Owl Name Generator

Press for five owl names, each with a line on why it fits the bird.

Owl Name Generator

  1. Stable LampA pale glow in a dark building.
  2. Church OwlA common name for the barn owl, which will nest in a church tower.
  3. StarlitOut on a clear night.
  4. TytoThe barn owl's genus name.
  5. Pale RockFrom far off, a resting snowy owl can pass for a pale rock.

Next step Draw a real bird species

How it works

Press for five names for a pet owl, a soft toy, a mascot or a character, sorted by the bird: snowy, barn, tawny and great horned owls, then names from the night sky, the call and the wise old bird.

Read the full guide

Names that fit the species

Choose a species in the list under the button. The snowy owl is the only owl with mainly white plumage, so Snowlump fits. A barn owl's face is a pale heart, so Heartface does. Roundhead suits a tawny owl, which has no ear tufts, and Plumicorn is the real word for a great horned owl's feather horns.

Names from the call

Not every owl hoots. Kewick is the female tawny owl's call, Screecher is for the barn owl, which screeches, and Who Cooks is how people remember the barred owl's call.

Questions and answers

What is a good name for an owl?

A good owl name comes from the bird. Lemon Eyes suits a snowy owl, which has bright yellow eyes. Heartface suits a barn owl. Hush fits any owl: serrated edges on its wing feathers make its flight almost silent.

What do you name a snowy owl?

Try Snowlump, Pale Rock or Polar Owl. On the ground a snowy owl can look like a lump of snow or a pale rock, and polar owl is another name for the species. Flecks suits a female, who carries more dark marks.

What is a group of owls called?

A group of owls is called a parliament, a term from old English hunting language. Parliament is on the list, in the group for a wise old bird.

Are these the names of owls from books and films?

Not on purpose. We wrote the names, cut any found in Wikipedia's lists of fictional birds and birds of prey, and left out the owls of well-known books, films and games by hand.

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All 141 owl names

For a snowy owl 19

  • Day Owl Unlike most owls, the snowy owl is often active during the day.
  • Flecks Female snowy owls carry more dark brown flecks than the males.
  • Frost Quill A white feather with a cold edge.
  • Igloo White, round and built for the cold.
  • Lemon Eyes The snowy owl has bright yellow eyes.
  • Long Winter For a bird that is at home in the cold.
  • North Lamp Two yellow eyes in a white face.
  • Only White The snowy owl is the only owl with mainly white plumage.
  • Pale Rock From far off, a resting snowy owl can pass for a pale rock.
  • Polar Owl Another name for the snowy owl.
  • Purewhite Male snowy owls tend to be a purer white all over.
  • Scandiacus The second half of the snowy owl's scientific name, Bubo scandiacus.
  • Snow Lantern A pale shape that seems to glow at dusk.
  • Snowfield Wide, white and empty until it blinks.
  • Snowlump Seen on the ground, a snowy owl can look like a lump of snow.
  • Snowshoes A snowy owl's toes are thickly feathered in white.
  • Tundra Watch Sits on open ground and sees for miles.
  • White Silence What a snowy owl brings with it.
  • Winter Moon Round, pale and high over the snow.
Show all 141 owl names (122 more)

For a barn owl 21

  • Alba The second half of the western barn owl's scientific name, Tyto alba.
  • Belfry High, dark and quiet between the bells.
  • Candlewax The soft off-white of a barn owl's face.
  • Church Owl A common name for the barn owl, which will nest in a church tower.
  • Coal Eyes A barn owl's eyes are black in a pale, heart-shaped face.
  • Dusty Rafters Up where nobody sweeps.
  • Ghost Owl One of the barn owl's many common names.
  • Grain Loft Where the mice are, so where the owl is.
  • Hayloft Where a barn owl spends the day.
  • Heartface A barn owl's face is a large, heart-shaped disc.
  • Hobgoblin Another of the barn owl's common names.
  • Long Legs A barn owl flies with its feathered legs dangling.
  • Moonface Round, white and looking down.
  • Old Beam A perch that has held owls for a hundred years.
  • Pale Visitor Drifts over the field at dusk.
  • Paper Lantern Light, pale and floating.
  • Rafters The best seat in the barn.
  • Square Tail A barn owl has long wings and a short, squarish tail.
  • Stable Lamp A pale glow in a dark building.
  • Tyto The barn owl's genus name.
  • White Apron For the clean pale front under darker wings.

