How it works
This name crossword maker interlocks the first names you type into one grid: a class in its first week, or cousins at a family reunion. Clues give each name's first letter and length, or you write them. The answer key prints on its own page.
Read the full guide
Type the names
Type or paste first names in the Your names box, one per line. Your first entry replaces the sample. Spaces, hyphens and apostrophes come out, so Mary-Kate goes in as MARYKATE. Add a last initial where two pupils share a name.
How the names interlock
Names cross where they share a letter. A name that cannot cross is named under the box and left out of the clues. Press Make the crossword for another layout.
Automatic clues or your own
An automatic clue reads: Starts with S, 6 letters. Type your own after a colon, as in Sofia: Has a gecko named Pip. A line may be any word with its clue, not only a name.
- On day one, hand each pupil an index card for one fact they are happy to share. Those facts become your clues.
- For 25 names or more, open More options. Press Half 1, then Print. Press Half 2, then Print again. Each half has bigger squares.
- Read every typed clue as the pupil's parent would. Keep to pets, hobbies and favorites, and leave out anything about home, health or family circumstances.
Questions and answers
Can I use it as a family name crossword generator, free, for a reunion?
Yes, free and with no account. Type the first names or nicknames of the people coming, because surnames repeat and a grid cannot hold one answer twice. For your own clue, type it after a colon, as in Rosa: Plays the banjo.
How many names can one crossword hold?
Up to 40 names of 15 letters or fewer. Lists of 10 to 20 work best on one sheet of Letter or A4, with squares a first grader can write in. For a class of 30, two puzzles of 15 print and solve more easily.
Why does one name not appear in the grid?
It had no place to cross another name. Every answer must share a letter with a name already placed, and a short name with rare letters sometimes cannot. Press Make the crossword for a new layout, or add a last initial.
Why are the clues about letters and not meanings?
Because a name has no meaning to define. In a crossword generator names are the odd case, so the tool writes a spelling clue: the first letter and the length. Spelling clues suit kindergarten to second grade. Older groups can type clues about people.
Are the names I type stored anywhere?
They are saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else, and this page makes no link that carries the names. On a shared computer, press Use the sample again when you are done, which removes your list.