Baby name tools

What you can do here

The collection behind the tools holds 1,164 published names, 1,164 of them with a recorded meaning, across 9 languages. Of those, 715 have a meaning that a cited source states directly. The tools never invent a name: they sort, filter, compare and combine entries that already exist, and every suggestion links to the page where you can read the evidence.

The tools fall into three groups. Discovery tools help you meet names you did not know: the generator, the quiz, the Name of the Day and Swipe & Match. Checking tools test a name you already like: the full name preview, the sibling name finder, the bilingual name finder and the comparison table. Writing tools help with spelling: the transliterator converts between Latin, Cyrillic and Uyghur Arabic script with fixed rules.

Which tool should you start with?

• You have no idea yet: open the generator, choose a gender and one meaning theme, and press Show me another set until something catches your eye.
• You and a partner disagree: swipe on your own phones in a Name Match room, and look only at the names you both kept.
• You like a name but worry about the surname: type the three parts into the full name preview and read the initials, length and syllables.
• You already have a child: the sibling name finder suggests names that share an origin or a rhythm without starting with the same letter.
• Your family lives between two languages: the bilingual name finder lists names that are documented in both, or that need no special letters in the second language.
• You have three finalists: put them in the comparison table and read meaning, origin and sources side by side.
• You found a spelling in another alphabet: the transliterator shows the rule-based result and the attested spelling from our database.

How the tools stay honest

Every meaning in the database carries one of three labels. Documented means a cited source states the meaning. Likely means the meaning is composed from known parts or supported by a source that hedges. Editorial means the meaning comes from our own research and has not yet been linked to a citation. The tools show these labels wherever a meaning appears, and the quiz and the finders let you filter by them.

Where a tool uses a rule, the rule is written on the page. The syllable counter, for example, counts vowel groups, which is reliable for most Turkic spellings but is an approximation. The bilingual finder checks letters and clusters, not pronunciation. We would rather show a rule you can check than a score you have to trust.

Search in your own alphabet

Search accepts Latin letters, Cyrillic letters and Uyghur Arabic script. Type a name the way your family writes it, in the search box or in the quick search that opens with the slash key or Ctrl or Command plus K, and the matching page appears first when that exact spelling is stored. A Latin query can also find a name that is stored in Cyrillic or Arabic script, and the reverse works as a lower-ranked match with a note explaining the transliteration used.

What is not available yet

Not available yet: popularity statistics. We do not publish rankings, trend lines or claims that a name is rare or common until we can base them on official birth-name statistics, and we keep every country apart when we do. Until then, the filters describe only what our own data supports, such as how many languages a name is documented in.

Practical tips for using several tools together

A good order for many families is to start wide and narrow slowly. Generate or swipe until you have ten names, save them, compare the best three, then test the finalists with the full name preview. If you are choosing for a second or third child, run the sibling finder before the quiz, because the sibling criteria already remove the clashes you would otherwise discover late. Names such as Bibi, Umit and Ishan show how different entries can look once you open them.

Say each finalist aloud with your surname and with the names of close relatives, write it in every script your family uses, and check the registry rules of the country where the birth will be recorded. None of these steps can be automated, and a tool is only a way to get to a better short list.

Questions and answers