Picking a Tag Name

Written By JON GRIM

Every graffiti artist needs a tag name but finding one can be hard! For the new graffiti artists finding a name can be hard, especially if you find yourself confused with the rules and ethics of the graffiti community. We’re going to make sense of all that in this article. Ok, so for starters here’s a few ethics and tips to keep in mind when picking a name.

  • The names of legends are the only names in graffiti that are off limits.

  • The names of kings, popular social media artists, and people in your area are but you can avoid them if you’d like. Some artists may avoid names of people who live close by to avoid problems, or to show respect.

  • Names are normally 3-7 letters but they can be shorter or longer if you’d like. Two letter names tend to struggle with certain fundamentals, while longer names struggle with other fundamentals and also take longer to write. People sometimes intentionally misspell their name to include letters they enjoy or to avoid letters they dont.

  • Adding different prefixes or suffixes on a name can help to make your tag name different than another graffiti artist, or it can help you spice up your name. Example, Grim One, DR Grim, Grim33.

Legends

This is the basic idea behind picking a name in graffiti and as long as you follow this you shouldn’t have much of an issue. With that said though, I’d like to expand on a few of these points to help clarify common questions I get asked. Starting from the most common question, “is my name used by a legend?”. In my 20+ years of teaching, i’ve only seen less than 10 people pick the name of a legend accidentally, so the chances your name is the name of a legend is slim to none. Keep in mind, not everyone who’s better than you is a legend either, and that guy in your town who gets up a lot also isn’t a legend (more than likely). That dude on google you found when searching the name likely isn’t a legend, and people with huge social media followings aren’t legends. Legends are people who change graffiti on a global scale, not people who just get up a lot.

Same Name

Pose2 - Old School Legend

Pose - Famous Writer

Next up, understand that all names are already taken, this is why only legends have exclusive names. You’re not going to find a name that someone hasnt used already and you’ll have to get used to that. You’re bound to run into other people using your name, and when you do, don’t get upset. Understand you’re not a legend and you haven’t earned the right to an exclusive name. Back when graffiti was still far more underground it was much less common to find someone with the same name. When you did find someone with your name, you’d battle them for it, and some people will still do this nowadays. However, back then all of this happened face to face, but nowadays with the internet people feel compelled to battle others online half the world away. That’s silly and something only Toys would do. Battling people that far does nothing. Now some legends are extremely famous, while others are a little less known. While its not ok to take the name of any legend no matter how famous, when it comes to the lesser known legends, you might be able to get by with adding a prefix of a suffex to the name. This can be seen with the legend Pose 2 who has the number 2 as a primary part of his name. This allowed the newer Pose to use the same name, same spelling, without the 2 and it’s ok. Part of the reason this works is because while Pose 2 is certainly famous, he’s not as astronomically famous as many other legends, no disrespect to Pose 2. This same thing couldn’t be done with Cope 2 for example. Imagine a new writer using the name cope, or cope 3, they would be considered a toy and never receive any respect from their peers.

Name Doesn’t Flow (Fundamental Issues)

Many new artists come to me concerned that their name isnt capable of flow (thats the most common) or that the name doesnt have style, or insert any of graffiti’s basics here. Lets clear this up very easily, every name can flow, every name can use the fundamentals just fine. Its never the name’s fault, it’s the artists' fault. Whats to blame is the fact that as a new artist you dont yet know the basics and that’s whats causing you the issues. Changing the name to something “easier” wont help either since you still wont know the basics. See, every name has it’s challenges, and it’s our job as graffiti artists/writers to learn the basics of graffiti so we can discover the ins and outs of our name. So no matter if you have a two letter name, or a 10 letter name, all graffiti tag names can flow, and they all work just fine.

Mixing Up Your Name

Adding a prefix or a suffix to your name can be a permanent addition, or something you tack on at a whim. You can add numbers, or words like Mr, Ism, One to your name to help add some pop, or to differentiate yourself from others with the same name. For example, if I’m new to graffiti and I pick the name Rem, but I discover another Rem a town or two over, I might make my name Rem2, or Mr.Rem. The prefix or the suffix in this case could be a permanent addition to your name, something you’ll include every time to show respect for the Rem who’s more experienced. I stress, this is something that you’ll have to judge for yourself, some people wont bother, and they’d just use Rem, while other people, especially those afraid of conflict, will either use an addition to the name or change the name entirely.

Now that should be a pretty decent amount of information to set any new artist up and prepare them for picking a name. Below you’ll find a list of names for new graffiti artists to pick from. Feel free to use any of these as they are, or use the name as a jumping off point if you’d like. Either way, you can take comfort knowing there are absolutely no legends names on this list. If you stumbled onto this list and find you name on here, remember, only legends have exclusivity.

