Audited 14 October 2026
Nameberry Review (2026): The Paywall, the App and 100k Names
What the biggest independent baby name site now charges for, what the swipe app delivers, and who should pay.
Summary
Our Nameberry review finds a deep baby name library with a new paid layer. The site claims 100,000+ names and 2,000+ lists, free to browse. Since July 2026, forum posting, popularity forecasts and ad removal need a membership at $19.99 a year. The swipe app sits at 2.6/5 on the App Store and 1.1/5 on Google Play. Good for research and trend data, weaker for couples who mainly want to agree on a name.
Nameberry is the deepest baby name library we checked, with 100,000+ names and 2,000+ curated lists, but since July 2026 its forums and best tools sit behind a $19.99 a year membership. The swipe app is the weak link at 2.6/5 on the App Store and 1.1/5 on Google Play. Worth it for research and trend data, less so for couples who mainly want to agree on a name.
- Catalog depth
- 9/10
- Free access
- 5/10
- Value for money
- 7/10
- App experience
- 4/10
- 100,000+ names with origins, meanings and popularity data, plus 2,000+ curated lists, free to browse
- Annual membership is $19.99, about $1.67 a month, with no ads and popularity forecasts
- Naming Partners lets any number of people swipe separately and only shows shared likes
- Forum posting now needs a membership or Elderberry status, which triggered a 98-post backlash thread
- App ratings are weak: 2.6/5 on iOS (37 ratings) and 1.1/5 on Google Play (17 reviews)
- Popularity maps cover 10,000 names, only about a tenth of the 100,000+ catalog
- Monthly billing costs $49.91 over a first year, 2.5 times the annual plan
Free to browse. Membership from $4.99 for three months.
How we reviewed it
- Version tested
- Website as of 14 Oct 2026; iOS app v0.2.0 (20 Sep 2026); Google Play listing updated 21 Sep 2026
- Test period
- 2026-10-14 → 2026-10-14
This is a desk audit done in one session on 14 October 2026, not a month of daily use. We did not buy a membership and we did not swipe through the app. We opened the live home, membership, app and list pages, read both store listings, the 6 July 2026 forum announcement and the founder's newsletter, and searched Reddit, BabyCenter and What to Expect for parent opinions. Measured numbers were counted on the page that day. Claimed numbers are Nameberry's own. Arithmetic is ours and labelled.
Should you use Nameberry?
YES if you...
- Parents who want a deep origins, meanings and popularity reference they can browse for free
- Name lovers who value two decades of editorial lists and trend forecasts
- Couples ready to pay $4.99 once to swipe and match on a shared shortlist
- Readers who would rather pay a small fee than see ads
NO if you...
- Anyone who expects the forums to stay open to free posting
- Couples who want search, filters or custom names inside a swipe app
- Parents who need popularity predictions for every one of the 100,000+ names
- People who want an app that explains why it suggests each name
What Nameberry costs in October 2026
Prices read from the membership page and store listings on 14 October 2026.
Free account
Ad-supported basics
- Browse names, lists and guides
- Read the forums
- Basic site features
Three-month membership
Then $4.99 a month, cancel anytime
- Popularity forecasts
- Popularity maps for 10,000 names
- Generate name ideas from any list
- Forum posting
- No ads
Annual membership
Same features, paid once
- Everything in the three-month plan
- About $1.67 a month
- One-year gift version is $19.99 with no auto-renewal
Swipe app
Store listing price
- Unlimited favorites and Naming Partners
- Free swipe limit raised from 50 to 1,000 in v0.2.0
- Separate from the website membership
ROI breakdown: The annual plan works out at $1.67 a month. Staying on monthly billing for a year costs $49.91 ($4.99 for three months, then nine months at $4.99), which is 2.5 times the annual price. The app's $4.99 is a separate purchase.
Hidden costs & gotchas
- The monthly plan renews at $4.99 a month after the first three months
- The app is a separate $4.99 one-time purchase, not included in the membership
- Popularity maps cover 10,000 names, not the full catalog
- Forum posting needs a membership unless you hold Elderberry status
Two plans, five features
Both plans list the same five benefits. Only the billing differs, which keeps the decision simple.
