Pirate Name Generator — Pirate Names, Ship Names & Nicknames

How to use the pirate name generator

1. Choose what to make: pirate names, pirate nicknames, pirate ship names, crew names, islands and hideouts, parrot and pet names, or swords and cutlasses.
2. Pick a gender and a style: classic, fierce, funny, sea or captain (titles like Captain, Commodore and Quartermaster).
3. To find your pirate name, type your first name. The first result is your pirate name, and it stays the same every time you type that name. The rest of the list puts your name in other pirate names, ships and crews.
4. Tap a name to copy it, and ♥ your favorites for the whole crew.

Names are built from 207 old-fashioned first names, 125 salty surnames, 164 nicknames, 27 ranks and titles and 36 epithets such as the Bold or Terror of the Tides. The 7 kinds of names are made for Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19), costume parties, treasure hunts, birthday parties, stories and tabletop games.

What’s my pirate name?

Type your first name into the box and press Generate. The nickname comes from the first letter of your name, using the chart below, and the surname is worked out from the letters of your name, so you and your friends can compare. Change the style to captain to get your captain’s name.

Pirate name chart

No phone at the party? Use the chart instead. Take the nickname for the first letter of your first name, add your first name, and finish with the surname for your birth month. Maya, born in March, is Mainsail Maya Seaborne.

Pirate names for men

Old sailors’ first names, a nickname in quotes, and a surname from the sea or the ship:

• “Stonewall” Reuben Snodgrass
• “Octopus” Tristan Fisher
• “Longshanks” Rufus Crowe
• Caspian Ravenscroft
• Quartermaster Bram Marlowe
• Alistair the Hungry
• Admiral Wendell Westwind
• “Knots” Jethro Sandsworth
• “Landlubber” Jericho Sternwood
• Thaddeus the Wanderer
• Solomon the Sea Wolf
• Lucius the Mostly Dry
• “Crabclaw” Thomas Blackthorn
• Bartley Mortlake
• “Goldcoat” Cornelius Shore
• Ebenezer the Often Lost
• “Raven” Gilbert Codswallop
• “Muttonchops” Solomon Dunmore
• Pirate King Tobias Marlowe
• “Jolly” Ned Codswallop
• Barnaby “Dreadnought” Seaver
• Kit the Bold
• Felix the Fearless
• Walter “Seaweed” Montague

Female pirate names

Women sailed as pirates too. Anne Bonny and Mary Read were captured together with Calico Jack Rackham’s crew in 1720, and in the early 1800s Ching Shih commanded one of the largest pirate fleets in history. Here are ideas for a lady pirate or a pirate queen:

• “Fishbones” Rosalind Bramble
• Hester the Forgetful
• First Mate Anne Porter
• Mercy the Seasick
• Winifred “Undertow” Thatcher
• Grace “Typhoon” Ironside
• Captain Ada Wavecrest
• “Gold-Tooth” Eliza Shipley
• Imogen “Salty” Carver
• Commodore Rachel McTavish
• “Barracuda” Coral Beaumont
• “Ginger” Selina Twiddle
• Alice of the Western Winds
• “Wavebreaker” Philippa Wolfe
• “Bilgewater” Viola Porter
• “Squid” Zelda Plunkett
• Nell “Nightwind” Saltbeard
• Admiral Hester Puddlefoot
• “Lucky-Compass” Lucinda Hardy
• Morwenna the Sea Wolf
• Morwenna “Scrimshaw” Seaborne
• Constance the Lucky
• “Pudding” Meg Greyhull
• Lucinda “Plank” Keel

Pirate captain names

Choose the captain style for ranks and grand titles: Captain, Commodore, Admiral, Quartermaster, and Pirate King or Pirate Queen.

