This random alien name generator joins an opening and an ending into a made-up personal name, then adds a byname: a clan word, a number tag or a trade. Every joined name was screened against real places and published aliens.
Read the full guide
Name one alien, then the crew
Press New alien name and say the result aloud. Copy keeps one name. Print 20 alien names fills a ship's roster, and Copy 10 alien names makes a landing party. Reuse one byname by hand and the whole crew shares a clan.
Harsh, soft or clicking
Openings come in three sounds. Harsh ones stack consonants, as in Grax and Kzar. Soft ones are nearly all vowel, as in Oolu and Aeo. Clicking ones snap two stops together, as in Tka and Ktu: say the pair as one tongue click. The lists under the tool say how to pronounce every part.
Tips
Give one species one kind of opening and its names will sound related.
Say the name aloud before you keep it.
Questions and answers
How do you make a good alien name?
Choose the sound first. Stacked consonants read as harsh, open vowels as gentle and paired stops as clicks. Keep one sound for a whole species, then add a byname, such as of the Ninth Hatch, so the name says something about its owner.
Are these names from a film, a show or a game?
No. Each joined name was checked against Wikipedia page titles, Wikipedia's lists of fictional aliens and page titles on science-fiction fan wikis, and parts that matched were cut. No list of fiction is complete, so search a name before you publish it.
How is this different from the species name generator?
The species name generator names a whole people. This page names one member of it. Use both: one species name, then as many personal names as the story needs.
VaktEnds on K and T together, like a latch closing.
VrokV and R rolled together, like an engine turning over.
ZhekZH as in the middle of "measure", then a hard K.
ZurkBuzz the Z, then stop short on the K.
Soft 14
AeoThree vowels in one glide: ah, eh, oh.
Aleeah-LEE, with the stress on the end.
EvooEH-voo, with the V barely voiced.
HumiHOO-mee, close to a hum.
IluEE-loo, light and quick.
Imoaee-MO-ah, in three even beats.
LuwaLOO-wah, with no hard edge anywhere.
MeeloA long EE, then a round O.
NooaNOO-ah, like a sigh.
OoluTwo long OO sounds around an L.
SheoSH and two open vowels.
SoolaSOO-lah, long in the middle.
WenuWEH-noo, soft from start to finish.
YuloYOO-lo, rising and then falling.
Clicking 12
ChtaCH cut short by a T.
DkaA softer click: D into K.
GtikTwo clicks, front and back, with a short I.
KteK and T snapped together, then EH.
KtuK and T as one click, then OO.
NkuHum the N, then click into KOO.
PtekA pop of the lips, then TEK.
QxaA click at the back of the mouth, then AH.
TkaT and K together, like a tongue click, then AH.
TkoA click, then a round O.
TziTS, as at the end of "cats", then EE.
XikKS at the front and K at the back: a double snap.
How this list was compiled: Our own list of openings in three sounds (harsh, soft, clicking), each with a line on how to say it; stored with a capital because each one starts the name. Every one of the 1,200 names the Opening and Ending rows can spell was generated by script and screened on 2026-09-30 and 2026-10-01: as an exact English Wikipedia page title (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php); against every word of 81 English Wikipedia lists and articles on fictional aliens, their planets and their languages, among them the Star Trek alien and character lists, the five Star Wars species lists, Doctor Who creatures and aliens, the alien races of Marvel and DC Comics, Races of StarCraft and the lettered lists of fictional extraterrestrial species; as an exact page title on 23 science-fiction fan wikis (memory-alpha.fandom.com, memory-beta.fandom.com, starwars.fandom.com, tardis.fandom.com, masseffect.fandom.com, dune.fandom.com, stargate.fandom.com, marvel.fandom.com, dc.fandom.com and 14 more); against GeoNames islands, cities500 and cities15000 with alternate names (https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/, CC BY 4.0), country names, a US English dictionary, the name lists of this site, a short list of famous invented names and a rude-word list read across the join. Cut along the way: the opening Brak (it spells a rude word in every name), Kti (rude across the join with three endings), Nko (Nkolo is a Wikipedia page title) and Sio (Siolan is a page on the Star Wars fan wiki), the endings kai, vek, zeth, tani, lo, shen, mun, mok and min, each already a line on another list of this site, and the ending lu (Ilulu and Ktulu are Wikipedia page titles). After the cuts no name hits. No opening or ending is shared with the species, planet, elf, orc or language name pages. Three bynames were swapped because the bare phrase is a Wikipedia page title (Red Dust, Outer Ring, Cold Sun). Clicks are written with plain letters and no apostrophes, so no name copies the look of a published alien language. No list of fiction is complete and trade marks were not searched, so search a name before you publish it. Licence: own work
Ending: all 30 endings
B 1
baxRhymes with "tax".