For a tawny owl 20

  • Aluco The second half of the tawny owl's scientific name, Strix aluco.
  • Bark Brown Sits against a trunk and disappears.
  • Beechmast The brown nuts under a beech tree.
  • Brown Owl Another name for the tawny owl.
  • Burr Oak Rough bark the color of this owl's back.
  • Chestnut Leaf Brown and curled at the edges.
  • Copsewood A small wood, big enough for one owl.
  • Fallen Log Brown, quiet and home to a hundred beetles.
  • Homebody Tawny owls do not migrate. They hold one territory all year.
  • Ivy Stump A hiding place in plain sight.
  • Leafmold The soft brown floor of a wood.
  • Mossy Bough A green and brown perch.
  • Nutshell Small, brown and tightly shut by day.
  • Old Elm A tree with room inside for an owl.
  • Roundhead A tawny owl has a large, rounded head with no ear tufts.
  • Stocky The tawny owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl of the woods.
  • Thicket Where the wood is too dense to see into.
  • Treacle Eyes The tawny owl's eyes are dark brown.
  • Tree Hole A tawny owl usually nests in a hole in a tree.
  • Two Browns Tawny owls come in two colors: red-brown and gray-brown.

For a great horned owl 19

  • Barred Flank Every great horned owl is darkly barred along its sides.
  • Big Hoot The deepest voice in the valley.
  • Cottonwood A big riverbank tree with a broad fork.
  • Eyebrows The feather tufts sit like eyebrows over the eyes.
  • Fierce Brow A frown made of feathers.
  • Mesa Flat-topped high ground with a view.
  • Moon Tiger Bars of light and dark.
  • Night Tiger Striped, silent and after dark.
  • Old Growth Big trees, deep shade, one large owl.
  • Plumicorn A great horned owl's "horns" are tufts of feathers called plumicorns.
  • Skunk Hunter The great horned owl is one of the few animals that regularly hunt skunks.
  • Tall Pine The highest perch in the woods.
  • Tiger Owl Another name for the great horned owl.
  • Timberline Where the forest stops and the owl keeps going.
  • Two Horns For the pair of tufts that give this owl its name.
  • Virginianus The second half of the great horned owl's scientific name, Bubo virginianus.
  • White Bib A great horned owl shows a white patch on its throat.
  • Winged Tiger What early naturalists called the great horned owl.
  • Yellow Iris A great horned owl's eyes are yellow.

Names from the night sky 22

  • Achernar A star bright enough to stand among the night sky's top names.
  • Aldebaran A bright star, listed among the brightest seen from Earth.
  • Alioth A bright star with a name that sounds like a hoot.
  • Alkaid A bright star for a bird of the dark hours.
  • Alnilam One of the bright stars an owl flies under.
  • Capella On the list of the brightest stars in the night sky.
  • Dubhe A star on the brightest list, short enough to call.
  • Dusk Flight The first trip out.
  • Eventide A poet's word for the close of day.
  • Fomalhaut Named on the list of the sky's brightest stars.
  • Gibbous The lopsided moon, fatter than a half and short of round.
  • Half Moon Enough light to hunt by.
  • Kochab One of the brighter stars of the night sky.
  • Lamplighter Up when the lights come on.
  • Moonrise When the owl's day begins.
  • Noctua Latin for owl, and an old constellation near the tail of Hydra that maps no longer show.
  • Nocturne A slow, dreamy tune for after dark.
  • Procyon One of the brightest stars you can see from Earth.
  • Regulus A star from the list of the brightest in the sky.
  • Saiph A bright star with a soft, quick name.
  • Small Hours One, two and three in the morning.
  • Starlit Out on a clear night.

