Minion Name Generator

The joke of Minion names is how ordinary they are. The little yellow henchmen from Despicable Me speak a nonsense language, wear goggles and overalls, and yet answer to Kevin, Stuart, Bob, Dave, Jerry, Carl, Tim, Mark, Phil, Norbert, Donny, Lance, Larry, John, Mel and Otto. Illumination deliberately picked plain, slightly dad-ish first names so that the mismatch between the name and the creature is funny every single time Gru shouts it.

That gives a clear formula for new ones. Short one- or two-syllable men's names from the mid-twentieth century work best (Earl, Herb, Norm, Vern, Wally), as do diminutives ending in -y (Kenny, Lenny, Denny). Because the Minions have served masters across history and around the world, names from Italian, Spanish and French (Enzo, Paco, Pierre) fit too, and pompous English names like Bartholomew or Reginald are funny on a creature that is one foot tall. Minionese words such as bello (hello), poopaye (goodbye), papoy (toy), bapple (apple) and tulaliloo (we love you) make good nicknames.

When there is more than one Kevin, the movies simply add a descriptor, so Big Stuart, One-Eye Carl and King Bob are all fair game. Use the list for costume parties, classroom name tags, custom plush toys or your own Gru-style villain lair.