A wheel, because lists stop working
Most baby name sites hand you a list of four hundred names sorted alphabetically. Twenty names in, your eyes glaze and every name starts to look like every other name. A wheel does something a list can't: it shows you twelve at a time and then picks one for you, which is oddly clarifying — you find out how you feel about a name by watching it win.
How the names were chosen
The collection now contains 275 names across 32 origin and language traditions. Rather than pad it with every spelling variant of the same twelve names, we included names across Irish, Welsh, Cornish, Norse, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Japanese, Chinese, Swahili, Igbo, Yoruba, Hawaiian, Spanish, Italian, French, Germanic, Greek and Latin traditions. Every entry carries an origin, a meaning and a set of style tags so the filters do something real.
Where meanings come from
The name collection provides short meaning and origin summaries to help you explore possibilities. The 60 names added on 5 October 2026 include links to the references consulted. The original 215 entries are still awaiting individual reference review, so the full collection should not be treated as a verified etymological dictionary. Reference-linked entries are not claims of independent linguistic verification. A name can have several meanings; for Chinese and Japanese names, for example, the writing can affect the meaning. Check a specialist reference or ask a knowledgeable speaker when the meaning matters to your choice. Please send corrections using the contact address below.
How the spin works
Up to twelve names are drawn at random from whatever survives your filters, laid out around the wheel, and one is selected using your browser's random number generator. A single match is displayed directly without a spin; no matches produce a clear message and a filter reset. There's no weighting, no sponsorship and no hidden preference for particular names. The wheel and shortlist run in your browser. The homepage also uses a third-party analytics service; see the privacy policy for the full picture.
How the site is funded
Pinwheel Names is free to use. Advertising is not currently enabled. We may introduce clearly labelled advertising in the future and will update our privacy information before doing so. We do not accept payment to favour particular names in the wheel.
Editorial method and limitations
Pinwheel separates three kinds of information. The popularity table reproduces the US Social Security Administration's 2025 list, checked on 5 October 2026, with links to the official table and methodology. Our choosing and comparison guides are practical editorial suggestions, not research findings. The 215 original entries supply exploration labels and still need individual references. Each of the 60 newer entries links to a consulted source.
We do not describe those name meanings as independently verified. If a meaning matters to your family, check the exact spelling and language in a specialist reference. Syllable counts on the wheel are estimated by a spelling-based rule and may differ from your pronunciation. The wheel is random; it does not predict a child's personality, luck or future.
To report a correction, include the name, the disputed wording and a reference supporting the alternative. A correction should distinguish a factual error from an additional interpretation. Dates on guides describe when that guide was revised, not when every entry in the collection was checked.
Worldwide browsing
The origin directory covers the traditions currently represented. Labels may describe a linguistic root or a usage tradition, rather than a country. Style tags are editorial suggestions. We preserve accents and macrons in new entries while making search tolerant of unaccented input. Where the meaning depends on written characters or is uncertain, the entry says so.
Contact
Corrections, missing names, broken things, or anything else:
hello@pinwheelbabynames.online
Include the name or page address and a description of the issue when reporting a correction.