My Picks

  • Free99

  • Catch22

  • Rook

  • High5

  • 2Quick

  • 4Ever

A

  • Able

  • Aeiou

  • Aero

  • Ages

  • Aizer

  • Akne

  • Alegae

  • Arbk

  • Arest

  • Asec

  • Ask

  • Astat

  • Astek

  • Ava

B

  • Bafle

  • Bagra

  • Bands

  • Baron

  • Bast47

  • Bean

  • Beetle

  • Befo

  • Berto

  • Blur

  • Bonus

  • Boogie

  • Book

  • Bosa

  • Bosur

  • Bozo

  • Brake

  • Bring

  • Briz

  • Bruno

C

  • Camo

  • Cecks

  • Cakz

  • Cent

  • Cesq

  • Clear

  • Clef

  • Cleofus

  • Code

  • Code15

  • Cofa

  • Comical

  • Corey

  • Cream

  • Crocs

  • Crow

  • Curk

  • Cyber

    D

  • Dacir

  • Dagga

  • Darko

  • Dense

  • Derf

  • Derg

  • Desyr

  • Deta

  • Dimn

  • Drax

  • Dekchez

    E

  • Eaux

  • Edit

  • Emar

  • Epos

  • Erof

  • Etrik

  • Eyes

    F

  • Fells

  • Fester

  • Fikl

  • Fish

  • Flexer

  • Frame

  • Frog

    G

  • Gain1

  • Gnome

  • Go-Ape

  • Goer

  • Gonker

  • Goose

  • Grim

  • Gyst

    H

  • Halo

  • Hands

  • Haper

  • Hemp

  • Homer

    I

  • Intel

  • Intueri

    J

  • Janks

  • Jaunt

  • Jave

  • Jela

  • Jesm

  • Jet

  • Jock

  • Jubs

    K

  • Kaga

  • Kasmo

  • Kazro

  • Kepa

  • Kineo

  • King

  • Kips

  • Kooky

  • Kors

  • Kraze

  • Kret

  • Kreuz

  • Kush

  • Kuwa

  • Kyte

    L

  • Legend

  • Lensy

  • Local

  • Lone1

  • Luke

    M

  • Maker

  • Maomi

  • Mech

  • Meko

  • Menek

  • Mener

  • Mesha

  • Mitz

  • Mizore

  • Moist

  • Moner

  • Moofu

  • Mops

  • Mosca

  • Moshe

  • Mosi

  • Moss

  • Most

  • Must

  • Mute

    N

  • Nahfu

  • Naro

  • Natv

  • Neko

  • Nekt

  • Nenoe

  • Nero

  • Nerv

  • Nixe

  • Noodles

  • Noser

    O

  • Once

  • Onek

  • Oso

  • Otize

  • Ouch

    P

  • Pacer

  • Pants

  • Parte

  • Paso

  • Pause

  • PBNJ

  • Peach

  • Pesto

  • Phers

  • Phoke

  • Phytz

  • Pig

  • Pilz

  • Poke

  • Pope

    R

  • Radar

  • Rake

  • Raky

  • Raza

  • Reaper

  • Rebel813

  • Reck

  • Reis

  • Rento

  • Resign

  • Resin

  • Resine

  • Resk

  • Retap

  • Rever

  • Rio

  • Riot

  • Ritz

  • Rode

  • Rusker

  • Rynx

    S

  • Sade

  • Sage

  • Sanker

  • Saoi

  • Scaz

  • Scyth

  • Seep

  • Sega

  • Sek

  • Self

  • Seller

  • Sen

  • Send

  • Setup

  • Sevok

  • Shep

  • Shizoe

  • Shook

  • Silk

  • Silo

  • Simple

  • Siver

  • Skab

  • Skan

  • Skan

  • Skar

  • Skaz

  • Skor

  • Slag

  • Slip

  • Slopy

  • Slpy

  • Smak

  • Smoke

  • Sneeqa

  • Snore

  • Snot

  • Soke

  • Soker

  • Solo

  • Sopa

  • Spect

  • Spex

  • Spiker

  • Split

  • Stain

  • Stak

  • Stank

  • Stinky

  • Stinz

  • Styr

  • Surek

  • Surf

    T

  • Tezo

  • Timk

  • Tink

  • Tirol

  • Tocte

  • Token

  • Toker

  • Tomb

  • Took

  • Turn

  • Twice

    U

  • Udem

  • Uter

  • Utini

    V

  • Vague

  • Valor

  • Vers

  • Vice

  • Vodka

  • Void

    W

  • Wade

  • War

  • Wet

  • Wolfy

  • Wron

    X

  • Xaust

    Y

  • Yeck

  • Yeti

  • Yszer

    Z

  • Zanto

  • Zeal

  • Zego

  • Zombra

  • Zoose

  • Zores

  • Zrow

  • Zwie






JON GRIM

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5V4s2eQRy1GL0rZECR2NLw
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