• First Mate Arabella Montague
• First Mate Tiberius the Bold
• Commodore Nelson Winslow
• First Mate Tiberius Pembroke
• Pirate King Cornelius “Three-Sails” Cavendish
• Lieutenant Sebastian of the Seven Seas
• Sailing Master Rosalind of the Seven Seas
• Lieutenant Cyrus Beaumont
• Lieutenant Leopold “Old Reliable” Fitzroy
• Sailing Master Letitia Fitzroy
• First Mate Seraphina Kingsley
• Lieutenant Augustus the Uncrowned
• First Mate Edward the Magnificent
• Lieutenant Isadora Montague
• Pirate Queen Georgiana, Master of the Fleet
• Sailing Master Cyrus, Master of the Fleet
• First Mate Balthazar the Uncrowned
• Admiral Bartholomew Pembroke
• Quartermaster Isadora “Goldcoat” Fitzroy
• Captain Sebastian “Stormcaller” Pembroke

Funny pirate names

Silly names for kids’ parties and anyone who gets seasick in the bath:

• Sally “Lucky” Codswallop
• Bonnie the Often Lost
• “Snorkel” Peg Snodgrass
• Fergus the Forgetful
• Young Finnegan Higgins
• Ollie “Stormcoat” Puddlefoot
• Winifred “Tiny” Mackerel
• Clementine “Snorkel” Nibbs
• Tabitha “Inky” Mudpuddle
• Swabbie Sally Spratt
• Archibald Muddlesby
• Ichabod Goldsworth
• “Brass-Buttons” Sadie Mudpuddle
• Captain Rufus Pickering
• Sailing Master Ichabod Spratt
• “Hardtack” Temperance Pennywhistle
• Ebenezer “Squint” Winkle
• “Snorkel” Lemuel Puddlefoot
• Lottie “Fishbones” Spratt
• Molly “Greycoat” Mudpuddle

Pirate nicknames

Many of the best-known pirates are remembered by a nickname rather than their real name: Blackbeard (usually named as Edward Teach), Calico Jack (John Rackham) and Black Sam (Samuel Bellamy). A pirate nickname usually comes from a look, a habit or something that happened: a beard, a hook, a lucky escape. Choose Pirate nicknames for nicknames on their own:

• The Wave-Rider
• Stinky
• Clam
• Bilgewater
• Seasick
• Anchorfoot
• The Unwashed
• The Magnificent
• Sea-Wolf
• Barracuda
• Weathereye
• The Sea Wolf
• Scrimshaw
• Noodle
• The Unsinkable
• Seajaw
• Sharktooth
• Bones
• Brasshand
• Squall
• Cannonball
• Goldjaw
• Shrimp
• Plank
• Biscuit
• Silverheart
• Whalebone
• Sunburn
• Two-Hats
• Stormfist

Pirate ship names

Choose Pirate ship names for fierce names like these, ships named after a captain’s revenge or a sweetheart, and the funny style for punny boat names.

• The Furious Typhoon
• The Blazing Maelstrom
• Fortune of the Morning Tide
• Lenore’s Fortune
• Tempest’s Dream
• The Ruthless Wraith
• The Black Specter
• The Ruthless Hydra
• The Silent Shadow
• Hullbreaker’s Revenge
• Freya’s Promise
• The Black Hurricane
• The Ruthless Tiger
• The Raging Rogue
• The Forgotten Dragon
• The Forgotten Skull
• The Roaring Wolf
• Star of the Deep
• Blackwood’s Revenge
• The Ghostly Revenge

Funny pirate ship and boat names

• Seas the Day
• Knot Working
• Pier Pressure
• Sea Ya Later
• Shore Thing
• Water You Looking At
• Buoy Oh Buoy
• Vitamin Sea
• Oar Else
• Sail La Vie
• Knot a Clue
• Wave Goodbye
• Nacho Average Ship
• Plank You Very Much
• Sea-Esta
• Tide Me Over
• Tide and Seek
• Mast Appeal
• Sail Mate
• Hull-o There
• Deck the Hulls
• Water Way to Go
• Fin-tastic
• Shell Shocked
• Kraken Up
• Bad Hair Tide
• Parrot-dise
• Arrgh You Serious
• Yo Ho Oh No
• Pieces of Eighty

Famous real pirate ships

The ships behind the legends, with the pirates who sailed them:

Pirate crew names

Every captain needs a crew, and every crew needs a name for the flag, the team T-shirts or the treasure-hunt score sheet. Crews are often named for the captain (Blackwood’s Buccaneers) or for the ship.

