Mermaids have been singing in sailors' stories for centuries, from Cornish legends to Hans Christian Andersen. This mermaid name generator makes names for mermaids and mermen with sea surnames like Pearlfin, names tied to a place under the waves, and cute ones for kids' parties and games.
Mermaids in folklore
Stories of sea people half human and half fish are told along almost every coast.
- The Mermaid of Zennor: in a Cornish legend a mermaid lured a church singer into the sea. A carved mermaid on a bench end in Zennor church, hundreds of years old, still marks the story.
- Sailors' sightings: on his first voyage in 1493, Christopher Columbus reported seeing three mermaids, who were "not as pretty as they are painted". They were almost certainly manatees.
- Sirens are often mixed up with mermaids, but in Greek myth they were part bird, not part fish.
- Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" (1837) gave us the mermaid who longs to live on land.
Naming a mermaid or merman
A mermaid name should sound like the sea, or like the place she lives.
- Sea surnames join a first name to something from the shore: Nerissa Pearlfin, Sorrel Sandtail.
- Single names with a home, like Morwenna of the Deep Trench, sound like folklore.
- Cute names suit a mermaid toy or a party: Baby Coral.
- Mermen get their own names: choose Merman for names like Tiernan Stormheart.
For other sea creatures, try the Monster Name Generator's sea monsters.
For more beasts of legend, see all the mythical creature name generators.
For the darker singers of the rocks, try the Siren Name Generator.