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.
2,802,800 combinations in this form
- Virgcerf Blanchet Compaignon
Virg maiden + cerf stag
maiden stag
Blanchet the white one + Compaignon companion
the white one companion
- Carapucele Estrange Matin
Cara beloved + pucele maiden
beloved maiden
Estrange strange + Matin morning
strange morning
- Lentioraculum Haut Corne
Lenti slow + oraculum oracle
slow oracle
Haut high + Corne horn
high horn
- Sacrval Franc Cerf
Sacr sacred + val valley
sacred valley
Franc free + Cerf stag
free stag
- Glaciarousee Chaste Rousee
Glacia icy + rousee dew
icy dew
Chaste unwedded + Rousee dew
unwedded dew
- Marmoridonum Vaillant Cerf
Marmori marble + donum gift
marble gift
Vaillant valiant + Cerf stag
valiant stag
- Fulganel Luisant Damoisel
Fulg flashing + anel ring
flashing ring
Luisant shining + Damoisel young noble
shining young noble
- Glaciaporte Seur Pelerin
Glacia icy + porte gate
icy gate
Seur sure + Pelerin pilgrim
sure pilgrim
- Fontiauxilium Vaillant Voisin
Fonti spring + auxilium aid
spring aid
Vaillant valiant + Voisin neighbour
valiant neighbour
- Crincri Luisant Larme
Crin mane + cri cry
mane cry
Luisant shining + Larme tear
shining tear
- Gratajoie Leal Present
Grata pleasing + joie gladness
pleasing gladness
Leal loyal + Present gift
loyal gift
- Plenivelamen Seur Espine
Pleni full + velamen veil
full veil
Seur sure + Espine thorn
sure thorn
- Serenfruit Gent Estrangier
Seren clear + fruit ripe fruit
clear ripe fruit
Gent well-born + Estrangier stranger
well-born stranger
- Clarajoie Doux Vallee
Clara bright + joie gladness
bright gladness
Doux gentle + Vallee valley
gentle valley
- Clarispiramen Franc Espine
Clari bright + spiramen breath
bright breath
Franc free + Espine thorn
free thorn
- Tacitlait Vermeil Fontaine
Tacit unspoken + lait milk
unspoken milk
Vermeil vermilion + Fontaine spring
vermilion spring
- Flavaherbe Sain Praerie
Flava golden-yellow + herbe herb
golden-yellow herb
Sain unhurt + Praerie meadow
unhurt meadow
- Lunarilimen Legier Matin
Lunari moonlit + limen threshold
moonlit threshold
Legier light-footed + Matin morning
light-footed morning
- Stellfust Seur Voisin
Stell star + fust tree trunk
star tree trunk
Seur sure + Voisin neighbour
sure neighbour
- Purarose Blanchet Mireor
Pura pure + rose wild rose
pure wild rose
Blanchet the white one + Mireor mirror
the white one mirror
- Ignispeculum Vaillant Larme
Igni fire + speculum mirror
fire mirror
Vaillant valiant + Larme tear
valiant tear
- Solcuer Fuiant Compaignon
Sol sun + cuer heart
sun heart
Fuiant fleeing + Compaignon companion
fleeing companion
- Flavabiaute Prous Bois
Flava golden-yellow + biaute beauty
golden-yellow beauty
Prous worthy + Bois wood
worthy wood
- Clariomen Sain Estrangier
Clari bright + omen portent
bright portent
Sain unhurt + Estrangier stranger
unhurt stranger
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. Candicorne 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.
Questions
What are good unicorn names?
Pair a Latin quality with an Old French noun and keep both short: Candicorne, Nivaube, Ferocor, Serenfonteine. 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.