Nobody is naming a pet penguin. They are protected wild birds and keeping one is not a thing private owners do, so almost everyone searching for penguin names is naming something else: a stuffed toy, a zoo bird they have adopted, a character, or an account on a game.
That changes what a good name looks like. There is no vet desk to shout it across and no collar to engrave, so the constraints loosen and the jokes survive.
The Top 30
Names that suit any penguin, real or plush: Pingu, Waddles, Tux, Mochi, Pebble, Pip, Flipper, Noodle, Frost, Bergy, Puddle, Tuxedo, Blizzard, Pom, Nugget, Skipper, Dapper, Snowbean, Bubbles, Chilly, Domino, Squid, Herring, Wobble, Bandit, Sardine, Slush, Penny, Otto, and Muffin.
Half of those work because a penguin already looks like it is wearing formalwear, and half because it moves like something that has not quite mastered walking.
Cute Penguin Names
Small and round: Mochi, Pebble, Bean, Button, Nugget, Dumpling, Bubble, Pip, Peanut, Puff, Marble, Poppy, Bonbon, Muffin, Biscuit, Tater, Bao, Blob, Pudge, Crumb, Dollop, Nubbin, Pellet, Morsel, Nibble, Tot, Speck.
Cold and white: Frost, Snowy, Blizzard, Slush, Glacier, Icicle, Flurry, Sleet, Drift, Powder, Tundra, Aurora, Boreal, Arctic, Hail, Winter, Nieve, Yuki, Neve, Crystal, Rime, Hoar, Floe, Berg, Shelf, Pack, Cirrus, Nimbus, Alpine, Solstice.
Wobbly and soft: Waddles, Wobble, Toddle, Shuffle, Bumble, Squish, Tumble, Flop, Scoot, Plop, Bounce, Trundle, Roly, Jiggle, Shimmy, Skid, Slide, Teeter, Lurch, Totter, Careen, Sidle, Amble, Trip, Stagger, Hobble, Swagger.
Sea food, which is what they eat: Herring, Sardine, Krill, Anchovy, Squid, Mackerel, Whitebait, Minnow, Sprat, Cod, Shrimp, Plankton, Roe, Scallop, Kipper, Brine, Oyster, Clam, Caviar, Smelt, Pilchard, Bream, Haddock.
Funny Penguin Names
Penguin humour has one joke at its centre and it never wears out: the bird looks formally dressed and behaves like it has had a difficult evening.
Formalwear: Tuxedo, Tux, Dapper, Bowtie, Cufflink, Butler, Maitre D, Waiter, Concierge, Sir Waddles, Penguin Suit, Blacktie, Lapel, Cummerbund, Monocle, Tailcoat, Waistcoat, Cravat, Topper, Spats, Gloves, Valet, Steward, Usher.
Puns: Penguino, Pengwing, Waddle Doo, Beak Wahlberg, Flipper Gordon, Iceberg Slim, Emperor Penguine, Chill Murray, Ice Cube, Anne Hatheggway, Napoleon Bonaparty, Sir Chills-a-Lot, Cold Play, Frostbite, Mr Fluffypants.
Deadpan human names, which is the strongest version: Kevin, Barry, Susan, Trevor, Gary, Karen, Colin, Doug, Brenda, Malcolm, Janet, Derek, Sheila, Nigel, Beryl, Graham, Pauline, Keith, Deirdre, Clive, Maureen, Roger, Sandra, Neville, Yvonne, Terry, Linda.
Girl Penguin Names
Pretty and icy: Aurora, Neve, Yuki, Elsa, Luna, Nieve, Crystal, Pearl, Ivory, Snowdrop, Bianca, Alba, Winter, Frostine, Glacia, Blanche, Nova, Stella, Iris, Juno, Perla, Freya, Sif, Idun, Solveig, Astrid, Ingrid, Sigrid, Thora, Runa, Liv, Vera.
Sweet: Poppy, Daisy, Coco, Honey, Suki, Bibi, Dottie, Peaches, Tilly, Mimi, Olive, Ruby, Maple, Pippa, Bijou, Lulu, Nella, Posy, Tansy, Fig, Wren, Clove, Sable.
Boy Penguin Names
Sturdy: Otto, Gus, Hank, Wallace, Chester, Bruno, Milo, Finn, Ollie, Bo, Rocco, Dexter, Boris, Klaus, Yuri, Magnus, Bjorn, Nils, Hugo, Stan, Lars, Sven, Emil, Ivar, Kaspar, Anders, Rune, Tor, Elmer, Cyril, Clive, Ernest, Wendell.
Cold and grand: Everest, Glacier, Boreas, Nordic, Sleet, Frost, Thor, Atlas, Blizzard, Onyx, Slate, Storm, Titan, Baltic, Polar, Fjord, Summit, Ridge, Cairn, Tundra, Basalt, Granite, Quartz.
Baby Penguin Names
A young penguin is a chick, and for the first months it is a grey ball of down that looks nothing like the adult. That is worth knowing before you name one after its markings, because the black and white arrives later.
Names that work on a fluffy grey blob and still work on the finished bird: Pip, Pebble, Nugget, Mochi, Bean, Puff, Smudge, Bramble, Cricket, Pimm, Nori, Sprout, Poppy, Wren, Juniper, Bao, Dot, Moss, Fig, Bud, Pin, Tuft, Fluff, Pom, Wisp, Nib, Chip, Sprig, Pod, Scrap, Mote.
