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How To Name Your Elf On The Shelf ~ 50 Ideas

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When you first welcome your Elf on the Shelf into your home, your family will be tasked with naming your Elf. While you can name your Elf anything your family likes, since this is an annual holiday tradition you are starting you probably want to come up with a name that you will all be happy with year after year. (That means leaving the naming completely up to your toddler might not be the best course of action.) To get those creative juices flowing, and give you some ideas you can suggest for your toddler to choose from, here are 50 Christmas-inspired Elf on the Shelf name ideas.

Looking for more Elf on the Shelf ideas, check out this list of 50 Elf on the Shelf Games, Decorations, Accessories & More.

50 Elf on the Shelf Names Christmas Ideas

  1. Kringle (this is our Elf’s name)
  2. Tinsel
  3. Ralphie (A Christmas Story)
  4. Kris
  5. Elf on the ShelfWayne (Prep and Landing)
  6. Snow
  7. Merry
  8. Figgy (as in pudding)
  9. Flake
  10. Elfie
  11. Ginger (as in Gingerbread man)
  12. Dash (as in Dasher)
  13. Jingle
  14. Pep (as in peppermint)
  15. Virginia (Miracle on 34th Street)
  16. Bell
  17. Hermey (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
  18. Clarice (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
  19. Twinkle
  20. Tiny (as in Tiny Tim)
  21. Noel
  22. Max (the Grinch‘s dog)
  23. Sugarplum
  24. Nuts (as in nutcracker)
  25. Holly
  26. Buddy (Elf)
  27. Frost
  28. Griswold (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation)
  29. Clark (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation)
  30. Elfkins
  31. Mistletoe
  32. Frank (as in frankincense)
  33. Ice
  34. Candy (as in cane)
  35. Carol (as in caroling)
  36. Angel
  37. Eggnog
  38. Blitz (as in Blitzen)
  39. Topper (as in tree topper)
  40. Garland
  41. Bling
  42. Snowball
  43. Clara (from the Nutcracker)
  44. Rudy (as in Rudolf)
  45. Star
  46. Nick (as in St Nick)
  47. Claus (as in the big guy)
  48. Plum (as in pudding)
  49. Jolly
  50. Bob (as in Cratchit – Christmas Carol)

Once you settle on the all-important name for your Elf. Be sure to check out my post about throwing a welcome breakfast for your family’s new friend. And check back soon for more Elf on the Shelf ideas.

Get the most of your Elf on the Shelf with the kits below. We just bought the Letters to Santa kit this year, and can’t wait for Kringle to bring it to our kids to use this week. And the DVD is a MUST watch for all new Elf on the Shelf owners – an annual tradition in our house.

Elf on the Shelf - Elves At Play Paper CraftsElf on the Shelf – Elves At Play Paper CraftsScout Elf Express Delivers: Letters To SantaScout Elf Express Delivers: Letters To SantaElf on the Shelf Scout Elves At Play KitElf on the Shelf Scout Elves At Play KitAn Elf's Story DVDAn Elf’s Story DVD

For even more ideas, scroll through the comments below.

What is your Elf on the Shelf named?

Don’t miss our 2014 Elf on the Shelf Breakfast.

Elf on the Shelf Breakfast Ideas

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. These are good names! We went completely nontraditional and named our elf “Jack Andrew Smitty” I really have no idea how the kids came up with that. lol

    Reply

  14. My Mom has one at her house and his name is Louie. My 3 year old nephew named him. You never know where Louie will be sitting and watching. Too cute!!!

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  15. So cute! When I was doing gift wrapping for a program I volunteer with at Barnes and Noble yesterday,this totally adorable little girl came to get her friend’s elf wrapped. She chatted merrily and told me ALL about her Elf while I wrapped it, and I was just tickled pink! That little girl was the BEST PR they could have ever had. When my wrapping shift was over, I went straight for them! I took it to my grandchildren today. Now that I have seen the skirt, I may have to hurry and get one, as the oldest is a girl! next year,when she is 3 1/2 she will know the story better and their Elf will be there on time : D

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  16. My grandparents had one of these years ago. When I saw this in the store it brought back so many memories. I bought one and will start the tradition even tho my children are grown.

