Random Name Generator: Real First and Last Names

How to generate a random name

Press Generate a name. A first name and a surname land on the card, with a small label that says whether it is a girl's or a boy's name.
Open Options to pick the country, or All countries for a mix. Choose Full name, First name or Last name, and Girl, Boy or Any.
Want a name everyone knows, or one you rarely hear? Popular keeps to the most common names of the country, Less common to the ones further down the list.
Set How many to anything from 1 to 20. With No repeats on, a first name you have had stays out until you press Start over. History keeps every draw, and Copy puts the names on your clipboard.

What people use random names for

Characters for stories and games

A novel set in Lyon needs French neighbors, a tabletop campaign needs a Polish innkeeper. Pick the country and the generator gives names that fit the place, not invented ones. Draw ten and keep the one that sounds right for the character.

Sample data and test accounts

Forms, spreadsheets and demo databases look real with real names in them. Draw 20 full names at a time, copy them and paste them into the sheet. Spanish names come with both surnames and Polish surnames in the women's or the men's form, just as they are written in those countries.

Classroom and language practice

Teachers use invented people for math problems, role plays and reading tasks. A random German or Italian name helps students hear how names sound in the language they are learning. Present mode shows the name big enough for the back row.

Ideas for a baby name

Parents who are stuck on the same five names can let chance suggest new ones: switch to Girl or Boy, choose First name and Less common, and draw a few at a time. Every name on the list is carried by real people in that country.

Questions about the random name generator

Where do the names come from?

From open official statistics, country by country: baby name counts and surname counts that national statistics offices and registries publish for anyone to reuse. For the United States, first names come from the Social Security Administration and surnames from the 2010 Census. Under Options you see the source of the country you picked, with a link. We keep only the names, no figures. Czech names are the exception: we used no third-party statistics there and compiled the Czech lists by hand from general knowledge of common names, and their Popular and Less common order is an estimate.

Which countries are there?

Brazil, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States. Pick one under Options, or All countries for a mix: each name then comes from a country picked at random, and the label under the name says which. Germany, Italy and Brazil give first names only for now, because we found no open official list of their surnames. Mexico, Portugal and the Netherlands are missing for the same reason: no open name statistics we may reuse.

What do Popular and Less common mean?

Each country's list is sorted by how many people carry a name. Popular is the top of that list, names you meet in every class. Less common are the names below them: still real, just seen less often.

Why do Spanish names have two surnames?

Because that is how names work there: usually the father's first surname, then the mother's, as in Lucía García Romero. The generator always gives two there. Polish surnames like Kowalski change form for women (Kowalska), and the generator uses the right one.

Is every name equally likely?

Yes. Within your settings every country has the same chance, Girl and Boy have the same chance under Any, and then every name on the list has the same chance. The pick is made by the secure random generator built into your browser; the short roll before the names land is only decoration.

Could a generated name belong to a real person?

Real first names and real surnames, put together at random, will often match someone somewhere. The generator does not know anyone and does not look anyone up. For a book or a game that is usually what you want; for anything official, do not present a generated name as a real person.

Do I need to sign up or install anything?

No. The page works in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer, keeps working offline once it has loaded, and saves your settings and history only on your own device.

Ready-made name generators

The same generator, already set to one country or to surnames only. Every setting can still be changed under Options.

Random name generator

Generated names