Magazine Name Generator

What a magazine name has to carry

A magazine name sits on a masthead, a shelf, a website header and a social handle, so it needs a shape that survives all four. Single words like Cadence or Vesper are easy to set in a big typeface and give a cover a lot of room for photography. Two-word names with a format word, such as Garden Quarterly or The Founder Review, tell readers the subject and the rhythm of publication before they open it. Which you want depends on whether your readers already know what they are looking for.

Where the magazine will live matters. A print title benefits from a name that looks handsome in large type, since a few strong letters go a long way on a cover. An online title needs to be said and typed by people who have never seen it. A zine is the loosest form and can afford a joke, a phrase or a made-up word. The generator has a style for each of these because they follow different naming rules.

One trap to avoid is the format word that dates the title. Quarterly promises four issues a year, and a magazine called Weekly has to deliver. Use those words only if the schedule is fixed. If it is not, choose a name that stands on its own and skip the cadence.

Special-interest and business magazines

Hobby magazines are the safest naming territory, because the reader is already looking for the subject. Put the subject first: Trail Quarterly, The Ceramics Almanac. The words Almanac, Field Guide and Companion suggest a reference the reader will keep. Business titles work the same way with a job or a market: The Operator Review, Retail Weekly. Sound practical, not grand.

Culture and arts titles can be more abstract. A single evocative noun, Quire, Marrow or Plinth, suits a literary, art or design magazine that wants a cover to feel like an object. That approach gives up some search convenience, so explain the subject in a subtitle or tagline.

Before you order the masthead

• Set the name in a large type on a mock cover. A name that looks handsome in a big font sells more than one that only reads well in a paragraph.
• Say it aloud and spell it to someone. A magazine passed on by word of mouth needs a title people can type into a search box.
• Check that the name is free as a print title and as a domain and social handle. Publishing names are often trademarked, so search that category specifically.
• Match the name to the publishing schedule. Do not call it a Quarterly unless it truly is one.
• Keep a subtitle handy for anything abstract. A title like Marrow works better with a line beneath it that says what the magazine covers.