- $4.99 for three months, then $4.99 a month
- $19.99 a year, labelled best value
One list, 1,014 names, 49 pages
We counted: 1,014 names across 49 pages at 60 per page. Browsing was not gated on the page we loaded.
- Each entry carries origin, meaning and commentary
- Sort by A to Z or by popularity
What we measured and read
Every figure comes from a page we opened on 14 October 2026. The source sits in each note.
- Names in catalog (claimed)
- 100,000 + names Nameberry home page headline stat
- Curated lists (claimed)
- 2,000 + lists Nameberry home page
- Names in the nature list (measured)
- 1,014 names over 49 pages Counted on nameberry.com/list/329, 60 per page
- Names with popularity maps
- 10,000 names Membership page; about 10% of the claimed catalog (our arithmetic)
- Annual plan cost per month
- $1.67 $19.99 divided by 12
- First-year cost on monthly billing
- $49.91 $4.99 for 3 months, then 9 months at $4.99
- iOS app rating
- 2.6 /5 37 ratings, App Store listing
- Android app rating
- 1.1 /5 17 reviews, Google Play listing, 1K+ downloads
- Forum paywall thread
- 98 posts 43 users, 3.0k views, 1.7k likes, started 6 July 2026
Open nameberry.com and read the headline numbers above the fold.
Open the membership page and compare the two plans.
Open the nature names list and count the names and pages.
Open the app page and read what the swipe app promises.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Depth that a free database rarely matches 100,000+ names, 2,000+ lists and long editorial entries with origin, meaning and popularity context. The nature list alone ran to 1,014 names.
- A cheap, ad-free paid tier $19.99 a year is $1.67 a month, and it removes ads from a site that carried a lot of them.
- Naming Partners avoids the loudest-voice problem Each person swipes alone, so only shared likes surface. Invites are not capped, so grandparents can join without a vote.
- Popularity forecasts add something static lists lack The founder describes curves through 2040, which turns a ranking into a direction.
Cons
- Forum access moved behind a paywall in July 2026 The announcement thread drew 98 posts from 43 users.
- The app is rated 2.6/5 on iOS and 1.1/5 on Android Reviewers cite no search, no filters, obscure suggestions and loading bugs. Sample sizes are small, 37 and 17.
- Premium popularity maps cover only 10,000 names That is roughly a tenth of the claimed catalog, so most names have no map.
- Costs add up if you stay on monthly billing $49.91 in the first year against $19.99 for annual, plus $4.99 if you also want the app.
- No Trustpilot, G2 or Capterra presence to cross-check Independent ratings only exist for the app, so the website's quality rests on forum and Reddit opinion.
Final verdict
Nameberry remains the first place we would send someone who wants to understand a name: where it comes from, how it is trending, what people say about it. The free site still does that job, and the $19.99 annual plan is a fair price for forecasts and an ad-free experience.
What has changed is the contract with the community. Posting now costs money, and the app launched with weak ratings. Both are fixable, and the free swipe limit has already risen from 50 to 1,000.
Our advice: use the free site for research, pay the annual fee only if the forecasts or forums matter to you, and treat the app as a young product. If your main goal is agreeing on a name with a partner, shortlist elsewhere first and check the finalists on Nameberry.
- Catalog depth 9/10 100,000+ names, long entries
- Free access 5/10 Browsing free, forums paywalled
- Value for money 7/10 $1.67 a month on the annual plan
- App experience 4/10 2.6/5 iOS, 1.1/5 Android
- Community 6/10 Large, but posting now gated
- Partner matching 6/10 Good concept, thin controls
- Trend data 8/10 Forecasts, limited to 10,000 maps
Common questions about Nameberry
Is Nameberry free to use?
How much does a Nameberry membership cost?
How many names does Nameberry have?
Is the Nameberry app worth $4.99?
Why did Nameberry put its forums behind a paywall?
Can couples use Nameberry to agree on a name?
What do Reddit users say about Nameberry?
Update log
- Initial publication. Desk audit of the website, membership page, app listings and forum announcement.