Dad Name Generator

A dad name is less about the letters than the era. The archetypal American dad name belongs to a man born between roughly 1950 and 1980, which is why Gary, Dale, Randy, Doug, Rick, Greg and Wayne read instantly as fathers while Jayden and Liam read as their sons. A short first name with a hard consonant plus a solid Anglo, German, Irish, Italian or Polish surname (Henderson, Kowalski, Brennan, Moretti) produces the classic suburban dad; go a generation older for Earl, Vern and Wilbur, or younger for Kyle, Tyler and Brandon, who are now pushing strollers themselves.

The list runs in three layers. First come full names in the dad register, spanning every decade and a wide range of backgrounds, since dads in fiction, sitcoms and greeting cards should look like real neighborhoods. Next are the things families actually call their fathers: Pop, Pops, Paw-Paw, Papa Bear, plus Padre, Babbo, Vati, Appa, Abba, Tatay and other words for dad from around the world. Last is a run of joke personas built on the great dad clichés: the thermostat, the grill, the lawn, the recliner, the cargo shorts and the dad joke itself.

Use the full names for characters, the nicknames for what your kids might call you, and the personas for Father's Day cards, fantasy league rosters and group-chat titles.