Emo Name Generator

Emo naming has two layers. The first is the ordinary name most emo kids actually had, usually short and unisex: Alex, Sky, Ash, Rain, Riley, Hayden, Casey, Devin, Kai. The second is the persona name that lived on MySpace and Vampire Freaks pages, in band bios and on Sharpie-covered Converse. That persona name paired the plain first name with a dramatic surname (Raven Blackwell, Ember Vale, Kellin Slate) or an alliterative stage name in the style of scene queens and Warped Tour frontmen: Sky Vicious, Casey Cadaver, Sonny Sinister, Nova Nightshade.

The real scene supplied its own reference points. Gerard Way, Pete Wentz, Hayley Williams, Brendon Urie and Kellin Quinn set the tone for band-member names, while MySpace celebrities like Audrey Kitching, Hanna Beth and Kiki Kannibal made the alliterative stage name a template. Usernames followed their own grammar: bracketing x's (xXRazorHeartXx), lyric fragments (xIWriteSinsx, xThnksFrThMmrsx), and mash-ups of cute and morbid (hellokittyhorror, SkittlesAndScars).

A good emo name is dramatic without being goth-heavy: it should sound like it could front a pop-punk band or head a LiveJournal, not summon a demon. Mixing one honest, everyday first name with one theatrical word usually lands it.