Steal From the Real Species
There are eighteen or so recognised penguin species, and their names are better than most invented ones because somebody already did the work.
- Emperor and King: the two big ones, and the two names that need no explanation
- Adélie: named for a French explorer’s wife, and the most usable as an actual first name
- Chinstrap: a thin black line runs under the beak like a helmet strap, which is exactly what it looks like
- Rockhopper, Macaroni, Royal, Erect-crested, Fiordland, Snares: the crested group, all of which have yellow eyebrow feathers doing something dramatic
- Gentoo: the fast swimmer with the white patch over each eye
- Humboldt, Magellanic, Galápagos, African: the warm-water species, named for the current, the navigator, the islands and the continent
- Little (also called the fairy penguin): the smallest, at roughly the height of a ruler
- Yellow-eyed: the rarest, and the name is entirely literal
Two of those come with better stories than the list suggests.
Macaroni has nothing to do with pasta. English sailors apparently named the species after its conspicuous yellow crest, which reminded them of the macaroni fashion then popular among young men who dressed extravagantly. It is the same joke as the feather in Yankee Doodle’s cap.
Penguin itself did not originally mean these birds at all. The word belonged first to the great auk, a large flightless black-and-white bird of the North Atlantic, now extinct. Sailors who later met similar-looking birds in the southern oceans reused the name, and it stuck to the newcomers.
The Most Decorated Penguin Alive
Famous-penguin lists are usually all cartoons, which skips the best entry.
Sir Nils Olav is a king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo who serves as mascot and colonel-in-chief of His Majesty the King’s Guard of Norway. He was knighted, and in 2016 he was promoted to brigadier. The name honours Nils Egelien, the Norwegian officer who arranged the original link, and King Olav V; three successive birds have held it, which is why the current holder is numbered.
If you want a name with an actual biography attached, that is the one to borrow.
Famous Penguins in Fiction
The Madagascar four are the names most people reach for: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. Then Pingu, Mumble from Happy Feet, Chilly Willy, Opus from Bloom County, Wheezy from Toy Story 2, Feathers McGraw from The Wrong Trousers, and the Penguin from Batman for anyone naming something villainous.
Tux belongs in a category of his own. The Linux mascot has probably put the word penguin in front of more people than any documentary, and it is a genuinely good short name.
Naming a Stuffed Penguin
This is what a large share of people asking the question are actually doing, and the rules are different from naming an animal.
A plush penguin never grows, never gets ill and never needs calling. So the two constraints that govern real pet names both vanish, and what remains is how the name sounds when said fondly. Short and slightly silly beats dignified: Pip, Waddles, Mochi, Bean, Kevin and Noodle all outperform Emperor Maximilian in practice.
If the toy was a gift, naming it after the giver or the place it came from tends to outlast any joke you pick today.
Naming a Penguin in a Game
The other large group is people naming an avatar, and that community has a documented sense of humour. Players trade favourites, and the ones that circulate are absurd nouns rather than pretty names: cakeboss, esophagus, jersey shore, kohls cash, carbohydrates.
The pattern is worth copying if that is your use case. A penguin avatar called Carbohydrates is funnier than one called Snowflake, and the reason is the same reason Kevin works: the gap between the animal and the word.
Picking One
- Work out what you are naming. A plush, an avatar, an adopted bird and a story character have different rules, and only one of them involves a real animal.
- Say it fondly, out loud. These names get used affectionately far more than they get used practically.
- Check the species list first. Adélie, Gentoo and Humboldt are ready-made and sound invented in the best way.
- Lean into the mismatch. The funniest penguin names are ordinary human names, and the second funniest are formalwear.
Bird naming rewards the same instincts across species, which our lists for duck names and phoenix bird names work through for birds real and otherwise; for a colder-climate mammal with the same black-and-white problem, see panda names.
FAQ
What are famous penguin names?
Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private from Madagascar lead the fictional list, with Pingu, Mumble from Happy Feet and Tux the Linux mascot close behind. Among real birds, Sir Nils Olav of Edinburgh Zoo is the standout: a king penguin who is a knight, a brigadier and colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King’s Guard.
What should I name a stuffed animal penguin?
Something short and affectionate. Pip, Waddles, Mochi, Bean and Kevin all work because they sound good said softly and carry no expectations. A plush never outgrows its name, so a joke you like today is a safe choice.
What are some other names for penguins?
The eighteen or so species carry their own: emperor, king, Adélie, chinstrap, gentoo, macaroni, rockhopper, royal, Humboldt, Magellanic, Galápagos, African, little, yellow-eyed, Fiordland, Snares and erect-crested. The little penguin is also called the fairy penguin, and the African penguin was long known as the jackass penguin for its braying call.
What are the cute penguins called?
The little penguin, also known as the fairy penguin, is the smallest species and the one most people mean. Adult birds stand roughly the height of a ruler.
What is a baby penguin called?
A chick. For the first months it is covered in grey or brown down and looks nothing like the adult, so names based on the black-and-white pattern do not fit yet.
Why is it called a macaroni penguin?
Not for the pasta. English sailors apparently named it after the bird’s bright yellow crest, which recalled the extravagant macaroni fashion worn by young men of the period. It is the same reference as the line in Yankee Doodle.
