How to play The Name Game? - Learn the rules!

You can sing 'The Name Game' with every name. This makes it a super fun game with friends or in kindergarten and classrooms.
Once you know how to play The Name Game, it's very easy to build your own Name Game lyrics.
You can always come back and check if your Name Game verses are correct by using the Name Game Lyrics Generator on this website.
Tip: Sometimes it sounds better if you use a shorter nickname, like Mary instead of Marilyn.

The regular verse

Unless your name begins with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U), 'B', 'F' or 'M', you do not need to apply any special rules.
The verse for the name 'Gary' would be like this:

Gary, Gary, bo-bary
Banana-fana fo-fary
Fee-fi-mo-mary
Gary!

At the end of every line, the name gets repeated without the first letter: Gary becomes ary
If we take (X) as the full name (Gary) and (Y) as the name without the first letter (ary) the verse would look like this:

(X), (X), bo-b(Y)
Banana-fana fo-f(Y)
Fee-fi-mo-m(Y)
(X)!

Vowel as first letter of the name

If you have a vowel as the first letter of your name (e.g. Earl) you do not truncate the name.
The verse looks like this:

Earl, Earl, bo-bearl
Banana-fana fo-fearl
Fee-fi-mo-mearl
Earl!

'B', 'F' or 'M' as first letter of the name

In case of a 'B', an 'F' or an 'M' (e.g. Billy, Felix, Mary) there is a special rule.
The line which would 'rebuild' the name (e.g. bo-billy) is sung without the first letter of the name.
The verse for the name Billy looks like this:

Classroom and group tip

Start with the teacher's or group leader's name, so everyone understands the pattern and feels comfortable joining in. Depending on the size of the group you can either just move around the room one by one or pick a few students randomly. You can either continue another day or motivate the kids to sing the name game with their friends or family.

Birthday party tip

Start with the birthday child’s name and let everyone sing the verse together. The birthday child can then choose the next guest whose name will be used.

Got it? Try it yourself

Create your own lyrics now!

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