresh batch of names based on your criteria.

Baby name generators are abundant these days, and much more nuanced than you might think. Generators give users the ability to find traditional and unique names, filter by popularity or similarity to other names, or find first and middle names that go together. Baby name generators can help you find names that reflect your family’s origins or religion (or political leanings), have a specific meaning, or — if you’re into this — are comprised of the letters in your and your partner’s names. Here are the 17 best baby name generators out there.

Name Clouds

This user-friendly app is like the Pandora of baby name generators. You just plug in a name you like and Nameclouds will generate a list of similar names, whether for a boy or girl. You can also explore data on how popular a given name is, state by state or over time, and see how a name evolves based on parental income, education and political stance. Love a certain baby name but hate that everyone seems to have it? Nameclouds can fix that, too, with its sliding bar of “popularity” that allows you to generate names that are just the right level of unique. Type in the name “Anna,” and it generates names with similar characteristics: Lilly, Amy, and Alyssa. But move the popularity scale to the left and it offers even more unique variations: Mallory, Asia, Ashanti, Moriah, Ayana, or Amber.

Name-Generator

This baby name generator has you add details like your last name, your parents’ names, and the names of people you admire to find the perfect name for your baby.

Best Little Baby

Deciding how to combine or not combine last names can be difficult enough. But the Best Little Baby name generator will take the guesswork out of your baby’s first name, creating names based on a combination of yours and your partner’s.

Nameberry

This popular baby name generator offers all kinds of ways to find the perfect boy and girl names, whether traditional or unique. You can search by first letter, origin, meaning, category, or popularity — and search for names that are similar to ones you already like.

Baby Name Genie

Having trouble choosing a middle name? Input the last name and gender of your baby into this name generator and it will choose a first and middle name that pair well.

Baby Center Celebrity Name Generator

If you’re in the market for a name fit for the spotlight, look no further. This generator creates star-bound names based off of your name and favorite animal.

Shutterfly

Once you fill out your last name, the baby’s gender, and a category — from celebrity to vintage — Shutterfly will generate the perfect first and middle name for you.

Mixed Name

This baby name generator helps bilingual parents find names that sound good in two languages. You just select languages (you can also choose to limit by gender, or not) and Mixed Name generates names that evoke both cultures. A combination of Arabic and Thai brings up girl names like Isra and Suda, while gender-neutral French and Spanish names include Bruno, Abel, and Noe.

Alex Davey

This hilarious hipster name generator has you describe exactly what type of hipster you’re planning on raising before spitting out a custom “small batch” name for you. Is your baby someone who prefers craft milk, or are they already vegan? The name I ended up with is Agnes Buttercup Camellia Kelleher. Beat that.

Random Names

If you don’t know where to start in choosing your baby’s name, this is the place to go. True to its name, it simply offers up one boy, girl, and unisex name at a time, and allows you to keep clicking for new ones.

Bounty

While Bounty offers a ton of resources for prospective, expecting, and new parents, including a broad suite of apps, its Baby Name Generator is one of our favorites. From gendered to non-gendered options to a masterlist of what seems like millions of established names, its help seems limitless.

Random Name Generator

Like another product on this list, we like the RNG for its flexibility. This may be the best baby name generator because say you have a middle name picked out but don’t have a clue when it comes to a first (or vice versa). Well, simply type in what you know and its algorithm uses artificial intelligence to come up with names that work together rather than clash.

Pampers.com

Who better to help you name your baby than Pampers? This baby name finder gives you access to extensive lists of names. You’ll need to sign up through your Google or Facebook or create a regular login. Pampers also give you the option of choosing the name by themes like cute, royal, nature, mythology, flowers, unique, literature, and color. Pampers.com even lets you choose names by origin and length! How awesome is that?

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