Guitar Name Generator

Naming a guitar is one of the oldest traditions in popular music. B.B. King called every one of his Gibson ES-355s Lucille after a bar fight over a woman of that name nearly cost him the instrument. Eric Clapton built Blackie from three Stratocasters. Willie Nelson has played the same battered Martin N-20, Trigger, since 1969, and Neil Young's Old Black is a Les Paul painted over so many times nobody remembers the original finish. Brian May's Red Special was built with his father from a fireplace mantel. The nickname turns a production-line object into a companion with a history.

Most guitar names fall into a handful of families. Old-fashioned women's names (Lucille, Rosalita, Josephine) suit warm-sounding hollowbodies and acoustics. Finish and wood names (Goldtop, Sunburst Sally, Butterscotch) describe what you see. Tool and weapon names (The Anvil, Chainsaw, Battleaxe) fit heavy players. Titles like The Duchess or The Judge give a guitar authority, and pure nonsense nicknames like Twangbucket or Riffasaurus tell you a lot about the owner. Player-built partscasters often earn Franken-names.

The best names come from something true about the specific instrument: a scar on the headstock, the color, the day you bought it, the song it always seems to want to play. Use the list below as a starting point, then bend it toward your own guitar's story.