D 2
daroDAH-ro.
driRhymes with "tree".
K 1
kavRhymes with "have".
L 3
lanRhymes with "man".
lirRhymes with "ear".
loxRhymes with "box".
Show all 30 endings (23 more)
M 3
mivRhymes with "give".
mogRhymes with "fog".
muzRhymes with "buzz".
N 4
naoRhymes with "now".
nevoNEH-vo.
norRhymes with "more".
nulRhymes with "pull".
P 1
pothRhymes with "moth".
Q 1
quilRhymes with "will".
R 2
retRhymes with "set".
rixRhymes with "six".
S 2
saaOne long AH, held.
shevSHEV, the E as in "pen".
T 3
taviTAH-vee.
thuA soft TH and a long OO.
tulRhymes with "pool".
V 2
veenRhymes with "green".
vokRhymes with "rock".
X 1
xiuZEE-oo.
Y 1
yixRhymes with "mix", with a Y in front.
Z 3
zathRhymes with "path".
zilRhymes with "hill", with a buzz in front.
zuRhymes with "zoo".
How this list was compiled: Our own list of endings, each with a line on how to say it. Rule for the row: every ending starts with a consonant, so it reads aloud after an opening that ends in a vowel or in a consonant. Every one of the 1,200 names the Opening and Ending rows can spell was generated by script and screened on 2026-09-30 and 2026-10-01: as an exact English Wikipedia page title (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php); against every word of 81 English Wikipedia lists and articles on fictional aliens, their planets and their languages, among them the Star Trek alien and character lists, the five Star Wars species lists, Doctor Who creatures and aliens, the alien races of Marvel and DC Comics, Races of StarCraft and the lettered lists of fictional extraterrestrial species; as an exact page title on 23 science-fiction fan wikis (memory-alpha.fandom.com, memory-beta.fandom.com, starwars.fandom.com, tardis.fandom.com, masseffect.fandom.com, dune.fandom.com, stargate.fandom.com, marvel.fandom.com, dc.fandom.com and 14 more); against GeoNames islands, cities500 and cities15000 with alternate names (https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/, CC BY 4.0), country names, a US English dictionary, the name lists of this site, a short list of famous invented names and a rude-word list read across the join. Cut along the way: the opening Brak (it spells a rude word in every name), Kti (rude across the join with three endings), Nko (Nkolo is a Wikipedia page title) and Sio (Siolan is a page on the Star Wars fan wiki), the endings kai, vek, zeth, tani, lo, shen, mun, mok and min, each already a line on another list of this site, and the ending lu (Ilulu and Ktulu are Wikipedia page titles). After the cuts no name hits. No opening or ending is shared with the species, planet, elf, orc or language name pages. Three bynames were swapped because the bare phrase is a Wikipedia page title (Red Dust, Outer Ring, Cold Sun). Clicks are written with plain letters and no apostrophes, so no name copies the look of a published alien language. No list of fiction is complete and trade marks were not searched, so search a name before you publish it. Licence: own work
Byname: all 23 bynames
Clan words 10
of the Amber StormA clan word for a world of dust weather.
of the Deep HiveA clan word for the lowest level of a hive city.
of the Dim StarA clan word for a faint home sun.
of the Far ColonyA clan word for the newest settlement.
of the Glass SeaA clan word for a shore of fused sand.
Show all 23 bynames (18 more)
Clan words, continued
of the Long OrbitA clan word for a home world with a slow year.
of the Quiet MoonA clan word for a moon with no weather.
of the Ring EdgeA clan word for those who live at the rim of a station.
of the Rust DunesA clan word for a desert home.
of the Tide PoolsA clan word for a shoreline people.
Number and age tags 6
Eleventh EggA number tag given in the nursery.
Fourth ListenerA number tag for a seat on a council.
of the Ninth HatchA number tag: the ninth clutch to hatch in its season.
Sixth SiblingA number tag in a large family.
Third-BornA number tag by order of birth.
the Twice-MoltedAn age tag: two molts make an adult.
Trades and ranks 7
First PilotA rank that became part of the name.
Hull-MenderA trade name for a ship's engineer.
Keeper of SeedsA duty held for life.
Second VoiceA rank among a people who speak in chorus: the one who answers.
Song-CarrierA trade name for a messenger.
Star-ReaderA trade name for a navigator.
Water-FinderA trade name for a scout on a dry world.
How this list was compiled: Our own list of bynames in plain English, written on 2026-09-30: clan words, number and age tags, and trades and ranks, each with a line on what it tells you. A byname follows the joined name after a space. No byname uses the pattern "a number of a number", which belongs to a television series, and none names a world, a people or a rank from a published setting. Licence: own work