The more chickens you have, the more difficult it might be to come up with a name for each one. Some chicken names are simply traditional human names. Others are puns of various sorts. Most flock keepers prefer female names for hens and male names for roosters. Many, however, mix and match or choose gender-neutral names for all birds. Regardless, here are some tips on how to pick the perfect name for your chicken.
Name your chicken based on its feather color.
One way to pick the perfect name for your chicken is to base it on the bird’s plumage color. Here are some examples:
- Blue — Big Blue, Bluebell, Blueberry, Blue Roo
- Black — Ebony, Espresso, Midnight, Onyx, Pepper
- Red —Caramel, Big Red, Rosie, Ruby, Rusty, Scarlet
- White — Blizzard, Coconut, Cotton, Ghost, Snowball
Name your hens based on the color of their eggs.
Another way to name your chickens is to base their names on the color of the egg each hen lays. To get you started, here are a few examples:
- Blue — Robin
- Brown — Cocoa
- Green — Emerald
- Olive — Olivia
- White — Marshmallow
Pick the perfect name for your chicken based on its personality.
As a chick matures, it’s individual personality starts to shine. If you’re willing to wait before choosing a name you might base it on each bird’s character. Examples: Bandit, Bashful, Big Stuff, Bossy, Chubby, Feisty, Gabby, Goofball, Honey, Leary, Snugly, Strutter, Sweety.
Choose a names that reflects the bird’s breed.
The bird’s breed provides another avenue for finding the perfect name. Examples include Andy Lusian, Cata Lana, Cluckin’ Cochin, Foghorn Leghorn, Mama Brahma, Princess Buttercup, Tammy Wyandotte.
Name each bird after a famous chicken.
An easy way to find the perfect name for your chicken is to choose the name of a famous one, such as:
Or create a film star pun.
Actors’ names are fertile grounds for finding the perfect punny name for your chicken. Here are some punny examples: Cluck Norris, Feather Locklear, Goldy Hen, Hennifer Aniston, Henneth Paltrow, McCauley Cluckin, Russell Crow. Some actor’s names, like Gregory Peck, don’t even need to be punnized.
The name might refer to a movie or TV character.
When trying to pick the perfect name for your chicken, you could call each bird in your flock after characters in a specific show. Your favorite show theme might be Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, or some other program with multiple characters.
Or you might create puns on the names of certain characters. Here are some favorites: Annie Yolkly, Cluck Kent, Fryer Tuck, Mary Poopins, Princess Lay-a, Sir Clucks-a-lot or Sir Pecks-a-lot.
Your chicken’s name might refer to a musician.
Music — pop, country, classical, or whatever — generates numerous punny names. Examples include Chick-ovsky, Chick-ira, Chick Jagger, Hennifer Lopez, Yolko Ono.
Let celebrities inspire your punny name.
Lots of politicians and other celebrities have names that make fun puns. These include Amelia Egghart, Albert Eggstein, Eggatha Christie, Lady Bird, Margaret Hatcher, and Yolkahontas.
Your name theme might refer to a food category.
Hens lay eggs, and the word egg is fertile ground for creating punny names. Your hen might be named Eggna, Eggselency, Eggward, or Eggwina. Taking it a step further, you might have a Benedict, Laying Matilda, Scramble, or Sunnyside.
Some flocksters name each bird after a chicken meat dish. Popular options include Curry, Drumstick, Hot Wings, McNugget, Nugget, Pot Pie, Sanders, and Stewie.
Or you might choose some other food category. Sweets, for instance, lend themselves to such names as Bon Bon, Butterscotch, Candy, and Jellybean.
You can find an infinite number of names using plant categories.
Here are three plant categories to get you started:
- Herbs — Basil, Dilly, Parsley, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage
- Spices — Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Nutmeg, Paprika, Saffron
- Flowers — Daisy, Clover, Iris, Petunia, Lilac, Lily, Poppy
A pair of chickens deserve paired names.
A pair consisting of hen and rooster might share the last name, such as Mr. and Mrs. Clucksworth or Mr. and Mrs. Peckerson. Another option is to name them after famous couples: Adam and Eve, Beauty and Beast, Bonnie and Clyde, Hansel and Gretel, Lucy and Desi, Mickey and Minnie, Romeo and Juliet, Sonny and Cher.
Popular paired names for any two include Bo and Peep, Hugs and Kisses, Laverne and Shirley, Lightning and Thunder, Peaches and Cream, Sugar and Spice, Thelma and Louise, Twiddledum and Twiddledee.
Three chickens lend themselves perfectly to a triad.
Here are a few well-known triads:
- Faith, Hope, Charity
- Flora, Fauna & Merryweather
- Life, Liberty, Happiness
- Luna, Stella, Terra
- Shirley, Goodness, Mercy
- Snap, Crackle, Pop
- Zip, Zap, Zop
Four birds beg for a tetralogy.
Common tetralogies include:
- Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and Moe
- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
- Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring
Or just give the whole flock a single name.
If you really don’t want to name each individual chicken, you could pick one single flock name. Options include Brady Bunch, Dixie Chicks, Hatch Patch, Mother Cluckers, Twisted Sisters.
If your flock contains birds all of the same breed, you might give the entire flock a breed-related name. Examples include Ameraucana Amigas, Cinnamon Queens, or Sussex Sisters.
More tips on how to pick the perfect name for your chicken.
Still stuck when trying to pick the perfect name for your chicken? Ask your kids or any neighborhood youngster for help. What they come up with will likely be good for a laugh.
Or you could consult this site’s Chicken Name Generator (link below) to find an endless list of names. Surely you’ll find one that trips your trigger. Above all, have fun picking the perfect name for your chicken. After all, chickens are fun and their names should be, too.
Helpful Links
Cackle Hatchery® Chicken Name Generator
Name the Place Where Your Chickens Live
And that’s today’s news from the Cackle Coop.
Gail Damerow has raised chickens and various other poultry for more than 5 decades and has written numerous books about them, man of which are available from the Cackle Bookstore.
