President Name Generator

Real American presidents have names that share a recognizable rhythm: a common Anglo given name, often a family surname used as a middle name (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lyndon Baines Johnson, William Howard Taft), and a solid one- to three-syllable surname that reads well on a yard sign. Middle initials became a signature of the office (Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower), and several presidents were known by nicknames or shortened forms (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden) that softened an otherwise formal name.

Screenwriters and novelists lean into those patterns when inventing a president. Josiah "Jed" Bartlet from The West Wing, Thomas J. Whitmore from Independence Day, David Palmer from 24, and Selina Meyer from Veep all follow the template: dignified given name, WASP-y or aspirational surname, and something that reads well as "President Palmer." A good invented presidential name should pass the same test. Say it after "President" or "Madam President" and see whether it sounds like a headline.

The list here has three parts: every real U.S. president in order, well-known fictional presidents from film and television, and more than 130 invented names built from the same raw materials, including three-part names with a family middle name, women's names that suit a first female president in fiction, and a few that borrow the surname of a real president as a middle name for a dynastic feel.