Zentangle Name Generator

Official tangles have a very particular naming style, and once you notice it you can't unsee it. Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, who created the Zentangle Method, name patterns with short words that are easy to say but rarely describe the drawing: invented words with odd spellings (Nzeppel, Mooka, Quipple, Tipple), people's names (Hollibaugh, Shattuck), places (Sanibelle, Tripoli, Knightsbridge, Chillon) and playful mash-ups (Aquafleur, Printemps, Cirquital). A tangle name is a handle, not a caption, so you can say "I used Cadent and Bales on this tile" without ever explaining what either looks like.

If you are a CZT or a tangler publishing a new tangle or tangleation, the same rules serve you well. Keep it to one or two short words, give it a little personality, and make sure it isn't already listed on tanglepatterns.com, which indexes thousands of published tangles. Many of the best names come with a story: a street you grew up on, a grandmother's surname, a word a child mispronounced.

This list mixes invented words in the classic style, real textile and ornament terms that tanglers already use (sashiko, seigaiha, bargello, guilloche), pattern-evoking nature words and a handful of names for a Zentangle studio, class series or Instagram account.