Naming your Animal Crossing island is hard, so here’s some help

I still don’t know what I’m going to name my Animal Crossing: New Horizons island. I have a few ideas, but I haven’t committed to any. I’m starting to feel the pressure, now that we’re less than a day away from the game’s release date. The truth is, I probably won’t commit to a name until the very last moment when I first boot up the game. But please, don’t be like me.

This is an important decision that deserves a thought out answer. You can’t change your island’s name, after all. Though I can’t help myself, I can help you. There is something really nice about “Nicole Land.” (Let me know if you choose this one.) If that won’t work, then developer Samuel Fine can help you: He’s created an Island Name Generator to help folks in these trying times.

Using a neural network, Fine programmed the Island Name Generator to generate around 10,000 “probably unique” island names. To do this, he threw together a bunch of real-life island names with names of stuff in Animal Crossing — like villagers, bugs, and fish — at a computer and had it “chew them all up and spit out some brand new names.”

I’ve been playing around with the Island Name Generator for a bit today and I’ve had some good options come out. My top choice so far is “Sears” — that’s why there’s a probably in front of “probably unique.”

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out Friday, March 20 for Nintendo Switch.

Update: It’s come to my attention that others want to help you here, too. Tumblr user amiibomori also created a New Horizons Island Generator, and it’s very cute. This name generator lets you set a theme for your island, as to better create a name that fits your vibe. The themes are these: random, rustic, tropical, horror, fairytale, celestial, and yummy. I’ve already got great names, like “Silksteam” and “Fuchsiaweb,” but I think I’ve already settled on “Sears.”