A fun question on naming your chickens.

[WingsysRoost]

Mine have a variety of names, usually based off characteristics but not always. As an example, my current flock contains, in no particular order:

• Ariel (named for no particular reason)
• Sydney (used to be named Sadness after the Inside Out character but I decided to change it)
• Floppy (has a floppy comb)
• Wingsy (named because her wings stuck out to the sides as a chick; was named Wings but usually called Wingsy or Wingsy Patingsy)
• Potato Chicken (used to sit in a fluffy ball as a chick, looked like a potato; usually called Potato or 'Tato - tay-toe)
• Yami (an anime name, I think? I didn't name her. usually called Yelly Yami since she would yell when picked up so her feet could be treated for bumblefoot)
• Longy (full name Long Chicken; she is longer than the other chickens, and the nickname stuck lol)
• Uni (Unicorn; she got in a fight when she was younger and her comb now looks a bit like a unicorn horn)
• Snowball (I didn't name her, but it fits; she turned really silvery after her molt)
• Squeaky (her voice is high-pitched and sounds squeaky)
• Fluffer (because she is fluffy, even though she isn't actually that much more fluffy than the other chickens)
• Grumpy (named for her ruffled feathers that make her look permanently annoyed)

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I usually name them after a physical trait (like my broken toe chicken is named Mama Toe) or I name them in groups depending on breed. I always wanted Naked Necks named Trigger and Nutsy and that worked out this year. Then I have two Speckled Sussexes named after Megan Markle (Duchess and Sparkles) cause they started out as lots of drama. My kid picked out two Delawares at the feed store and I couldn't tell them apart so they're Click and Clack. My last flock were all named after famous female country singers (Dolly, Maybelle, Wanda and Emmylou). So I guess I like grouping their names.

 

[NatJ]

So im just curious how ya’ll come up with your names.

Here are some former threads with lots of ideas:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-do-you-name-your-chickens.1382457/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-are-your-chickens-named-after.1416853/

Here are some examples of ways I have named chickens:

Sometimes I name them for obvious traits--Biter was the cockerel that bit people regularly, Snowy was all white, Goldy was a gold-colored sexlink.

Often, one chicken will have a trait that suggests a name to me, and that starts a theme that I continue until I get tired of it.

A particular set of 4 cockerels got names:
Biter--the one that bit me
Beater--the one that looked most like him ("Biter" and "Beater" were weapons in the book The Hobbit.)
Maximus--the larger of the remaining two.
Minimus--the smaller of the remaining two.

Sumatra chicks looked kind of like pandas or penguins, so a particular group of 5 ended up as Panda, Penguin, Piper, Pocket, Pudding (that's alphabetically from darkest to lightest--they were a mix of blacks and blues.) The first two names were obvious, but the dictionary was helpful in coming up with the rest of the list.

Dark Cornish chicks became Beetle and Caterpillar, because of what the markings on their backs looked like when they were chicks.

White Laced Red Cornish chicks had different markings on their backs, so they became Colon and Semicolon. Then of course the bantams of the same kind became Period and Comma. I had a well-punctuated chicken yard that year

A different year, a White Laced Red Cornish became "Corn Flour"-- a pun on "cornish" and "cornflower," plus her "red" was pale like cornmeal. Her sister with darker red then became Rye Flour.

One day I was trying to catch a particular chick, and said "she's a nut." So I named her Hazel. The one with green legs became Pistachio and the smallest became Peanut--so of course others became Pecan, Almond, and Chestnut. Then I branched out a little with Mahogany (a tree but not a nut), and Clover (a plant related to a peanut, because those two were the same breed of bantam).

I had two cockerels that looked alike, so I cut the tail feathers short on one so I could tell which was which. The one with the short tail became Bob (because I "bobbed" his tail), and the other became Fred because it just sounded good to me. A family member who likes Veggie Tales said the other should have been Larry, so that's what I named the next cockerel.

A silver duckwing Old English Game Bantam got called "Ducky" until I could tell gender, because it was going to be either Donald or Daisy (like the cartoon characters.)

