Baby Name Generator

What this generator does

Draws from a curated list of given names chosen to work as a real first name in the UK today, rather than every name ever recorded. Use it to break a deadlock or widen a shortlist; the middle-name generator is the one to pair with it, and the full-name generator adds a surname if you want to hear how a whole name sounds.

What you'll get

This generator draws from a hand-checked list of 90 entries. Here is a spread of 8 of them, so you can see the style before you generate:

• Elodie
• Rhys
• Rosalie
• Aurelia
• Ember
• Indra
• Niamh
• Romilly

A fixed sample of the list, not a live draw — your own results are picked at random from all 90, without repeating until the list runs out. Original HEKNO-curated shortlist blending classic and modern given names. Last reviewed 2026-09-03.

How to use this tool

1. Set an initial or a length if the shortlist needs to fit around something, or leave the filters empty.
2. Choose how many name ideas you'd like.
3. Generate for a fresh shortlist any time.
4. Enter a seed word if you want the same list back later for as long as the generator is unchanged; leave it empty for a fresh draw.

Understanding the controls

Starting with

For a name that has to alliterate with a surname, or share a letter with a sibling. The count underneath says how many of the list are left, which is worth watching — a single letter can leave very few.

But not starting with

The more common case in a family: everything except the letter an older child already has.

At most this many letters

Letters only, so a hyphenated name is not penalised for its hyphen. A short given name is the usual answer to a long surname.

Worked examples

Breaking a deadlock between two favourites

Generate a shortlist of ten with no filter, and use it to widen the conversation past the two names you keep circling back to.

Matching an older sibling's initial

Set 'starting with' to the sibling's first letter and generate a shortlist, then say each one aloud next to the sibling's name before deciding.

Common use cases

• Brainstorming baby name shortlists
• Breaking a naming deadlock between partners
• Finding inspiration outside your usual favourites

How this generator works

An initial or length filter is applied before anything is drawn, and the name itself is then chosen uniformly from whatever passes the filter — a letter does not make a name more or less likely, it only decides which names are still in the running. This list mixes older and newer names deliberately rather than leaning toward either, so a filtered shortlist should still turn up both.

Randomness and fairness

Suggestions come from your browser's cryptographic random number generator. A seed makes a shortlist reproducible — the same word brings back the same names, which is easier than screenshotting a list you liked. The seeded draw is deterministic, not cryptographic, so it is not a way to keep a shortlist private.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• This is a hand-curated shortlist chosen for current UK use, not a register of every name given to a baby — plenty of real, popular names will not appear on it.
• A narrow filter — a rare initial combined with a short length limit — can leave only one or two names, at which point 'ten ideas' becomes ten repeats of the same handful.
• Nothing here checks a name's meaning, popularity ranking, or how it will read alongside a specific surname; that judgement stays with you.

Practical tips

• Say a shortlisted name out loud with your surname before deciding — a lot of combinations that read well do not sound well.
• Generate several at once and keep the ones you react to rather than the ones you can justify; a shortlist built from instinct is easier to narrow later.
• Check how a name shortens. Most names acquire a nickname whether the family chooses one or not.