In Greek myth, the sirens sang from their island so beautifully that sailors steered onto the rocks to reach them. Odysseus had himself tied to the mast to hear them and live. This siren name generator makes Greek-sounding names, song-names like Wavecall, and sirens named for the shore they haunt.
The sirens of Greek myth
In Homer's Odyssey, the sirens sing from their island so sweetly that sailors steer onto the rocks to hear them.
- Odysseus had his crew block their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast, so he could hear the song and live.
- Jason's Argonauts got past them another way: Orpheus played his lyre louder than they could sing.
- Bird-women: in Greek art sirens have the bodies of birds and the heads of women. They only became fish-tailed sea-maidens in the Middle Ages, which is why siren and mermaid are now mixed up.
- Names: Homer doesn't name them, but later writers give names like Parthenope, Ligeia and Leucosia. Parthenope's body was said to have washed ashore where Naples now stands.
Naming a siren
- Greek names use the old sea and song words (Thelxiope, "charming voice"), with a home "of the Black Rocks".
- Song names describe the voice that does the damage: Foamsong, Stormhymn, Drownsigh.
- An epithet says what the song does to you.
For the friendlier side of the sea, try the Mermaid Name Generator, and for what lies further down, the Kraken Name Generator.
For more beasts of legend, see all the mythical creature name generators.