Camel Names: Have you ever gazed across the desert sands and spotted a caravan of camels swaying along, their tall graceful shapes silhouetted against the vibrant sunset? As one of the most iconic desert dwellers, camels capture our imagination unlike any other animal.
If you’re fortunate to have a camel as your own companion, finding the perfect name for this extraordinary creature is important. A name that reflects their resilience, strength and natural dignity.
To help you discover that special name, we’ve compiled an extensive list with over 200 camel names organized by fun categories. From cute and quirky to strong and bold, there’s something for every camel’s personality.
We’ve also included some interesting facts about camels, like how they’re specially adapted to thrive in arid desert climates. Read on to meet all sorts of great camel names!
Best Camel Names
Let’s start with regal names for your stately camel friend:
Majestic Monarch
A ruler over the desert sands. This camel holds their head high in royal nobility.
Emperor Sahara
A grand title worthy of the largest hot desert in the world, spanning the African continent.
Prince Mojave
Named after California’s rugged Mojave Desert, with fierce extremes.
Queen Cleopatra
In honor of the legendary Egyptian queen of the Nile River Valley from the days of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Sir Lancelot
The brave knight from the era of Camelot, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Princess Jasmine
For the fearless Arabian princess from Disney’s animated classic, Aladdin.
Chief
A mark of great leadership. Your camel guides others across dry sands.
Admiral Nelson
After the valiant British flag officer who defeated the French during the Napoleonic Wars.
Good Camel Names
Not just good but great names for your delightful desert darling:
Caravan
The camel trains that transported goods by routes like the famous Silk Road.
Oasis
An isolated lush paradise surrounded by desert, where camels rest and refuel.
Dune
The flowing sandy ridges that ripple across hot deserts.
Cactus
The spiny succulent plants that thrive alongside camels in arid places.
And 25 more wonderful names:
- Trekker
- Nomad
- Sunset
- Mesa
- Gobi
- Sahara
- Kalahari
- Karoo
- Camelle
- Bactrian
- Dromedary
- Duney
- Sandy
- Dusty
- Goldie
- Brownie
- Shadow
- Storm
- Shelly
- Woody
- Sunny
- Zelda
- Cairo
- Egypt
- Nile
Famous Camel Names
Names inspired by pop culture camels that left their mark:
Lawrence
The camel from the epic 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia about British officer T. E. Lawrence in the Middle East.
Humphrey
Featured in the classic cartoon Humphrey the Lost Whale. He tried to return a camel to the zoo.
Lumpy
The grumpy camel from Disney’s animated film Home on the Range in 2004.
Camello
A performing circus camel of the 20th century that could count by stamping his foot.
Fred
Fred Flintstone’s camel from the beloved Stone Age cartoon The Flintstones.
And 25 more pop culture names:
- Gobi
- Sahara
- Joe (from Family Guy)
- Sad Sack
- Kong
- Slinky
- Sinbad
- Nero
- Caesar
- Popcorn
- Kubrick (after movie director Stanley Kubrick)
- Spielberg (director Steven Spielberg)
- Picasso (the artist Pablo Picasso)
- Marco (as in Marco Polo)
- Igor (Iggy the crazy camel from Looney Tunes)
- Gilbert (from the 1968 film Gilbert the Camel)
- Reggie (from Free to Be You and Me)
- Wednesday (from The Addams Family)
- Moses (the Biblical prophet)
- Pongo (from 101 Dalmatians)
- Diego (as in explorer Diego de Almagro)
- Sphinx (the monument in Egypt)
- Cleopatra (the Egyptian queen)
- Gertrude (as in Gertrude Bell, female British explorer)
Female Camel Names
Pretty and graceful names for your gorgeous lady camel:
Duchess
A noble title given to esteemed ladies.
Princess
For a camel who rules majestically over the sand.
Jasmine
A sweet-scented flower that blooms in the desert.
Pearl
A precious gem born from the sea, resembling the curve of a camel’s back.
Lucy
Means “light” and evokes images of dancing over sunny dunes.