    Reply

  20. I just learned about this, and remember those little elves from when I was a kid. If we get one, and I think we will for next year, I think we’ll name him Clarence, after Jimmy Stewart’s guardian angel from “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

    Reply

  23. We just received ours in the mail a few days ago… after long consideration and plenty of silly names from the kids we all agreed on Winston McElfie!

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  24. Thanks for all the great ideas! I bought one last year on an after Christmas sale. I just opened it and my husband and I were trying to figure out what in the world to name it – as soon as we read out “Clark” (Griswold), we knew that was perfect, since Christmas Vacation is our traditional holiday movie! Thank you!

    Reply

  27. We have an Ellie & Elvis McElf 🙂 An elf for each kid, that way I can pick it up for them when they each have their own kids 🙂

    Reply

  35. I am 11 and me and my sister each have our own elf. We got them in 2009. My elf’s name is Joy. I think some other good names are Deccy (as in December), Marco and Tina.
    Thanks for reading!!! 🙂

    Reply

  39. We purchased our girl elf Saturday at Books A Million and we got her skirt for $2 (running an after Thanksgiving special). We are trying to convince our daughter to name her Sparkle” She is liking “Snowflake” though…still deciding lol. Can’t wait to start our Elf on the Shelf tradition December 1st!

    Reply

  42. Each of my kids has his/her own. We use the annalee dolls bc we started this about six years ago before elf on the shelf really took off. My sons is named ‘Beaker’ and my older daughter’s is ‘Jolly,’ but I’m still wracking my brain for a name for my 4-month old girl’s elf. I have this thing where, just like in real life, I need the names to sound good together! Struggling…maybe Jingle?

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  44. This was so helpful! We decided on Clark! Now that I know about the skirt we may be getting a second one for my baby girl.

    Reply

  45. Our two oldest boys had a knock down drag out fight about our elf’s name….one of them wanted popcorn and the other wanted eggnog…I said ” if you can’t agree then you have to find a new one that you both like….we’re not picking one that one of you is unhappy with” so they fought for a bit until I said ” what about Popnog? ” they thought it was hilarious and they both okayed it on the spot!

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  48. I bought one for my new grandson who is 7 months old. Even though I know it will be a few years before he can appreciate it, I wanted him to have one for his first Christmas. The elf is yet to be named.

    Reply

  52. We named ours “Snitch”. We thought that was silly since his job is to go report to Santa on a daily basis! 🙂

    Reply

  54. We named ours elf Peppermint and my best friends elf is named Sherman! She has a brother that gets in trouble a lot and all it takes is for her to say “SHERMAN!” and he will straighten right up and he will say “Please don’t tell Santa, Sherman, PLEASE” and I thought that was so cute!!

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  60. I started the Elf on the Shelf with My granddaughter and she loves it. I am so glad to be able to share this with Her.

    Reply

  61. Dot and Dash are working miracles with everything from potty training to put toys back at the store! Now only wish there were all year long lol

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  62. I know Elf on the Shelf freaks out a lot of people, but I’ve been enjoying seeing my friends’ creative pictures on facebook this year. What a fun tradition for families and kids!

    Reply

  66. i named my elf on the shelf winter and she was so funny because she made a snow angel out of sugar with her friends sparkles and sparkles but the most fumiest thing was she was dating a elf named hotdog and there was this elf named Annie so hotdog started cheating on winter with Annie i was so mad at hotdog a and Annie so there was allot of things going on buy

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  68. You should check out The Pajama Elves by Hayden Edwards. It is the story of elves at the North Pole who sew magical pajamas that help children sleep on Christmas Eve, so Santa can visit unnoticed. Another fun Christmas tradition for families!

    Reply

  70. lol you guys I love all these names, I just got my very own plush toy elf on the
    Shelf. My mom surprised me when I got Bach home from
    School I was so excited!He is so cute! I live being able to touch him. I think I am going to name him…snowball

    Reply

  72. I let my daughter name ours and she named him when he first visited our house she was two. His name is “number two”

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  73. Our elf is named Kyle! My son middle name after a little boy who passed away and the day he got his elf would have been Kyles birthday! I didn’t tell him he has to name him that he choose to name him that! and he is only 3!

    Reply

  75. Our elf is named Fragile (as in Fra-gee-lay from Christmas Story), but we just pronounce it like it is supposed to be prounounced!

