Bar Name Generator

What a bar name tells people before they walk in

A bar name is a warning label for the atmosphere. The Crooked Fiddle promises a low ceiling, dark wood and a shelf of beers. Vesper Room promises a short menu, a good bartender and a dress code that nobody enforces. Neither name says what is on the menu, but both tell a guest which kind of night to expect, and that is the job. Getting this wrong means a crowd that arrived for one thing and got another.

Pubs lean on animals, tools and trade signs, the kind of name that could be painted on a wooden board: The Fox & Anchor, The Gilded Goose. Cocktail bars favor a single sharp word borrowed from the bar itself, such as a bitter liqueur or a bit of glass. Dives keep it human, a first name and a place, or a slightly beaten-up phrase. Speakeasies play with secrecy, addresses and hidden things. Taprooms use the brewery's own name and often a plain place.

The five styles in the generator follow those traditions. If you are opening a place, choose the mood first and the name second. The name will end up on cups, on a sign and in the mouths of people telling friends where to meet.

Speakeasy and pub names in practice

The speakeasy style plays on the fiction of being hidden, so it works best when the room really is hard to find: a door in an alley, no sign, a phone number. If your bar has a big street window, a hidden-door name is a lie and guests will notice. An address name, such as 214 Wicker, is a neat compromise because it sounds like a code and works as a real address.

A pub name often comes with an obvious sign to paint. Before you settle on one, picture the board: an animal or an object is easy to draw, an abstract word is hard. That is why so many pubs have a fox, a bell or a crown in the name.

Cocktail bar and taproom names

A cocktail bar name should be short enough to say quickly to a taxi and easy to spell into a maps app. One word plus Room, Club or Society covers most of the ground. A taproom name can be longer because the name of the brewery does the branding, but it should still be legible from across the street.

Before you hang the sign

• Check your state's liquor license application for name rules. Many require the name on the license to match the sign and the tax registration exactly.
• Say the name into the phone as you would to a taxi. If the driver needs it twice, guests will end up at the wrong bar.
• Look for other bars with the same name in your city and the next one over. Shared names split reviews and confuse delivery and rideshare apps.
• Avoid names that only work for one drink, one sport or one season. A bar named for a cocktail trend will feel old when the trend fades.
• Search the trademark database and confirm the .com and social handles before you order glassware and coasters.