Unicorn Name Generator
Unicorn names in the bestiary register: a Latin first element, an Old French second, every fragment glossed, with the hunt-name a beast carries.
7,235,200 combinations
Male, female and neutral unicorn names, each with a matching unicorn last name and the meaning of every element shown.
- Virgcerf Blanchet Mire
Virg maiden + cerf stag
Blanchet the white one + Mire physician
- Carapucele Estrange Larme
Cara beloved + pucele maiden
Estrange strange + Larme tear
- Lentioraculum Haut Corne
Lenti slow + oraculum oracle
Haut high + Corne horn
- Sacrval Franc Pelerin
Sacr sacred + val valley
Franc free + Pelerin pilgrim
- Glaciarousee Chaste Veneresse
Glacia icy + rousee dew
Chaste unwedded + Veneresse huntress
- Marmoridonum Vaillant Pelerin
Marmori marble + donum gift
Vaillant valiant + Pelerin pilgrim
- Fulganel Luisant Prisonier
Fulg flashing + anel ring
Luisant shining + Prisonier captive
- Glaciaporte Seur Gardain
Glacia icy + porte gate
Seur sure + Gardain guardian
- Fontiauxilium Vaillant Voisin
Fonti spring + auxilium aid
Vaillant valiant + Voisin neighbour
- Crincri Luisant Present
Crin mane + cri cry
Luisant shining + Present gift
- Gratajoie Leal Pastor
Grata pleasing + joie gladness
Leal loyal + Pastor shepherd
- Plenivelamen Seur Espine
Pleni full + velamen veil
Seur sure + Espine thorn
- Serenfruit Gent Damoisel
Seren clear + fruit ripe fruit
Gent well-born + Damoisel young noble
- Clarajoie Doux Vergier
Clara bright + joie gladness
Doux gentle + Vergier orchard
- Clarispiramen Franc Espine
Clari bright + spiramen breath
Franc free + Espine thorn
- Tacitlait Vermeil Cerf
Tacit unspoken + lait milk
Vermeil vermilion + Cerf stag
- Flavaherbe Sain Matin
Flava golden-yellow + herbe herb
Sain unhurt + Matin morning
- Lunarilimen Legier Matin
Lunari moonlit + limen threshold
Legier light-footed + Matin morning
- Stellfust Seur Rousee
Stell star + fust tree trunk
Seur sure + Rousee dew
- Purarose Blanchet Praerie
Pura pure + rose wild rose
Blanchet the white one + Praerie meadow
- Ignispeculum Vaillant Larme
Igni fire + speculum mirror
Vaillant valiant + Larme tear
- Solcuer Fuiant Mire
Sol sun + cuer heart
Fuiant fleeing + Mire physician
- Flavabiaute Prous Fontaine
Flava golden-yellow + biaute beauty
Prous worthy + Fontaine spring
- Clariomen Sain Estrangier
Clari bright + omen portent
Sain unhurt + Estrangier stranger
Need a name that means something in particular? Build one from its meaning.
How unicorn names are built
¶The medieval bestiary is written in Latin and read aloud in French, and these names are built the same way: a Latin first element and an Old French second. Cand is shining white, niv snowy, feroc fierce, medic healing, virg the maiden, venat the hunt; corne is a horn, fonteine a spring, plaie a wound, chace the hunt, pucele a maiden. Albacorne is white-horn, Ferocveneur is fierce-huntsman. Neither half is decoration.
Old French carries the gender, so the sets are grammatical. Masculine second elements end on a consonant — cler, cor, sang, destrier, veneur, mantel — and feminine ones end in -e: corne, aube, espine, fonteine, pucele, rousee. The third set is Latin and neuter, and leans on the -men nouns that suit a beast the bestiary treats as a sign rather than an animal: lumen light, carmen song, medicamen a healing draught, omen a portent, limen a threshold.
Nothing here is sweet, because the source is not. The Physiologus unicorn is small, savage and impossible to take by force; hunters trap it by seating a maiden in the wood, and it lays its head in her lap and is caught. Its horn purifies poisoned water, which is why medieval princes paid for alicorn. So the useful first elements are fierce, untamed, fleeting, chaste, healing and watchful, and the hunt-name that follows records who claimed it and failed.