And 25 more feminine names:
- Empress
- Marlena (a famous circus performer)
- Cleo (short for Cleopatra)
- Nefertiti (Egyptian queen alongside King Tut)
- Venus (Roman goddess)
- Calypso (a sea nymph in Homer’s Odyssey)
- Odette (the swan princess in Tchaikovsky’s ballet)
- Swanilda (heroine ballerina in the comic ballet, Coppélia)
- Scheherazade (storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights)
- Pippi (as in powerful Pippi Longstocking)
- Tina (Egyptian dancer turned actress Tina Louise who was on Gilligan’s Island)
- Sally (rode with Lawrence of Arabia)
- Elsa (the noble lioness in Born Free)
- Blondie (the comic strip character Blondie)
- Lola (showgirl in The Kinks song “Lola”)
- Greta (daring traveler Greta Schachenmann)
- Bonnie (of Bonnie & Clyde)
- Henrietta (after Henrietta Herzon an early US camel mail rider)
- Theodora (wife of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I)
- Isadora (revolutionary dancer Isadora Duncan)
- Fatima (the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter)
- Gypsy (traveling dancer)
- Sheba (Queen of Sheba)
Male Camel Names
Rugged and handsome camel names full of masculinity:
Sultan
The ruler title of kings during the Ottoman Empire.
Sinbad
Fictional adventurous sailor from Arabia featured in One Thousand and One Nights.
Khan
After Genghis Khan, founder of the largest land empire spanning China to Turkey.
And 25 more dashing names:
- Moses (the Biblical prophet)
- Marco (as in Marco Polo, Italian explorer of Asia)
- Popeye (the cartoon sailor man)
- Pongo (from Disney’s 101 Dalmatians)
- Diego (Spanish conquistador Diego de Almagro who claimed Chile)
- Sphinx (Egyptian monument)
- Rocky (the resilient underdog boxer)
- Admiral (Horatio Nelson, British naval flag officer)
- Templar (a medieval Crusader knight)
- Prester John (legendary Christian patriarch and king popular in the Middle Ages)
- Behanzin (19th century king of Dahomey in West Africa, modern-day Benin)
- Ramesses (Egyptian pharaohs like Ramesses II and Ramesses the Great)
- Atilla (Atilla the Hun who ruled the Hunnic Empire)
- Darius (ancient kings of Persia like Darius the Great)
- Rommel (Erwin Rommel, WWII German Field Marshal dubbed “Desert Fox”)
- Lawrence (T.E. Lawrence who fought alongside Arabs against the Ottoman Empire)
- Odysseus (legendary Greek king and hero who journeys home after the Trojan War)
- Cyrus (Cyrus the Great who created the Persian Empire in 6th century BCE)
- Churchill (Winston Churchill, Britain’s bullish PM during WWII)
- Ferdinand (Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan who led first circumnavigation of the globe by sea)
- Roald (daring Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen first to reach the South Pole)
- Leif (Viking explorer Leif Eriksson who reached North America before Columbus)
Baby Camel Names
Cute and cuddly names for your snuggly little camel calf:
Itsy Bitsy
An itsy bitsy, teeny weeny baby sweet as can be.
Teensy
An extra adorable petite camel pup.
Bitsy
Itty bitty Bitsy, precious and small in size.
And 25 more darling baby names:
- Mini-Moo
- Babycakes
- Baby Face
- Sweet Pea
- Little Pumpkin
- Nugget
- Pebbles
- Bam-Bam (the Flintstones kid)
- Junior
- Bambino
- Li’l Lady
- Lil’ Fella
- Micro
- Dot
- Spot
- Runt
- Tater Tot
- Bitty
- Peewee
- Tadpole
- Kiddo
- Half Pint
- Tyke
- Shrimp
- Shortstuff
Creative Camel Names
Artistic names to show off your camel’s playful personality:
Picassole
After painter Pablo Picasso who pioneered Cubism with geometric shapes reminiscent of camels.
Caramella
With sweet sugary tones like the delicious chewy caramel candy.
Dali
In honor of vibrant surrealist artist Salvador Dali who painted melted clocks like desert sands.
And 25 more creative names:
- Cubist (art style)
- Bon Bon (sweet candy)
- Twisty Taffy (chewy candy)
- Warhol (artist Andy Warhol, pioneer of pop art)
- Spielberg (movie director Steven Spielberg)
- Henna (purple dye for skin art)
- Tango (dramatic South American dance)
- Rumba (lively Afro-Cuban dance)
- Harlequin (colorfully-costumed comic servant)
- Allegra (happy and lively)
- Calliope (Greek muse of epic poetry)
- Echo (mountain nymph from Greek myths)
- Fantasia (Walt Disney’s groundbreaking animated concert feature film with dancing hippos and crocodiles)
- Fuschia (vivid pink color)
- Lollipop (sweet iconic candy)
- Mosaic (art design with tiles)
- Pigasso (play on Picasso)
- Polka Dot
- Rainbow
- Salsa (peppy Latin dance)
- Taffeta (iridescent fabric)
- Trixie (playful)
- Twizzler (red licorice candy)
- Velvet (sleek elegant fabric)
Cartoon Camel Names
Name your camel after their cartoon character cousins:
Humphrey
The camel from classic syndicated cartoon strip Humphrey.
