Ship Name Ideas: 115+ Real Examples and How to Make One
How fandom ship names work: blends, slash notation, x notation and -shipping, plus 115 real ship names across fandoms and a method for naming any pair.
A ship name is what a fandom calls a pairing. Most of them are portmanteaus: Draco plus Harry gives Drarry, Steve plus Bucky gives Stucky, Dean plus Castiel gives Destiel. They exist because “the one where Draco and Harry get together” does not fit in a tag.
The conventions are more varied than most people realize, and the good ones follow rules. Here is the full set, then 115 real examples, then a method for naming any pair.
The five conventions
1. The blend. Front of one name plus back of the other. This is the dominant form and the one most people mean. Drarry, Destiel, Klaine, Bellarke, Reylo, Percabeth, Zutara.
2. Slash notation. Draco/Harry. The oldest convention, going back to Star Trek fanzines in the 1970s where Kirk/Spock was abbreviated K/S. The slash is why the whole genre of same-sex fanfiction is called slash fiction. It signals a romantic or sexual pairing.
3. The ampersand. Draco & Harry. On Archive of Our Own this specifically means a platonic relationship, not a romantic one. Getting this wrong in a tag annoys people, so it is worth knowing.
4. The x. Draco x Harry, sometimes written DracoxHarry. Common in anime and manga fandoms, where it also encodes order. In Japanese fandom convention the name on the left is the one in the more active role, which is why SasuNaru and NaruSasu are treated as two different tags for the same two people.
5. The -shipping suffix. Rather than blending the names, you name the relationship and add -shipping. This is the Pokémon fandom’s system, where Ash and Misty are Pokeshipping, Ash and Serena are Amourshipping, and so on. The names are descriptive rather than derived. The related pattern shows up elsewhere as descriptive nicknames: Captain Swan for Killian Jones and Emma Swan, or Ineffable Husbands for Aziraphale and Crowley.
Most fandoms use blends by default and fall back to one of the others when the names do not blend well.
115 real ship names
Harry Potter
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Drarry | Draco Malfoy / Harry Potter |
| Dramione | Draco / Hermione |
| Romione | Ron / Hermione |
| Harmony | Harry / Hermione |
| Hinny | Harry / Ginny |
| Wolfstar | Remus Lupin / Sirius Black |
| Jily | James / Lily |
| Snily | Severus / Lily |
| Remadora | Remus / Tonks |
| Deamus | Dean / Seamus |
| Nuna | Neville / Luna |
| Linny | Luna / Ginny |
| Scorbus | Scorpius / Albus |
Marvel
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Stucky | Steve Rogers / Bucky Barnes |
| Stony | Steve / Tony Stark |
| Clintasha | Clint Barton / Natasha |
| Romanogers | Natasha Romanoff / Steve Rogers |
| Pepperony | Pepper Potts / Tony |
| ScarletVision | Wanda / Vision |
| Ironstrange | Tony / Stephen Strange |
| Sambucky | Sam Wilson / Bucky |
| Spideychelle | Peter Parker / Michelle Jones |
| Starmora | Peter Quill / Gamora |
| Thorki | Thor / Loki |
Supernatural and Sherlock
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Destiel | Dean Winchester / Castiel |
| Sabriel | Sam / Gabriel |
| Samifer | Sam / Lucifer |
| Megstiel | Meg / Castiel |
| Johnlock | John Watson / Sherlock Holmes |
| Mystrade | Mycroft / Lestrade |
| Sherlolly | Sherlock / Molly Hooper |
| Adlock | Sherlock / Irene Adler |
Star Wars and Star Trek
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Reylo | Rey / Kylo Ren |
| Stormpilot | Finn / Poe Dameron |
| Finnrey | Finn / Rey |
| Anidala | Anakin / Padmé Amidala |
| Obikin | Obi-Wan / Anakin |
| Spirk | Spock / Kirk |
Avatar: The Last Airbender
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Zutara | Zuko / Katara |
| Kataang | Katara / Aang |
| Sukka | Suki / Sokka |
| Zukka | Zuko / Sokka |
| Maiko | Mai / Zuko |
| Tyzula | Ty Lee / Azula |
Percy Jackson
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Percabeth | Percy Jackson / Annabeth Chase |
| Solangelo | Will Solace / Nico di Angelo |
| Jasiper | Jason / Piper |
| Frazel | Frank / Hazel |
| Caleo | Calypso / Leo |
Anime and manga
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| SasuNaru | Sasuke / Naruto |
| NaruHina | Naruto / Hinata |
| SasuSaku | Sasuke / Sakura |
| ShikaTema | Shikamaru / Temari |
| KakaIru | Kakashi / Iruka |
| Bakudeku | Bakugo / Midoriya |
| TodoDeku | Todoroki / Midoriya |
| KiriBaku | Kirishima / Bakugo |
| TodoMomo | Todoroki / Momo |
| EraserMic | Aizawa / Present Mic |
| EreMika | Eren / Mikasa |
| Riren | Levi / Eren |
| JeanMarco | Jean / Marco |
| YumiKuri | Ymir / Historia |
| KageHina | Kageyama / Hinata |
| IwaOi | Iwaizumi / Oikawa |
| BokuAka | Bokuto / Akaashi |
| TsukkiYama | Tsukishima / Yamaguchi |
| DaiSuga | Daichi / Sugawara |
| Victuuri | Victor / Yuuri |
| LawLight | L / Light Yagami |
Animated series
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Klance | Keith / Lance |
| Sheith | Shiro / Keith |
| Rupphire | Ruby / Sapphire |
| Adrienette | Adrien / Marinette |
| Ladynoir | Ladybug / Chat Noir |
The 100, Teen Wolf, Hunger Games
