Best Parrot Names and What They Mean
The word ‘parrot’ dates from the early 16th century, around the time when American species were first being kept as pets by Europeans on both sides of the Atlantic. It is based on the French perrot and perroquet (as in ‘parakeet’), which are diminutives of the name Pierre. Learn more about the best parrot names you can give your pet bird.
However, some etymologists have argued that ‘perroquet’ derives from the Italian parrocchetto, meaning a little parish priest, or, alternatively, from parrucchetto, a small periwig (which is the old name for a wig). The reference here would be to Cockatoos and Cockatiels with their wig-like crests.
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Before 1520, parrots were known as Popinjays in English. This was from an Old French name for the parrot, papegay, related to the Spanish papagayo, and Arabic babaghā. The word Popinjay was still being used in the 18th century, to describe a foolish, vain, over-talkative man. By that time the name ‘parrot’ was firmly associated with the birds.
Macaw comes from the old Portuguese name for the bird, macau, which itself comes from native Topi Brazilian macavuana. This was the local name for a type of palm tree whose fruits were favored by the macaws.
The words Lory and Lorikeet first appeared in Dutch, based on the Malay word for the birds, lūrī. Modern Spanish ‘Loro’ comes from this root. The word Conure is from the Latin Conurus, which itself is from the Greek words kônos and ouros meaning ‘cone-tailed’.
Famous Parrot Names
Alex – The Genius Parrot
The most famous parrot of all, Alex the African Grey, was the subject of a 30 year study to understand how intelligent parrots could be. His name was short for “Avian Language Experiment”. Trained by his owner, Dr Pepperberg, an animal psychologist, Alex could identify shapes, colours and even form basic vocabulary!
Polynesia – The Talking Parrot
From the books about Dr. Doolittle, Polynesia is the famous African Grey parrot who taught the doctor how to speak to animals. Polynesia was portrayed as a Blue and Gold Macaw in the 1967 film but didn’t quite make it into the 1990’s movies featuring Eddie Murphy. However, she remains one of the most iconic parrots in literature.
Blu & Jewel – The Lovebirds
These two famous Spix Macaws feature in the 2011 animated movie Rio. They embark on an exciting adventure while escaping a villainous Cockatoo named Nigel and eventually fall in love.
Mac – The Adventurer
A treasure-hunting Macaw features in the Aussie adventure film Mac. He helps to find buried treasure and save an elderly man from a nursing home, proving parrots can be both daring and loyal.
Iago – The Scheming Sidekick
This famous Scarlet Macaw accompanied the villain Jafar in Aladdin. Iago is a great name for a talkative, mischievous and cheeky parrot.
Snowball – The Dancing Star
A Cockatoo famous for his amazing dancing tricks on YouTube. His shimmying, stomping and head banging to the sounds of pop music has attracted thousands of views.
Einstein – The Talkative Parrot
Another YouTube sensation, Einstein the parrot has an impressive vocabulary of 200 words and sounds. He has attracted millions of views and even has his own channel with over 59,500 subscribers!
Captain Flint – The Pirate’s Parrot
The most famous pirate parrot would be Long John Silver’s parrot in Treasure Island. The parrot is named after his former captain and is the ultimate pirate-inspired parrot name choice.
Boy or Girl Bird Names?
Choosing the right parrot name is difficult, but naming your parrot before knowing its gender is even more tricky! You’ll find that some birds, like Artha the African Grey or Henry the Jardine Parrot, turned out to be the opposite gender than expected.
It’s not easy to tell the gender of your parrot when they’re very young. Unless your breeder can tell you it, a DNA test may be the most accurate way of finding out, which would need to be done at the vet. If you prefer to wait until the bird gets a little older, you can watch for feather colour changes or egg-laying as they mature.
Male Pet Bird Names
| Alfie | Barney | Benny |
| Bentley | Billy | Bobby |
| Bongo | Buddy | Castor |
| Charlie | Chocolate | Christian |
| Coco | Cosmo | Dali |
| Dave | Echo | Elwood |
| Felix | Fernando | Flash |
| Frank | George | Gideon |
| Gizmo | Greyson | Harry |
| Homer | Jack | Jambo |
| Kirby | Lester | Max |
| Merlin | Monty | Moses |
| Newman | Nibbles | Oliver |
| Orville | Oscar | Pebbles |
| Quincy | Ragner | Red |
| Ringo | Rocco | Ross |
| Rubix | Rusty | Scooby |
| Scooter | Shadow | Sooty |
| Sperry | Sterling | Storm |
| Sweep | Taz | Toby |
| Tyson | Van Helsing | Vincent |
| Whisky | Wilbur | Yoda |
| Zak | Zeus | Ziggy |
Female Cool Bird Names
| Abby | Angel | Ash |
| Belle | Betty | Betty Grable |
| Bobbi | Bonnie | Cherub |
| Chloe | Dotty | Dusty |
| Gracey | Honey | Kezzy |
| Kika | Kiki | Lolita |
| Lucky | Mindy | Nell |
| Pearly | Pepper | Pixie |
| Rosie | Sasha | Shadow |
| Smokey | Star | Talulla |
| Tilly | Trixie | Twinkle |
| Wanda | Willow | Zazza |
| Zizzi | Zebs | Zola |
Unusual Funny Bird Names
| Bam boo | Billy Elliot | Buttons Bear |
| Captain Cook | Crackers | Einstein |
| Gigsy | Hobnob | J Lo |
| Miss Moneypenny | Mozart | Mr Spock |
| Mrs G | Pikachu | Poly-Styrene |
| Scooby Doo | Shrek | Smirnoff |
| Spartacus | Uncle Frank |
ExoticDirect Parrot Names
| Alfie | Billy | Bubba |
| Chaos | Charlie | Colin |
| Dakota | George | Gizmo |
| Henry | Jasper | Little Bill |
| Lola | Ollie | Ozzy |
| Pat | Pepper | Pika-boo |
| Red | Ricky | Rio |
| Rosa | Ruby | Spike |
| Teepee | Thor |