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  76. We named our elf Toby, after Toby the elf from the Uncle Al Show in Cincinnati. Was my favorite TV show growing up as a little girl! 🙂

    Reply

  79. I am a preschool teacher and every year my preschool class gets to pick a name for our Elf. We have a semi small class party to welcome our Elf and I tell u our class Elf always comes up with the silliest ways to appear daily and my class loves it. I can guarantee that the month of Dec my class is the best pre-k class around. Lol

    Reply

  82. We named our Elf “Tiki”. I don’t know where the name came from- we did let or toddler name him in 2009! We liked the name and she can’t wait for Tiki to arrive this year!

    Reply

  89. my girls names there elf Taylor because she’s a girl they love to wake up the next morning to see what she’s done threw t he night……….

    Reply

  90. I have two kids so each got to pick a name when we got our elf last year…. My son, 7 at the time picked Jack (Jack Frost) and my daughter 4, chose potter, she is a Harry potter fan. So we ended up with jack potter elf. We will be adding a girl elf this christmas season.

    Reply

  91. My daughter named her’s Holly Jolly. She wanted her to get married so we are introducing a boy this yr. She already named him Mr. Holly Jolly..

    Reply

  93. This is our first year with our two elfs. We have one of each and they are named Marshall and Molly!!!! Merry Christmas!!!⛄❄

    Reply

  99. We named ours Snowflake. I may be in the market for more then one elf though. I might have to invest in an army with my 3 children. Hahaha!

    And Christine that as very sweet of your son to name his elf after an Angel boy.

    Reply

  101. We have a boy and a girl, Oscar and Bella. this is our first year with Elf on the Shelf. , so much fun. I have 5 kids, 5 grand kids and 2 great grand kids and 1 more due in about 7 weeks. this is going a fun Christmas.

    Reply

  102. My wife and I wanted started our son out with his elf before he could really talk well. So in honor of my grandfather ( Cedric) who passed away just before our son Blake was born and my wife’s grandfather James ,who left us shortly after Blake’s birth. CJ was born and the sprit of these wonderful loving fathers is forever with us in more ways than just our hearts.

    Reply

  105. Cute stuff. We love our Elf on the Shelf. This year I gave them as “family gifts” to our married children and grandchildren but also kept one here for fun too. One set of grandkids came up with first and last names which I thought was very creative. She was named Lilly Candy. Following their lead our elf was named Stephen Silverbells. You may want to try adding a last name for added fun.

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  107. This is the first year I’m doing it and I’m doing it in my classroom, but I think I’ll name him “Ovaltine”, as in the chocolate milk.

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  109. JINX
    I came across this name at knew it was perfect! 🙂
    My lo dosent talk yet but hopefully he thinks its as good of a name I do!

    Reply

  114. Our Elf’s name is Lenox. We’ve loved him for years! The kids are a little older now but always want Lenox back and enjoy his mischievous ways throughout the holiday season.

    Reply

  121. When my family’s little boy went to Lapland, he met Santa’s four best helpers: Snowly Bowy, Tricky Dicky, Noisy Nod and Speedy Sam. I’m Speedy Sam!

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    • Good question! No, there is no official registration, you just have to tell your Elf his/her name. Have fun with your Elf!

      Reply

  123. There is a way to register your elf’s name. You have to go on elfontheshelf.com… And register in there your elf’s name.. Then you can print out a “elf certificate” with your new elfs name on it. And you can print a letter from Santa… With your elf’s name in it. It’s pretty neat.

    Reply

  126. My daughter Dakota/Coco had no clue you were suppose to do that cause that is what it said you had to do to name it. But now we now so thank you Jen.:):):):):):):):):)

    Reply

  128. We took the elf out of the box and I immediately heard the name SVEN. I’ve since learned the elf is a she and not a he?! Hmmm. Me thinks this elf is a bit mischievous! Could her name really be SONYA? She has yet to reveal her name to us!

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  130. I just looked at the names and chose Buddy (elf) I love his name so much me and my brother could not decide on the name on the list or the name that my brother chose so the name Buddy(elf) is his first name and his second name is Shmuel if enybody thinks it is a bit rude or,if it is a bad word to say just reply and then I’ll change it because my brother will not tell me what it means bye 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

    Reply

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