• The Scarlet Crew
• The Saltwind Sisterhood
• The Sneezing Buccaneers
• The Bold Company
• The Briny Sisterhood
• The Crimson Swashbucklers
• The Moonlit Bilge Rats
• Codswallop’s Rogues
• Crew of the Raging Oyster
• The Soggy Hardtack
• The Storm Petrel Crew
• Blackmore’s Marauders
• Southgate’s Sisterhood
• Kettle’s Sea Dogs
• The Brass Compass Band
• Stormwell’s Sea Wolves
• The Royal Corsairs
• The Northern Crew
• Crew of the Rusty Doubloon
• Wickham’s Wave Riders

Pirate island and hideout names

Choose Islands & hideouts to name the island on your treasure map, a hidden cove, or the room where the party games happen. A cay or key is a small, low island, from the Spanish cayo.

• Driftwood Harbor
• Stormwell’s Reef
• Coconut Hollow
• Captain’s Landing
• Port Fairweather
• Captain’s Hideaway
• Kraken Hollow
• Fog Reef
• Black Sand Cay
• Port Gullwing
• Hullbreaker’s Cove
• Whispering Inlet
• Port Whitlock
• Thunder Landing
• Southgate’s Inlet
• Siren Atoll
• Siren Inlet
• Ghost Lagoon
• Tidewater’s Bay
• Black Sand Rock

Pirate parrot and pet names

Names for a ship’s parrot, a pirate dog or the ship’s cat, and for a real pet that likes to wear an eye patch:

• Sir Squawks-a-Lot
• Jade
• Emerald
• Squawkins
• Polly
• Mackerel
• Reefrunner
• Seahawk
• Coco
• Kiwi
• Bosun Doubloon
• Compass
• Admiral Paws
• Swabbie
• Bilge
• Captain Kipper
• Cracker
• Breeze
• Feathers
• Doubloon
• Spyglass
• Tango
• Sir Flapsalot
• Barnacle

Pirate sword names

Every famous blade has a name. Choose Swords & cutlasses for ideas like these:

• Reuben’s Promise
• Thundercaller
• Teapotclaw
• Old Sharkcaller
• Old Squallgleam
• The Admiral’s Pride
• Butter Knife
• Noodlefang
• Esther’s Answer
• Agnes’s Song
• The Northern Star
• Bram’s Answer
• Obadiah’s Song
• Seawind
• Old Reliable
• Seasinger

Famous pirates in history

The pirates and privateers behind the stories. Most of the famous names come from the “Golden Age of Piracy” in the Caribbean and the Atlantic around 1650 to 1730, but piracy is much older and was common from the North Sea to the South China Sea.

Pirate ranks and words

Pirate crews were run differently from navy ships. Many crews of the Golden Age signed written articles, elected their captain and could vote him out again. These words will help your pirate name sound the part:

Tips for a great pirate name

• Use an old-fashioned first name. Names like Silas, Barnaby, Grace or Prudence sound as if they belong on a ship from 300 years ago.
• Earn the nickname. The best nicknames tell a story: Gold-Tooth, Two-Hats, Nine-Toes. Think of one thing people would notice about your pirate.
• Choose a surname from the sea. Driftwood, Tidewell and Galewind say “pirate” before anyone sees the hat.
• Match the mood. A kids’ party wants Barnacle and Biscuit; a stormy adventure story wants Krakenbane and the Untamed.
• Give the ship a name too. A pirate name sounds twice as good with a ship to go with it: Captain Grace Fairweather of the Silver Tempest.
• Keep it original. Real pirates and famous film pirates already have their names, so the generator leaves them out.

More adventure name generators

Sail on to the Ship Name Generator for more boat names, the Villain Name Generator for the pirate’s enemies, and the Town Name Generator for the port where the treasure is hidden. Planning a treasure hunt? Print a pirate word search.