Joe
Peter Griffin’s camel who bit him in an episode of Family Guy.
Fred
Fred Flintstone’s camel pal from the Stone Age town of Bedrock in The Flintstones.
And 25 more cartoon names:
- Igor (Iggy the crazy camel from Looney Tunes)
- Slinky (camel in movie Disney’s 102 Dalmatians)
- Lumpy (grumpy camel from Disney’s Home on the Range)
- Sad Sack (droopy melancholy camel in the comics)
- Kong (after mighty movie monster King Kong)
- Rami (camel in Disney movie Planet 51)
- Reggie (camel from 1970s kid special Free to Be You and Me)
- Gilbert (clumsy circus camel from his own 1960s cartoon shorts)
- Scooby-Doo (the cowardly Great Dane sleuth)
- Snoopy (the philosopher dog from Peanuts cartoons)
- Garfield (Jim Davis’ lasagna-loving cartoon cat)
- Dumbo (Disney’s huge-eared flying circus elephant)
- Baba Looey (Quick Draw McGraw’s Mexican burro sidekick)
- Melancholy Mavis (forlorn camel character)
- Sad Eyed Joe (another camel with droopy eyes)
- Trusty Rusty (loyal camel)
- CD (Camel Detective)
- Tantor (Tarzan’s best friend in Disney’s animated movie)
- Abu (scrappy monkey from Disney’s Aladdin)
- Iago ( Gilbert Gottfried’s sassy parrot from Aladdin)
- Droopy (basset hound with heavy eyelids)
- Eeyore (the gloomy donkey from Winnie the Pooh)
- Mortimer (Mickey Mouse’s original name)
- Goofy (Disney’s awkward dog)
African Camel Names
Names celebrating camels’ roots on the diverse continent of Africa:
Kalahari
For the arid southwest African desert inhabited by the San bushmen tribe.
Kibo
Named after the main summit on Mount Kilimanjaro, at 19,341 ft in Tanzania, Africa’s highest mountain.
Masai
For the semi-nomadic indigenous ethnic group inhabiting southern Kenya and northern Tanzania near Serengeti National Park.
And 25 more African-inspired names:
- Zafar (Swahili for “victory”)
- Panya (Swahili for “mouse”)
- Chui (Swahili for “leopard”)
- Tatu (“three” in Swahili)
- Kubwa (Swahili for “big one”)
- Simba (Swahili for “lion”)
- Rafiki (Swahili for “friend”)
- Nyota (Swahili for “star”)
- Pili (Swahili numeral “two”)
- Karibu (“welcome” in Swahili”)
- Sahara (iconic North African desert)
- Okavango (delta in Botswana home to giraffes, lions, crocodiles)
- Ngami (lake in Botswana within the Kalahari Basin)
- Giza (site of Great Pyramids outside Cairo, Egypt)
- Kasbah (means “fortress”, aptly named)
- Delta (fan-shaped fertile Nile River Delta in Egypt)
- Djoser (3rd century BCE pharaoh who built Step Pyramid at Saqqara)
- Memphis (former ancient capital of Egypt home to colossal Sphinx statue)
- Garamante (ancient Saharan Berber tribe in Fezzan region of Libya)
- Siwa (Egyptian desert oasis with over 300 freshwater springs)
- Tassili (mountain range and vast Sahara desert region in southeast Algeria with cave art)
- Toshka (huge Egyptian irrigation project creating new lakes and canals)
- Kemet (ancient name for fertile lands surrounding Nile River in Egypt)
Arabic Camel Names
Names inspired by Middle Eastern and North African camel culture:
Sultan
Arabic title for sovereign rulers in the Ottoman Empire stretching across the Middle East and North Africa.
Shah
Persian term for the leader of Iran, rooted in famous dynasties like Abbas the Great.
Sheik
Honorific title for powerful patriarchs and elders of Arab tribes.
