Your Christmas elf name comes from the first letter of your first name and your birth month, and your job in Santa's workshop comes from the last letter. Type them in below to get your elf name on a card you can download and share. The same answers always get the same elf.
Updated by the Hey Santa elves
North Pole Elf Registry
Answer two questions (three if you have a favorite treat) and the elves stamp your card. Nothing you type leaves this page.
Got your elf name? Talk to Santa on a live video call and say it out loud. He listens and answers right away.
The generator follows four fixed rules, so the same name always gets the same elf, and you can do it on paper. The first letter of your first name picks the first part of your elf name, from 26 choices. Your birth month picks the last part, from 12. The last letter of your first name picks your job in Santa's workshop, from 26 jobs. A favorite treat is optional; it adds a nickname in the middle, from 9 more.
Capital letters and spaces don't count, and accents are dropped, so Zoë is read as ZOE. That makes 312 two-part elf names, or 3,120 once you count the nicknames, and each one comes with one of 26 jobs.
Here's Maya, born in July, who loves gingerbread. M gives Mistletoe. July gives Merriweather. Her name ends in A, so she's a Ribbon Curler. Gingerbread adds “Crumbs”. Maya's elf name is Mistletoe “Crumbs” Merriweather.
This is the first part of your elf name.
| Letter | Elf name | Letter | Elf name |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Sugarplum | N | Nutmeg |
| B | Jingle | O | Moonbeam |
| C | Cocoa | P | Peppermint |
| D | Dumpling | Q | Pudding |
| E | Snowdrop | R | Ribbon |
| F | Tinsel | S | Snowflake |
| G | Gumdrop | T | Toffee |
| H | Holly | U | Button |
| I | Icicle | V | Velvet |
| J | Jolly | W | Wiggles |
| K | Kringle | X | Starlight |
| L | Lollipop | Y | Pippin |
| M | Mistletoe | Z | Zippy |
This is the last part of your elf name.
| Month | Elf name |
|---|---|
| January | Snowbottom |
| February | McJingles |
| March | Twinkletoes |
| April | Gingersnap |
| May | Sparkleboots |
| June | Frostwhistle |
| July | Merriweather |
| August | Candlewick |
| September | Fuzzymittens |
| October | Pumpkinseed |
| November | Snickerdoodle |
| December | Wintergreen |
This is your job at the North Pole workshop.
| Letter | Job | Letter | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Ribbon Curler | N | Nice List Double-Checker |
| B | Cocoa Taster | O | Ornament Polisher |
| C | Sleigh Bell Polisher | P | Candy Cane Striper |
| D | Snowball Inspector | Q | Sleigh Snack Packer |
| E | Bow Tier | R | Jingle Bell Tuner |
| F | Reindeer Carrot Chef | S | Snowflake Counter |
| G | Cookie Quality Checker | T | Toy Train Tester |
| H | Teddy Bear Hugger | U | Elf Shoe Curler |
| I | Stocking Stitcher | V | Lost Sock Finder |
| J | Wish List Reader | W | Workshop Whistler |
| K | Glitter Sweeper | X | Gift Tag Writer |
| L | Tinsel Untangler | Y | Yo-yo Untangler |
| M | Sleigh Map Folder | Z | Snow Globe Shaker |
This adds a nickname in the middle.
| Treat | Nickname |
|---|---|
| Hot cocoa | “Marshmallow” |
| Gingerbread | “Crumbs” |
| Candy canes | “Stripes” |
| Sugar cookies | “Sprinkles” |
| Chocolate | “Fudge” |
| Popcorn | “Kernel” |
| Clementines | “Zest” |
| Pie | “Piecrust” |
| Rice porridge | “Porridge” |
Good Christmas elf names sound like the North Pole: a treat, something sparkly or a silly sound, paired with a cozy last name. Most follow one pattern, two words with a bounce, like Toffee Twinkletoes or Wiggles McJingles. Saying it out loud is the test. If it makes someone smile, it works.
Below are 73 elf names in four groups. Sweet names come from cookies, cocoa and candy. Sparkly names borrow from snow, stars and tinsel. Funny names suit an elf who trips over their own curly shoes. Workshop names come from tools, paint and ribbon. Mix them up by taking a first part from one group and a last part from another.
They fit a costume, a party name tag, a family group chat in December or a toy elf on a shelf. Grown-ups get elf names too: they make good Secret Santa gift tags. For an elf name that's yours alone, use the generator above.
Cookies, cocoa and candy, for an elf who works near the oven.
Snow, stars and tinsel, for an elf who hangs the lights.
