What Should I Name My Fish – 56 Pet Fish Names

How it works

New fish in the tank? Give it a name. Press the button for one of 56, from Gillbert to Commodore Blub, each with the joke or the look behind it.

Read the full guide

Match the name to the fish

After your first press, the list beside the button narrows the draw. For a bright orange fish suits a goldfish, For a bold, flowing fish suits a betta with long fins, For small fish in a group names a whole school, and For bottom dwellers and snails covers the tank cleaners.

Name a whole tank

Set the count to 5 and press once: five names for five fish. Keep a theme if you like, such as all Grand titles, so Commodore Blub and Lady Finsworth share one very small kingdom.

Tips

Write the names on a card by the tank with a note on who is who; small fish look alike.

Questions and answers

What is a good name for a goldfish?

Something orange or golden: Tangerine, Marmalade, Nugget, Saffron, Pumpkin or plain Goldie. For a fancy goldfish with a big tail, try a grand title such as Lady Finsworth.

What should I name my betta fish?

Bettas are showy, with long flowing fins, so bold names suit them: Blaze, Sapphire, Velvet, Monarch or Kimono. Pick by color: Ruby or Ember for red, Indigo or Sapphire for blue.

What are funny fish names?

Gillbert, Troutney, Perchival and Codric hide a fish in a real name. Sir Scrubs-a-Lot suits a pleco on the glass, and Rocket suits a snail.

All 56 names

Names with a fishy twist 10

Carpenter A real surname with a carp inside.
Codric Cedric, with a cod.
Finnegan A real Irish name with a fin at the front.
Gillbert Gilbert with gills, the slits fish breathe through.
Gillian A real name that already has gills in it.
Guppy Van Gills Half fish, half old painting.
Minnowbelle Minnow plus Belle, for a small, pretty fish.
Perchival Percival, crossed with the perch.
Scaley Anne Sally Anne with a full coat of scales.
Troutney Courtney, as a trout.

Grand titles 9

Baroness Bubblewrap Delicate, precious and a little bit squishy.
Captain Current Rides the filter flow like it is the open sea.
Commodore Blub In command of one tank and one filter.
Duke of the Deep End A title for the fish that hides by the gravel.
Lady Finsworth An old family, a very small castle.
Professor Pondsworth Stares at you through the glass as if grading you.
The Right Honourable Gulp For a fish with big opinions and a bigger appetite.
Sir Scrubs-a-Lot For a pleco stuck to the glass, cleaning it.
Sir Swims-a-Lot For the fish that never stops doing laps.

Show all 56 names (37 more)

For a bright orange fish 9

Cheddar Orange, and always hungry.
Clementine A small, sweet orange.
Goldie For a goldfish, of course.
Marmalade Orange, sweet and a little bit bitter.
Nugget Small, round and golden.
Pumpkin For a round, deep orange fish.
Saffron For a golden yellow fish.
Sunny A goldfish in a sunlit bowl.
Tangerine For a goldfish the color of the fruit.

For a bold, flowing fish 8

Blaze For a red fish with fins like flames.
Ember A glowing red-orange.
Indigo Blue that shades into purple.
Kimono For fins that drape like silk sleeves.
Monarch A fish that rules a tank of one.
Ruby For a red one.
Sapphire For a deep blue fish.
Velvet For long, soft, flowing fins.

For small fish in a group 9

Dash The quick one in the group.
Dot One of many small bright fish.
Glimmer For a fish with a stripe that catches the light.
Pebble Small, round and close to the gravel.
Pip Small and lively.
Sprinkle For a group of tiny colorful fish.
Tiddler An old word for a very small fish; for the smallest in the tank.
Wriggle For a fish that never sits still.
Zippy Never in the same place twice.

For bottom dwellers and snails 6

Crumbsweeper For the fish that tidies up every crumb.
Gravel Gwen Lives on the bottom, knows every stone.
Mossy For a fish that likes the plants and the moss.
Rocket For a snail, the slowest thing in the tank.
Scoot For a catfish that sweeps along the bottom.
Whiskers For a catfish, named for its barbels.

Short and classic 5

Blub The sound of a bubble reaching the top.
Finn A real name, and a fin.
Gulp For the one first to the food.
Ripple Named for the rings it makes at the surface.
Splash Short and easy to call through the glass.

How this list was compiled: Own list of 56 names for a pet fish, written 2026-09-24. Fish facts checked that day on English Wikipedia: gills are what fish breathe through (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill), catfish whiskers are barbels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbel_(anatomy)), a tiddler is a small fish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiddler). No puns on real people's names and no names of film or cartoon fish; every name screened by script for rude words and checked against Wikipedia titles and every list on this site. Licence: own work