Picking a baby name with your partner is one of the first big decisions you make as a family — and one of the most fun, once you find a way to do it that doesn't involve reading a 400-page name book aloud. That's the promise of name-swiping apps: you each swipe through names on your own time, and the app surfaces the overlap. When you both like a name, it's a match.
The category has grown a lot since the first "Tinder for baby names" apps appeared, and the apps differ more than you'd expect — in platforms, catalog quality, filters, and pricing. Here are the seven worth knowing about in 2026, and who each one fits.
Quick comparison
| App | Platforms | Price | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearfect Name | iPhone & iPad | Free · optional $2.99 packs · $19.99 lifetime premium | Style-tagged catalog, AI picks, pattern filters, initials checker |
| Kinder | iOS & Android | Free · paid name sets | The original — dead simple and fast |
| BabyName | iOS & Android | Free · paid add-ons | Huge catalog, long track record |
| Baby Name Together | iOS, Android & web | Free | Runs everywhere, including the browser |
| NameHatch | Web only | Freemium (limited free swipes) | Nothing to install |
| Baby Name Genius | iOS | Free · premium | Rich name detail pages |
| Stork | iOS | $3.99 one-time | One flat price, no upsells |
Pearfect Name — best for couples who want more than a coin flip
Pearfect Name(that's us) is built around a four-way swipe: like, dislike, super-like, and hard-no. That last one matters more than it sounds — being able to say "never, please" separately from "not quite" keeps your queue honest, and a long-press lets you reclassify any swipe later if a name grows on you.
The catalog is 11,600+ names, each hand-tagged with origins and style categories (you can browse the whole catalog free on this site). Onboarding trains the app on your taste with a "Guess Who"-style elimination round, and Name Patternslet you boost or exclude spellings ("starts with J", "ends in -son" for a family tradition). Premium adds AI recommendations that learn from how you both swipe, themed name packs, and Pare Squared — a mode that quietly narrows your deck to names your partner already liked. There's also a full-name preview with an initials checker, so you notice the unfortunate monogram before the birth certificate does.
The core experience — unlimited swiping, matching, and pairing with your partner via QR code, no account or email required — is free. Premium is $4.99/month with a one-month free trial, or a one-time $19.99 lifetime unlock. The honest catch: it's iPhone/iPad only. If one of you is on Android, one of the next three is your answer.
Kinder — best if you want the simplest possible version
Kinder essentially invented this category, and its appeal is that it has stayed simple: connect with your partner, swipe left or right, match. It's on both iOS and Android, the base app is free, and extra name sets are paid add-ons. If you want zero learning curve and a cross-platform couple, it remains a solid pick. Community threads over the years have wished for a deeper name pool and more filtering — if you find yourself wanting more control over whichnames you see, that's the sign to look further down this list. We wrote a fuller comparison in Pearfect Name vs. Kinder.
BabyName — best for sheer catalog size on both platforms
BabyName (the yellow egg icon) is one of the most-downloaded apps in the category, with a 30,000+ name catalog and years of press behind it. It covers the essentials — partner sync, mutual-like matching — on both iOS and Android, free with paid add-ons. Some longtime users note the big catalog comes with a lot of spelling variants to swipe past. More in Pearfect Name vs. BabyName.
Baby Name Together — best free cross-platform option
Baby Name Together runs on iOS, Android, and the web, and the whole thing is free — which makes it the easiest recommendation for couples on different platforms or anyone who wants to try swiping in a browser before installing anything. The trade-off for free-everywhere is a plainer experience: fewer filters and less name detail than the paid-tier apps here.
NameHatch — best if you don't want to install anything
NameHatch is web-only: open it on any phone, share a link with your partner, and swipe. It offers AI suggestions and a large catalog, with a limited number of free swipes before its premium tier. A good fit for one-device households or anyone allergic to app installs.
Baby Name Genius — best for name-detail lovers
Baby Name Genius pairs couple matching with unusually rich name pages — origin, meaning, and popularity graphs. If half the fun for you is falling down research rabbit holes about every candidate name, it leans into exactly that.
Stork — best for one-price simplicity
Storktakes the opposite approach to freemium: $3.99 once, no subscriptions, no add-ons. The catalog is smaller (around 10,000 names) and it's iOS-only, but there's real appeal in never seeing an upsell.
How to choose
- One of you is on Android: Kinder, BabyName, or Baby Name Together.
- You want the most control over your queue (styles, origins, spelling patterns, hard-nos): Pearfect Name.
- You refuse to install apps:NameHatch or Baby Name Together's web version.
- You never want to see an upsell: Stork.
- You want research-grade name details: Baby Name Genius — or browse our free name catalog, which lists origin, style, and popularity for every name in Pearfect Name.
Whichever you pick, the mechanic is the point: swiping independently removes the pressure of reacting to a name in real time, and the moment the app tells you that you both loved the same name is genuinely one of the best parts of expecting. We wrote up the full method — and why private first impressions matter so much — in How to Agree on a Baby Name With Your Partner. Have fun with it.
