Female Clown Name Generator

Female clown names follow the same traditions as clowning itself, but with a few twists. The children's-party and American circus style favors a bright, doubled or diminutive first name (Dottie, Lulu, Pippa, Gigi) paired with a surname built from a prop, a sweet or a mishap: Dottie Doodle, Bubbles LaRue, Pockets Pinkerton, Peaches Pratfall. Single-word nicknames like Sprinkles, Twinkles and Dimples are easy for toddlers to shout and fit neatly on a balloon or business card.

The European whiteface tradition gives lady clowns elegant commedia dell'arte names: Pierrette (the female Pierrot), Columbina, Arlecchina, Smeraldina. Real pioneers of the art include Annie Fratellini, who founded France's first circus school, Lulu Adams and Peggy Williams of Ringling Bros., and Evetta, billed in 1895 as the first female clown in the United States. Titled characters (Madame Fufu, Nurse Giggles, Miss Marshmallow, Granny Gumboots) give a party clown an instant personality, while hobo and tramp clowns take gentle, down-at-heel names like Boxcar Bessie and Raggedy Rosie.

For horror and Halloween, the trick is the same as with any creepy clown: the sweeter and more wholesome the name, the more unsettling it becomes.