A baby name generator with ideas, meanings and real top lists
Choosing a name is one of the first big decisions you make for your baby, and it is easy to go around in circles with the same five names. This baby name generator gives you several ways in: describe the name you dream of, check the official ranking of a country, discover real names that are rarely given, or let chance surprise you. Keep the names you like with a tap on the heart, then settle it with a name duel. It is free, there is no account, and it works in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
Five ways to find names
- Inspire me. Describe the name you dream of in your own words, like “a hero’s name, elegant, not too masculine”, and press Find names. You get 10 ideas, with their meaning and why they fit. Tap a suggestion such as “short and soft” to add it to your description, and press 10 more like this for a new batch.
- Top 10. The first 10 names in the latest ranking for the country you choose. With “girl or boy”, you see the top 5 of each.
- Hidden gems. Real names that are given, but rarely.
- 10 at random. Ten names drawn from the top list and the hidden gems together. Press More names or the Space bar for a new batch: names you just saw don’t come back until you have been through the list.
- Top 100. The whole top list of the country, girls and boys side by side, to browse at your own pace. Tap a name to add it to your favorites.
A short sentence above the results holds the filters. Tap a word to change it: girl, boy, or girl or boy; the country; and, for the lists, the first letter. If no name in the list starts with that letter, the tool says so.
Each card shows the name, its rank when it comes from a top list, and its origin and style tags, such as classic, soft, nature or mythology. On the US and UK lists, and in the ideas from Inspire me, it also shows the meaning when it is known.
How Inspire me works
When it is available, our server asks an AI model for 10 real first names that match your words, the gender and the country, and the results say “Ideas picked for you”. When it is not (or when you are offline), the tool ranks our own list by its tags, like elegant, short, nature, mythology or rare, and says “Best matches in our list”. Either way, treat the meanings and reasons as a starting point, and look a name up before you fall for it.
Your description is the one thing on this page that leaves your browser. It is sent to our server only to find names, along with your filters and the names to leave out (the ones already shown and your favorites, so the ideas are new to you). It is not stored with any personal data. Answers to identical requests are kept for 7 days, without anything about who asked.
Where the lists come from
Top 10, Top 100 and the ranks come from the ranking published for each country. The tool adds no popularity figures of its own, and the hidden gems are our own selection, not a ranking.
| Country | Source | Year | Top list |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names | 2025 | 100 girls, 100 boys |
| United Kingdom (England and Wales) | Office for National Statistics (ONS) | 2025 | 100 girls, 100 boys |
| Spain | National Statistics Institute (INE) | 2024 | 100 girls, 100 boys |
| Germany | GfdS (ranks 1 to 10) and Knud Bielefeld, beliebte-vornamen.de (ranks 11 to 100) | 2025 | 100 girls, 100 boys |
| Italy | National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) | 2024 | 50 girls, 50 boys |
| France | Insee, Fichier des prénoms | 2025 | 100 girls, 100 boys |
| Brazil | Arpen Brasil, Civil Registry Transparency Portal | 2025 | 31 girls, 28 boys |
A few notes. The UK list covers England and Wales, and counts spelling variants separately. Germany has no official name statistics, so its list combines two reference rankings. Italy publishes 50 names per gender, and the Brazilian portal publishes a shorter list for girls and boys together, which is why those top lists are shorter. In Spain and the UK, names with the same count share a rank.
How to choose a baby name
- Say it out loud, with the last name. A short first name often balances a long last name.
- Check the initials. Make sure they don’t spell a word you wouldn’t want on a backpack.
- Think about nicknames. Elizabeth can become Liz, Beth or Eliza. If you dislike the likely nickname, think twice.
- Look at the meaning and origin. Some families like a name with roots in their heritage, or a grandparent’s name as a middle name.
- Test the spelling. Will a teacher spell it right the first time? If you have older children, say the siblings’ names together too.
Favorites and the name duel
Tap the heart on any card, or a name in Top 100, to keep it. The Favorites button in the bottom bar shows how many you have and opens Your favorites: tap a name to remove it, press Copy favorites to paste the list in a message, or Clear to start fresh. The list is saved in this browser only.
When the list gets long, open the Name duel. It shows two favorites side by side: tap the one you prefer, and the next pair comes up. Winners meet again, round after round, until one name is left. You need at least 2 favorites to start. It is a nice way to decide as a couple:
- Each parent hearts names on their own phone.
- Swap lists with Copy favorites, then heart the names from both lists on one phone.
- Run the duel together, agreeing on each pick or taking turns.
- Run the duel again a few days later. If the same name wins twice, you may have found it.
Still torn between the last two? Flip a coin. Not to let chance decide, but because while the coin is in the air, many people notice which side they are hoping for. Need names for story characters instead? Try the random name generator.