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Bellarke | Bellamy Blake / Clarke Griffin |
| Clexa | Clarke / Lexa |
| Linctavia | Lincoln / Octavia |
| Memori | Murphy / Emori |
| Sterek | Stiles / Derek |
| Scallison | Scott / Allison |
| Everlark | Katniss Everdeen / Peeta Mellark |
| Everthorne | Katniss Everdeen / Gale Hawthorne |
| Gadge | Gale / Madge |
Teen drama and network TV
| Ship | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Bughead | Betty Cooper / Jughead Jones |
| Varchie | Veronica / Archie |
| Barchie | Betty / Archie |
| Choni | Cheryl / Toni |
| Mileven | Mike Wheeler / Eleven |
| Byler | Will Byers / Mike Wheeler |
| Jancy | Jonathan / Nancy |
| Stancy | Steve / Nancy |
| Lumax | Lucas / Max |
| Jopper | Jim Hopper / Joyce Byers |
| Delena | Damon / Elena |
| Stelena | Stefan / Elena |
| Klaroline | Klaus / Caroline |
| Bamon | Bonnie / Damon |
| CaptainSwan | Killian Jones / Emma Swan |
| SwanQueen | Emma Swan / Regina Mills |
| OutlawQueen | Robin Hood / Regina |
| Rumbelle | Rumpelstiltskin / Belle |
| Chair | Chuck Bass / Blair Waldorf |
| Dair | Dan / Blair |
| Derena | Dan / Serena |
| Klaine | Kurt Hummel / Blaine Anderson |
| Brittana | Brittany / Santana |
| Finchel | Finn / Rachel |
| Faberry | Quinn Fabray / Rachel Berry |
| Samcedes | Sam / Mercedes |
| MerDer | Meredith Grey / Derek Shepherd |
| Japril | Jackson / April |
| Calzona | Callie / Arizona |
| Crowen | Cristina / Owen |
| Spuffy | Spike / Buffy |
| Bangel | Buffy / Angel |
| Willara | Willow / Tara |
| Peraltiago | Jake Peralta / Amy Santiago |
| Jam | Jim Halpert / Pam Beesly |
Some patterns jump out once the list is this long.
Surnames often beat first names. Everlark, Peraltiago, Faberry, Bellarke, and Scallison all use last names, usually because the first names are too plain to be distinctive. Katniss plus Peeta would give something forgettable; Everdeen plus Mellark gives Everlark.
Two syllables is the sweet spot. Drarry, Klaine, Reylo, Clexa, Choni, Jancy, Spuffy, Byler. Three is fine. Four starts to lose.
The best ones use an overlap. Destiel works because Dean and Castiel share nothing, so it takes Des and tiel and the seam is invisible. Klaine works because Kurt and Blaine share the -ain sound region. Bellarke takes Bell from Bellamy and arke from Clarke, and the l does double duty.
Some pairs refuse to blend and get a descriptive name instead. Captain Swan, Outlaw Queen, Eraser Mic. That is a legitimate fallback, not a failure.
How to make a ship name for any pair
Five steps.
1. Write out all four names. Both first names, both surnames. You have four possible pairs to blend, not one.
2. Look for shared letters first. If one name ends with the same sound the other starts with, you have an overlap, and overlaps produce the cleanest results. Ruby and Sapphire share the p region, which is why Rupphire is so tidy.
3. Otherwise, take the front of name one and the back of name two. Keep enough of each that both are recognizable: at least three characters of the first name, and enough of the second to include its stressed syllable and everything after it. Percy plus Annabeth keeps Perc and abeth.
4. Try both orders. Bakudeku and Dekubaku are not the same tag. Say each aloud. In anime fandoms specifically, order carries meaning, so choose deliberately rather than by sound alone.
5. Sanity-check the result. Read it as one lowercase word. Check that it does not accidentally spell something, that it is not already the tag for a different pairing, and that a person who knows the characters can tell which two you mean.
The ship name generator runs steps two through four on any pair and will handle three or more names for poly ships, which the manual method gets awkward with fast.
Tips
Search the tag before you commit. Check Archive of Our Own, Tumblr, and TikTok. If your name already belongs to a different pairing in a different fandom, you will be fighting for it. If it belongs to nobody, you get to define it.
Don’t force a blend that does not want to happen. If the two names produce something unpronounceable, use the slash notation or a descriptive name. Ineffable Husbands beat any blend of Aziraphale and Crowley for exactly this reason.
Watch what the blend accidentally says. This is the most common own goal in fandom naming. Read the result out loud and read it as a URL with no spaces.
Match the tone. A soft pairing gets a soft name: Kataang, Nuna, Rupphire. A chaotic one can take a harder name: Bakudeku, Thorki, Sterek. The sounds do real work here. Front vowels and fricatives read light and quick; back vowels and voiced stops read heavy and solid.
Three or more names. Poly ships usually take one syllable from each rather than a clean two-way blend, and the result is often longer than two-name ships. There is no strong convention, so readability wins.
If the pairing is real rather than fictional, the rules shift slightly toward keeping both names fully visible, which is what the couple name combiner optimizes for. For a general blend with no fandom or relationship assumptions applied, use the name combiner, and if the goal is a handle rather than a tag, the username generator checks the shape of the result for use as a login.