I've had years when each chicken was named with a different letter of the alphabet, because I was tracking who laid how many eggs and it was easier to just note down initials. So I'd look at which letters were free, and look at the chicken, and come up with something. I sometimes added a theme to that as well, like Plymouth Rocks named after kinds of rock or Easter Eggers named after flowers.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Mine are random but a lot stem from movies-

First flock (pullets)-
Maleficent (because I love Sleeping Beuaty and she looked like a dragon.
Buffy the Vampire Layer (because she was buff colored and I love the movie not the TV show.
Miso (too complicated to explain))
Peggy (because she had an eye issue as a chick and reminded us of a pirate wearing an eye patch so we went to peg leg and then Peggy).
Wren McCormack (because I love Footloose and “Ren” is a bird).

Second flock (pullets)-
Duckie (because she honked like a goose and because I liked the character in Land Before Time)
Morticia (because she’s a SLW like Maleficent and we decided to try naming our wyandottes after strong alternative female characters)
Tooty Bell (because my MIL helped us buy our coop and in turn got to name one after her childhood nickname).

Third flock, (supposed to be pullets)-
Velma (because she’s a Wyandotte so cool chick character name)
Chicory (because she’s chicory colored)
Siggy (because we watched What About Bob)
Pussy Willow (because lavender orp chicks look and feel like pussy Willow buds & my grandma loved them)
Captain Jack Sparrow (because I love the movie & a sparrow is a bird)
Specks (because she’s speckled)
Lucinda (because I love Krampus and that was the name of the Hummer). Lucinda eventually became Lucifer (because crowing).

Christmas hatch (straight run, supposed to be Xmas themed names…)
Noel (because it was first and Christmas themed)
Charcoal (because he was charcoal colored and coal is Christmas themed)
Dent (because he was dented, off theme)
Ash (because she was ash colored and because I love Evil Dead, off theme)
Smudge (because he had a smudge mark on his head, and it just sounded better with the other names as opposed to egg nog which we almost named him, off theme).

My next hatch is called the Sobriety hatch (started them today on Hubs 15 year anniversary). He wants to name them after drinks .

 

[ChicFil- A]

I'm intentionally non-creative. I only keep a few birds, so I name them after their breed.

Barred Plymouth Rock- Rocky
Buff Orpington- Buffy
Black Australorp- Aussie
Rhode Island Red- Red

To the point and fitting! I have 1 bantam hen, her name is Bug job because she is tiny.
I have 2 ISAs and their names are Cinnamon and Cinnabon
I have 1 Australourp her name is Monday.
I have 2 Moran and their names are Tuesday and Wednesday.
I have 1 buff orpington and I call her Buffy.
Soon I will have a rooster he’s still at my daughters home… New pullers she has are showing signs of being roos. I really want a rooster because they will protect the ladies and babies.

 

[ChicFil- A]

I never name them, all though I have called a few Roosters SOB.

Hahaha . mine have been called that a couple of times

 

[MSWingate]

I went with favorite shows and or movies: EE's are Grace and Frankie, Starlight's are Madge and Susie, Amerucana's Diana and Flo and the Cochin's (white) Belle and Elsa. With the grand daughter I'm sure the next group will be Bluey and Bingo...LOL

 

[Jumpyrules]

I name my hens off of there personalaty from the start.
1 of my hens was really active so we named her Jumpy.
another hen ate a bracelet! we named her Pecky

 

[DavidReaves]

The next batch I have coming will include Princess Lay-a, and Amelia Egghart as well as more traditional Mirabel, Louisa, and Isabella from the Disney movie "Encanto". Maybe Hen Solo to go along with the Princess.

 

[DavidReaves]

I went with favorite shows and or movies: EE's are Grace and Frankie, Starlight's are Madge and Susie, Amerucana's Diana and Flo and the Cochin's (white) Belle and Elsa. With the grand daughter I'm sure the next group will be Bluey and Bingo...LOL

My granddaughter picked Bluey and Bandit for two pullets last summer. She isn't picky about gender. Another one, a Rhode Island Red, is Elmo.