What characters does GitHub allow in a repo name?

GitHub permits letters, digits, hyphens, underscores and periods, and replaces any other character with a hyphen. The names start and end with an alphanumeric character. Kebab-case names like data-sync-cli are the most common open-source convention, which is what this tool produces.

Is there a length limit for repo names?

A GitHub repository name can be up to 100 characters. The generated names are intentionally short and readable, well within that limit, so they stay easy to type and remember.

Are these names guaranteed available on GitHub?

No. A repository name only needs to be unique within your account or organisation, so the same name can exist in thousands of accounts. The tool cannot check availability — confirm it on GitHub when you create the repo.

Why kebab-case rather than camelCase?

Repository names are case-insensitive on GitHub and appear in URLs, so the community overwhelmingly uses lowercase kebab-case for readability. The generator follows that convention by joining lowercase words with hyphens.

Does the tool send anything to GitHub or a server?

No. Names are generated entirely in your browser with no network calls, so you can brainstorm offline and nothing you generate is transmitted anywhere.

GitHub Repository Name Generator

Name your next repository in seconds

Picking a repository name is a small task that somehow stalls a lot of new projects. The GitHub Repository Name Generator produces clean kebab-case names that follow GitHub’s character rules and the naming patterns common across open source, so you can grab one and create the repo immediately.

How it works

The tool draws from curated word lists — adjectives, nouns, action verbs and short tech terms — and assembles them according to the pattern you choose, joining the words with hyphens to form kebab-case. It then lowercases the result, replaces any disallowed character with a hyphen (the same substitution GitHub itself performs), collapses repeated hyphens, and trims leading and trailing hyphens so the name starts and ends with an alphanumeric character.

Every generated name therefore fits within GitHub’s rules: allowed characters only, under the 100-character limit, and valid as a URL slug. The patterns mirror real conventions — adjective-noun (swift-ledger), verb-noun (parse-config), and tech-flavoured (react-form-kit).

Tips and example

A library reads well as noun-noun or with a -kit, -cli, -core suffix: color-utils, deploy-cli.
An app or demo suits adjective-noun: tiny-notes, bright-board.
Keep it short — names that are easy to type and say spread better in READMEs and talks.
Availability is per-account, so a name you like may well be free for you even if it exists elsewhere; check on GitHub before committing to it.