Need a good cowboy or cowgirl name but don't know where to start?
We can help. Our Western Name Generator is the perfect way to create wild-as-hell Old West names, including first and last names with nicknames for male, female and random characters.
To get ideas, choose an option, click "Generate Names" and view the results below. For more ideas, click the button as many times as you'd like. With hundreds of first names, last names and nicknames, this bad boy can generate thousands of Western names that sound like the real deal.
Oliver Downing
Nick Name: Killer
Alta Krueger
Nick Name: Honest
Abigail Tyler
Nick Name: Stumpy
Estella Bowman
Nick Name: Bearskin
Rena Bethell
Nick Name: Lyin'
Wild West Name Ideas
The American West was full of really wild names. In fact, that's one of the best parts of the Wild West: you could head out into the Arizona Territory, for example, and one day jump on a random stagecoach, and for the rest of your life you'd be known as "Buckboard Billy" or "Crazy Legs Leroy."
It might make sense, and it might not. Maybe you just had a bad day. But that's how it worked back then.
How to Use the Western Name Generator
Each time you refresh the page or click “Generate Names,” you’ll get five new name combinations. Our bank of names were collected from legit historical materials — books, newspapers, magazine articles, photos — related to American West history, so you’ll get real names that were used on the frontier in the 1800s.
The name generator includes hundreds of first names, last names, and nicknames, allowing for tens of thousands of name variations. To get the best use, generate a few different names and take note of what names you dig.
Each name includes a nickname that can be used at the front or in the middle of a name. If you get the name “Roscoe Powers,” for example, with the nickname “Calico,” then you could go with Calico Roscoe Powers or Roscoe “Calico” Powers.
You can use your name for Red Dead Redemption, your steamy Western romance novel, or that screenplay you know Cormac McCarthy would love, were he still alive.
Check out some of the best Wild West nicknames below to get more ideas.
The Best Historical Western Names
While the above generator is good for creating fictional Western names, let's take a look at some of the best real Western names and nicknames from the frontier. What makes a good name? It sounds crazy enough that you don't know what said person will do next.
Wild Bill Hickok? Don't know what to expect from that guy.
Calamity Jane? Maybe let's cross the street.
That's the kind of vibe you want with your Western name.
Some of the best outlaw, gunslinger and Wild West names in the history books include John "Liver-Eating" Johnson, Stagecoach Mary, Cattle Kate, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Black Bart, Doc Holliday, Big Nose Kate, Curly Bill Brocius, Buckskin Frank Leslie, Texas Jack Omohundro, “Hanging Judge” Parker, Buffalo Bill Cody, Billy the Kid, Mysterious Dave Mather, Pawnee Bill, Cherokee Bill (there are lots of Bills), Killer Jim Miller, Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce, Sundance Kid, Kid Curry, Butch Cassidy, Jack "Turkey Creek" Johnson, "Longhair" Jim Courtright, Rattlesnake Dick and Dutch Henry Borne.
I think you get the idea.