More unicorn names
Male unicorn names
- Montlait Hardi Bois mountain milk
- Sanfermail Legier Fontaine whole clasp
- Spinsoir Legier Chevrefueil thorn evening
- Indomsoir Vermeil Fontaine untamed evening
- Silenmantel Hardi Miracle silent cloak
- Pratanel Haut Praerie meadow ring
- Signmiel Vermeil Mireor token honey
- Silvruissel Fier Espine wood brook
- Silenfust Legier Mireor silent tree trunk
- Clarciel Sain Miracle bright sky
- Vesperpoil Dore Chevrefueil evening coat of hair
- Tacitvol Cortois Cerf unspoken flight
- Nivdestrier Chaste Praerie snowy warhorse
- Curscerf Estrange Veneor running stag
- Silenvol Blanchet Bois silent flight
- Pratfaucon Luisant Chevrefueil meadow falcon
- Fontchamp Argente Larme spring field
- Nemroc Isnel Segnor grove rock
Female unicorn names
- Virgineaglace Fier Mireor maidenly ice
- Solaherbe Seur Estrangier alone herb
- Silvafille Bel Chevrefueil wood daughter
- Quietamanche Argente Fontaine still sleeve
- Leniachambre Bel Matin soft chamber
- Liliabonte Dore Gardain lily goodness
- Celeramirie Sain Gardain swift healing art
- Lucidalumiere Estrange Vallee shining lamplight
- Caramirie Haut Compaignon beloved healing art
- Dulciacouronne Hardi Mire sweet crown
- Sacrafonteine Isnel Rousee sacred spring
- Fidabonte Prous Estrangier faithful goodness
- Auroraflame Fin Praerie dawn blaze
- Fidaflame Fier Dame faithful blaze
- Vigilarousee Luisant Bois watchful dew
- Quietariviere Seur Roine still river
- Rosalumiere Argente Prisonier rose lamplight
- Verafueille Saint Compaignon true leaf
Neutral unicorn names
- Bonispeculum Bel Damoisel good mirror
- Novirete Blanchet Matin new net
- Marmoriaurum Vaillant Matin marble gold
- Bonilac Luisant Larme good milk
- Virgineicubile Gent Larme maidenly lair
- Altios Seur Damoisel high bone
- Integrivulnus Cortois Damoisel unbroken wound
- Somnirobur Doux Cerf sleep oak strength
- Matutinilimen Estrange Compaignon morning threshold
- Borealivestigium Hardi Larme northern footprint
- Lentilevamen Vermeil Gardain slow relief
- Argentimel Legier Chevrefueil silver honey
- Virgineivestigium Sauvage Prisonier maidenly footprint
- Lentiviaticum Fuiant Cerf slow travel provision
- Stellarinemus Saint Corne starry grove
- Somnidonum Mervelleus Fontaine sleep gift
- Albirobur Vermeil Solitaire white oak strength
- Frigidilumen Seur Mireor chilled light
Questions
What are good unicorn names?
Pair a Latin quality with an Old French noun and keep both short: Albacorne, Nivacier, Ferocor, Serenafonteine. Choose the first element for temperament rather than colour if you want the bestiary flavour — fierce, untamed, fleeting, watchful — because whiteness is assumed and does not distinguish one animal from another in any of the sources.
What is an alicorn?
The horn itself. Powdered alicorn was sold across medieval and Renaissance Europe as a test and a cure for poison, and cups supposedly turned from it appear in royal inventories; most were narwhal tusk. That trade is why the healing elements here — medic, remed, sana, mirie, medicamen — belong in a unicorn name as much as the light and whiteness words do.
Are unicorn names male or female?
The sets are gendered by French grammar rather than by anything about the animal. Masculine second elements end on a consonant, feminine ones end in -e, and the Latin neuter set fits a unicorn treated as a portent or an emblem rather than a creature. Choose by how the name should sound in a sentence, not by the character's gender.
Why is the unicorn associated with a maiden?
Because of the capture story in the Physiologus, repeated in every later bestiary and in the Cluny and Cloisters tapestries: the beast cannot be taken by hunters, so a maiden is placed in the wood, it lays its head in her lap and sleeps. The scene was read allegorically, which is how a small vicious animal became an emblem of purity.
What is a hunt-name?
The tag a huntsman or a chronicler attaches to a particular beast, in Old French: Blanchet Pelerin, Fier Mire, Sauvage Solitaire. It is not a family name, since a unicorn has no herd to inherit from. It records how the animal was seen and by whom, and it changes when a new hunting party fails to take it.