Hobo Name Generator

Hobo names, called monikers on the road, were earned rather than chosen. From the 1870s through the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers rode freight trains between harvests and job sites, and a man's moniker was how the jungle camp knew him. The most famous were A-No.1 (Leon Ray Livingston), Boxcar Bertha, and Steam Train Maury Graham, who was elected King of the Hobos five times at the Britt, Iowa convention that still runs today.

Monikers followed a few reliable patterns. Many were a hometown or home state attached to a short first name: Frisco Jack, Cincinnati Slim, Texas Slim, Kansas City Kitty. Others described a physical trait or injury, which was common when men jumped moving trains: Peg Leg Pete, One-Eyed Ollie, Three-Finger Frank. Railroad slang supplied another set, with words like reefer (refrigerator car), gondola, hotshot (fast freight), highball, and bull (railroad detective) all turning into names. Then there were trade and personality tags such as Preacher Dan, Fruit Tramp Fritz, Hard Luck Hattie, and Sundown Sadie.

A convincing hobo name sounds like something scrawled in chalk on a water tower. It is short, alliterative more often than not, and it tells you one true thing about the person: where they are from, what they look like, or what they can do.