Squirrel Name Generator

Most squirrel names come from three obvious places: what they eat, how they move, and what they look like. Nut names are the classic — Hazel, Acorn, Peanut, Pecan, Chestnut, Filbert — followed by sweets and snacks like Snickers, Twix, Nutella, and Cheerio. Movement names capture the jittery, darting energy that makes squirrels fun to watch: Skippy, Scamper, Twitch, Fidget, Zoomer, Boing. Coat colors give Rusty, Ginger, and Cinnamon for red and fox squirrels, and Ash, Slate, and Earl Grey for grey squirrels.

There is also a long tradition of famous fictional squirrels to borrow from: Beatrix Potter's Squirrel Nutkin, Rocky from Rocky and Bullwinkle, Sandy Cheeks in SpongeBob, Scrat from Ice Age, Conker, Secret Squirrel, Ratatoskr from Norse myth, Foamy, and Marvel's Doreen Green, a.k.a. Squirrel Girl. Chip and Dale are technically chipmunks but everyone names squirrel pairs after them anyway.

The funniest option, and increasingly the most popular for backyard regulars, is a plain human name that doesn't fit at all — Kevin, Gerald, Susan, Barbara. It works because squirrels have such visible personalities that a boring name reads as deadpan comedy. For a rescued or pet squirrel, short two-syllable names are easiest to call, and for a story character, tree names like Rowan, Aspen, and Juniper give a gentle woodland feel.