For an elf who trips over their own curly shoes.
Tools, paint and ribbon, for an elf on the toy line.
Elves love a good laugh. Try one of our clean Christmas jokes on the person with the funniest elf name, then meet Santa's reindeer and learn their names too.
Lots of families give a name to the toy elf that sits on a shelf in December. The 2005 picture book The Elf on the Shelf made the idea popular, and its story asks each family to name their elf. (Hey Santa isn't connected with that book or its makers, and these tips work for any toy elf.)
Good names for a shelf elf are short enough to call across the house, easy for the youngest child to say and tied to something your family loves. Two syllables work well: Pippin, Nutmeg, Toffee. Let the kids vote between three names you already like, so the vote is over before bedtime. Say each one out loud a few times first; the name that makes everyone giggle is usually the winner. If the elf arrives in December, run its name through the generator with December as its birth month and see which workshop job it gets.
Long before Santa had elves, older stories told of small helpers who work while people sleep. German fairy tales had them sewing shoes. Scandinavian farms had a little guardian, the tomte or nisse, who expected a bowl of porridge. In America, the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" called St. Nick himself "a right jolly old elf."
The idea of a whole crew of elves making toys for Santa came later in the 1800s, through stories and magazine pictures. Louisa May Alcott, who later wrote Little Women, wrote a book of tales called "Christmas Elves" in 1855. It was never published, and nobody knows what the stories said. In December 1873, a magazine picture called "The Workshop of Santa Claus" showed Santa with elves all around him, and the picture stuck. In 1932 a cartoon put the workshop elves on movie screens too.
The Brothers Grimm print "Die Wichtelmänner," known in English as "The Elves and the Shoemaker," in the first volume of their fairy tales. Tiny helpers sew a poor shoemaker's shoes each night while he sleeps.
On December 23, 1823, the Troy Sentinel in Troy, New York, prints "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" with no author's name. The poem describes St. Nick as chubby, plump and "a right jolly old elf." It appeared under Clement Clarke Moore's name in 1837, and he put it in his own book of poems in 1844.
In her journal for October 1855, Alcott writes that her sister May illustrated her book of tales called "Christmas Elves." A month later she found it was too late in the year to do anything with a Christmas book, so she put it away. It was never published, and the manuscript was lost or destroyed. (Some histories say 1856; her own journal says 1855.)
The December issue of Godey's Lady's Book, a magazine from Philadelphia, has an engraved title page called "The Workshop of Santa Claus," with Santa surrounded by toys and busy elves. The editors wrote that it showed the preparations made "to supply the young folks with toys at Christmas time." This picture is often credited with making workshop elves popular.
In Sweden, Viktor Rydberg's poem "Tomten" comes out in a magazine, illustrated by Jenny Nyström. The tomte (called a nisse in Norway and Denmark) is a small guardian of the farm who became part of Christmas in the 1800s. The custom of leaving him a bowl of porridge on Christmas Eve is the reason "Rice porridge" is one of the treats in our generator.
Disney's cartoon "Santa's Workshop," released on December 10, 1932, shows Santa and his elves getting the toys ready for Christmas Eve. Elves have kept turning up in Christmas films ever since.
Want to see where the elves work? Take a walk around the North Pole map, then watch the elves check your name on Santa's Nice List.
Take the first letter of your first name and your birth month, then look them up in the tables above, or type them into the generator. Emma, born in January, is Snowdrop Snowbottom, and because her name ends in A, she's a Ribbon Curler.
Yes. The generator uses fixed tables, not chance, so the same first name, month and treat always give the same elf. Only the Random elf name button picks at random.
It's free and needs no sign-up. The card is drawn in your own browser, and the name you type isn't sent anywhere or saved.
Of course. Elf names make good office party name tags, Secret Santa gift tags and December usernames. The generator works the same for every age.
A few favorites from our list: Wiggles McJingles, Pickle Pinecone, Fizzwhistle Fumblemittens, Noodle Snowbottom and Sir Socksalot.
In the stories, elves build and wrap the toys, help with the reindeer and double-check Santa's list. The generator gives every elf one of 26 jobs, from Cocoa Taster to Snow Globe Shaker.
Live videoSanta answers on a live video call, right in your browser. Tell him your new elf name and what you're wishing for. $1 a minute.
Call Santa
Naughty or nice listType a name, watch the elves check twice, print the certificate.
Santa's reindeerAll nine names in order, what they mean, and which one you are.
Christmas jokes101 clean jokes and a joke machine with a drumroll.
North Pole mapExplore Santa's village pin by pin and see where he lives.