Names from the call 20

  • Answer Back For the second owl in a duet.
  • Double Hoot The tawny owl's best known call is a call and an answer between two birds.
  • Eight Hooter A nickname for the barred owl, after its call.
  • Far Hoot Three fields away and still clear.
  • Hisser Hissing owl is one of the barn owl's common names.
  • Hoo Hoo The male tawny owl sings a quavering hoo, ho, ho, hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
  • Hoot Owl A plain name for the great horned owl and the barred owl alike.
  • Hush Serrated edges on its wing feathers make an owl's flight almost silent.
  • Kewick The female tawny owl's call is a shrill kew-wick.
  • Long Note Held until the woods answer.
  • Low Note A hoot you feel as much as hear.
  • Night Song Heard once the house goes quiet.
  • Quaver For the shake in a tawny owl's song.
  • Screecher A barn owl does not hoot. It gives a long, eerie screech.
  • Snap A barn owl on guard makes snapping noises with its beak.
  • Trill The eastern screech owl gives a steady, purring trill.
  • Tu-Whit Shakespeare wrote the owl's song as "Tu-whit; Tu-who, a merry note".
  • Whinny The eastern screech owl's song ends in a trembling whinny.
  • Who Cooks People remember the barred owl's call as "Who cooks for you".
  • Whoo The question every owl asks.

For a wise old bird 20

  • Ambrose Calm, old and well read.
  • Athene The little owl, Athene noctua, is also known as the owl of Athena.
  • Aunt Prudence Looks at you over invisible glasses.
  • The Chancellor Presides over the parliament.
  • Dame Winifred Corrects your grammar from the branch.
  • Ebenezer Old, particular and awake all night.
  • Ephraim An old name for an old soul.
  • Eustace Blinks slowly and disapproves.
  • Fixed Stare An owl's eyes are fixed in their sockets, so it turns its whole head to look.
  • The Headmaster One look and the woods go quiet.
  • Hortensia Keeps the tidiest hollow in the wood.
  • Night Scholar Does its best thinking after dark.
  • Octavius The eighth of his line to hold the branch.
  • Old Barnaby Has sat on that branch longer than anyone remembers.
  • Old Spectacles For the rings of feathers around the eyes.
  • Parliament In old English hunting terms, a group of owls is a parliament.
  • Philomena Remembers every face.
  • Professor Quill Marks your homework in the dark.
  • Swivel An owl can turn its head as much as 270 degrees.
  • Uncle Erasmus Knows a long word for everything.

How this list was compiled: Own list of 141 names for an owl, made on 2 October 2026. Four groups are sorted by species and named for the bird's real look: the snowy owl, the barn owl, the tawny owl and the great horned owl. Facts on those cards, and on the cards about calls, are from English Wikipedia's articles Snowy owl, Western barn owl, American barn owl, Tawny owl, Great horned owl, Barred owl, Eastern screech owl, Little owl and Owl (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl, CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2 October 2026. The star names in the night sky group all stand in Wikipedia's List of brightest stars, and Noctua is from its article on that old constellation, read the same day. The other names and every line are ours. A name was left out when it stands on this site's lists of pet, dog, cat, horse, fish or teddy bear names, or appears in Wikipedia's List of fictional birds of prey or List of fictional birds as read that day; the owls of well-known books, films and games were also left out by hand. 40 of the 141 names (28 in 100) also stand on another list of this site, most of them old-fashioned given names and stars. Licence: The names we wrote and the line under every name are our own work. Meanings of real names and words draw on English Wiktionary, and facts about the animal and its folklore on English Wikipedia, both under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).