And 25 more Arabic camel names:
- Farouk (reminiscent of the last king of Egypt before the 1952 revolution)
- Nasser (Egypt’s second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, a central figure of Arab nationalism)
- Sadat (succeeded Nasser as Egypt’s president until his 1981 assassination)
- Mubarak (Egypt’s fourth president from 1981 to 2011, ousted by popular uprisings)
- Anwar (Egyptian statesman Anwar Sadat’s first name meaning “luminous”)
- Amir/Emir (princely ruler in Arabic regions like Qatar and United Arab Emirates)
- Fahd/Fahad (name of Saudi kings like Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud)
- Faisal (Saudi kings like King Faisal as modernizer and reformer)
- Abdullah (current Saudi Arabian monarch King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud)
- Dyn (Arabic for “faithful friend” apt for devoted camels)
- Azim (“great” in Arabic)
- Zafar (“victory” in Arabic)
- Salim (“peace” in Arabic)
- Samira (means “companion in evening conversation” in Arabic)
- Zara (bright and shining light)
- Jasmine (fragrant white flower)
- Farrah (joyful and happy)
- Amani (meaning “wishes” or “aspirations” in Arabic)
- Fatima (revered daughter of the prophet Muhammad)
- Layla (great Arabic beauty meaning “night” who inspired romantic poems)
- Naseem (“breeze” in Arabic reminding of desert winds)
- Najwa (clan confidante)
- Samirah (exotic Arabic name meaning friend in long evenings)
Funny Camel Names
Goofy camel names to give everyone giggles:
Humpadink
Hilarious play on words for their distinct bumps.
Who’s Humphrey?
A silly play on the classic cartoon camel Humphrey.
Two Lumps Please
Cracking up over their double humps.
Jolly Humper
A cheerful, happy-go-lucky camel who loves to prance around.
Queen Weesha Lot
Oh boy, somebody went a little too much!
And 20 more funny names:
- Camelot (where the silly Knights of the Roundtable reign)
- Buck Camelot (import this camel from England)
- Joe Mama (the Joe Camel twist)
- Lawrence of A Labia (crude anatomical joke)
- Dolly Llama (llamas are South American camel relatives)
- Alice the Humptious (well-endowed)
- Kovid the Camel (pandemic-inspired)
- I.C. Yules (Christmas wordplay)
- Sandy Claus (more Christmas cheer)
- Humphrey Bogart (dashing movie star spoof)
- Bumpy Johnson (notorious 1920s gangster twist)
- What Hump? (self-conscious camel)
- Wednesday Camelams (Wednesday Addams twist)
- Cameyonce (sassy pop diva cameo)
- Camella Cabello (Cuban pop singer romp)
- Camembert (smelly, runny French cheese)
- Packs k-Humps (parody cigarette brand)
- Bison My Back (befuddled by American plains animal)
- Where’s My Latte (some coffee confusion)
Camel Nicknames
Cutesy camel names for special short-form status:
Sandy
Little “Sandy” scurrying over desert dunes.
Dusty
Camel’s tan coat resembles dusty trails.
Humpy
An affectionate pet name referring to their cute hump(s).
And 20 more nicknames:
- Goldie
- Brownie
- Shadow
- Storm
- Shelly
- Sunny
- Zelda
- Dot
- Spot
- Nuggy
- Snookums
- Honey
- Sugar
- Dumplin’
- Snuggles
- Cuddles
- Pookie
- Schmoopsie
- Lovey
- Sweet Pea
Camel Scientific Names
The technical taxonomic names for our humpedhelpers:
Camelus dromedarius
The scientific name for the Arabian, single-humped dromedary camel.
Camelus bactrianus
The Bactrian camel, with two humps originating from central Asia.
Camelidae
The camelid family including camels, llamas, alpacas, guanacos, and vicuñas indigenous to South America.
Camel Biological Names
Other scientific classifications:
- Genus: Camelini
- Tribe: Camelini
- Subfamily: Camelinae
- Family: Camelidae
- Order: Artiodactyla
- Clade: Euarchontoglires
- Class: Mammalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Kingdom: Animalia
Camels have unique physical traits allowing survival where most mammals couldn’t endure. Their long legs keep bodies far above hot sand. Wide flat feet with thick callosity pads prevent sinking into soft sand. Valves seal nostrils keeping out flying dust.
Humps aren’t for water storage as is commonly believed, but sustaining fat reserves. When food is scarce, this hump fat metabolizes to water and energy.
Thick bushy eyebrows and two rows of long curving eyelashes protect their eyes from sandstorms and stark sunlight. Tough mouth tissues withstand sharp thorny vegetation.
Overall camels are remarkably evolved for desert climates thanks to these special biological adaptations.
Conclusion
We hope you’ve discovered the perfect name for your beloved camel in this huge collection. From elegant to exotic, cute to clever, there’s something for every camel’s distinctive personality.
Inspired by legends across the globe, meaningful Arabic terms, beloved cartoon characters, and funny plays on words, these diverse camel names celebrate the rich cultural history of these majestic desert icons revered and relied upon throughout human civilization’s journey.