African American Name Generator

Set a number from 1 to 10, choose Male, Female or Random, and press the button. You get that many first names from a list of 600: 300 tagged male and 300 tagged female. The list is made up of names that are common among Black Americans, which in practice means a mix of names that are widespread across the United States (Marcus, Andrew, Regina, Lauren) and names that show up more often in Black communities (Malik, Tyrone, Jerome, Darius, Latasha, Monique, Kiara, Jasmine).

It's built for writers, game designers and teachers who need a believable first name for a Black American character, and for parents browsing for ideas. The output is first names only; there is no surname in the list.

Options and output

Two controls: how many names (1 to 10) and a category dropdown with Random, Male and Female. Male draws only from the 300 names tagged male, Female from the 300 tagged female, Random from all 600. A handful of unisex names such as Casey, Jordan, Taylor, Jamie and Shannon appear on both lists, so they can come up under either filter. Each name is shown in its own card; press the button again for a new draw.

What's in the list, and what isn't

The names are ones you would find on a class roster or a company directory in Atlanta, Chicago or Houston. On the male side that includes Warren, Maurice, Reginald, Darryl, Clarence, Earl, Xavier, Isaiah, Elijah and Andre. On the female side: Tamara, Tanya, Desiree, Dominique, Gwendolyn, Carolyn, Savannah and Jocelyn. Biblical names and the classic mid-century names (Walter, Ruth, Vernon, Ernest) are well represented, as are 1980s and 90s favorites like Brandy, Alexa and Kaitlyn.

What the list does not do is invent names. It won't produce constructed forms built from prefixes and suffixes (the La-, De-, Sha- and -isha patterns), and it doesn't include Swahili, Yoruba or Arabic-derived names beyond a few that are already common in the US, such as Malik. If you want a full name, pair the result with the Random Last Name Generator, which has surnames on their own, or the Unisex Name Generator if you specifically want a name that works for any gender.

A short note on African American naming

There is no single "Black name." Naming among African Americans has moved through several distinct phases. After emancipation, many families chose surnames such as Freeman, Washington and Jefferson, and first names tracked the wider American pattern of biblical and English names for the next century. From the late 1960s, a growing share of parents chose names that marked identity: names with French or Arabic roots (Monique, Andre, Malik, Aaliyah), names borrowed from African languages, and new names built from popular sound patterns. By the 1990s, some names were given almost exclusively to Black children in the US, while many others remained shared across all groups.

This generator's list sits mostly in the shared and late-20th-century categories. That makes it a good fit for contemporary characters born from roughly 1950 to 2000. For a character born after 2010, you may want to look at recent Social Security name rankings as well, because the most popular names for Black children today (Amir, Zion, Nova, Ava) are only partly represented here.

Ways people use it

• Fiction and screenwriting. Naming a supporting cast quickly, then checking that no two characters share a first initial.
• Games and role-play. NPCs and player characters in a modern American setting.
• Sample data. Populating a mock user list with names that reflect a realistic American population rather than the same three placeholder names.
• Baby name browsing. Ten random names at a time is a low-pressure way to find one that you hadn't considered.

For names from other regions, see the German Name Generator and the Austrian Name Generator, or browse all name generators.