FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Short answers on how the names are made, what you can do with them, and what we store.

12 questions

How does cuename actually make its names?
Every page carries its own word banks and the rules for combining them: prefixes, roots, suffixes, the occasional title. We pull from those banks with weighted randomness and drop any repeats. There's no AI model in the loop, so it runs instantly and the same seed always gives the same batch.
Is cuename free?
Yes. Every page, every category, as many names as you want. No account, no paywall, nothing to sign up for.
Can I use the names commercially?
Go ahead. Books, games, tabletop campaigns, films, apps, businesses, anything. A name on its own isn't copyrightable, so anything you cue here is yours to use. We make no claim to it.
Why do I sometimes see the same name twice?
The word banks are large but finite. A namer with 500 roots and 200 endings has around 100,000 combinations, which feels endless until it isn't. If a name repeats across sessions, just cue a fresh batch. The odds of seeing it a third time are tiny.
Can I pick a gender?
On people, characters and most races, yes: choose Male, Female or Neutral and the list redraws from that pool. Places, items, factions and the like don't have a gender, so they simply give you the full mix.
What makes the namers different from each other?
The word banks and the rules behind them. The elf page leans on soft, vowel-heavy syllables; the orc page is all hard consonants. Pop-culture pages are tuned to feel at home in the world on the label without ever handing back a real canon name.
Do you track the names I cue?
No. We don't log your requests, tie them to you, or keep the names you make. The server keeps a short-lived tally of which pages get used so the home page can show what's popular, and that's it. The privacy page spells out exactly what does and doesn't get stored.
How do I save names I like?
Click the star next to any result. Saved names live in your browser's local storage, so they stay on your device and sync nowhere. The Saved page lets you review, copy or export them.
Can I export my saved names?
Yes. Any batch, or your whole Saved list, exports as plain text, CSV or JSON straight from the page.
Does cuename work on mobile?
Every page works on phones and tablets. The layout reflows to a single column and the menu tucks into a drawer. Saved names stay per device, since they live in that device's browser.
The thing I want to name isn't here. Can you add it?
The catalogue is never really finished. If a world, species or genre you care about is missing, drop a note on the Contact page. That's the main thing that shapes what gets built next.
Is there an API?
Not a public one yet. If you're building something and want batch access, get in touch through Contact. We'd rather hear what people actually need before locking down a spec.