What’s in a (Strain) Name? How Cannabis Strains are Named

Unicorn Poop. Cheetah Piss. Girl Scout Cookies. Gorilla Glue. Swamp Slurricane. Green Crack. Meatbreath. Sour Cheese. What do all of these things have in common? They’re cannabis strains, of course! What else could harbor the eccentric nature of cannabis while also, almost inexplicably, pinpointing the tastes and smells that cannabis consumers want from their smoke? But who makes up these names? Who looks at a bright green cannabis plant and goes, “Yup, that’s Alaskan Thunderfuck.” 

Let’s dig into the etymology of cannabis strain names, who creates them, and how new ones are made.

 

The Root of Strain Names

You may notice that many strains share parts of their naming conventions. That’s because many strains borrow from the top of the family tree. Many of these original strains are named after the location where they were grown and are often based on the sensory aspects of the plant. Kush, for example, is based on the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan, where many cannabis strains were originally grown. Therefore, every strain that carries that Kush name brings that meaning with it. This is true for any OG strain as well, as OG stands for Ocean Grown, meaning it was grown in California. 

Some more obvious naming conventions are seen in strains named for their taste and aroma. Have you ever been driving down the side road and thought, “Is that a skunk or is someone growing an acre of weed in the woods around here?” That easy correlation lends itself to strains like Lemon Skunk – a strain named after its aroma of… well, lemon and skunk. Sometimes it really is that easy.

Cross-Breeding Strain Names

Before we get into the names that could only be named by someone who smoked a gram and a half of hash out of a half-eaten Granny Smith apple, let’s go through a more obvious method of naming some of your favorite strains. Jungle Pie, for instance, is created through crossing the strains Jungle Cake and Wedding Pie. 

Sometimes, it isn’t as straightforward as taking a word from each strain name. Let’s take a look at our popular strain, Sour Apple. The name still originates from its genetics, but only partially. It’s created through crossing the iconic strain Sour Diesel and Cinderella 99. The borrowing of Sour seems obvious, but where does the apple come from? Could it be a bastardization of the Cinderella story, confusing it with the Snow White story? This is where the idiopathic origins of names start to come into play. And because of this obscurity, every genetic that stems from Sour Apple will borrow a name whose etymology is based on hollow ground.

Funny Cannabis Strain Names

Okay, let’s get into the cannabis names that have your conservative Aunt yelling to your mother, “Do you see what’s happened to your son? He’s smoking on something called Cat Piss!”

Speaking of the strain Cat Piss, this particularly vulgar sounding cannabis strain got its name through an interpretation of its slightly chemical fragrance that some thought smelled of ammonia. Who would want to smoke ammonia, you may ask? Well, it’s not the whole body of an aroma that strain namers pull from, but rather a small piece of it. A piece of it that, inexplicably, triggers something in our mind that intrigues us.

Sour Cheese is another good example of this. People have been eating stinky cheeses for centuries! So is it really that crazy that a piece of that aroma, now transfused into a cannabis strain lineage, would have particular smokers champing at the bit to get the stinkiest Sour Cheese that they can get their hands on?

Okay, but what about something like Grandpa’s Breath? Who in their right mind would find any piece of that tantalizing? Well… yeah, there’s no argument for that one. Some strains are undeniably tongue-in-cheek names meant to generate buzz around their absurdity. Grandpa’s Breath is a cross between OG Kush and Granddaddy Purple, so while it doesn’t make the name sound any more appetizing, you have to give Dungeons Vault Genetics props for pulling out an on-brand goofy name.

While the etymology of many cannabis strains can be traced through their genetics, and many are seemingly created out of thin air, the jocular nature of cannabis strains has become a fixture of the culture. It can carry great significance due to its lineage, taste, or smell, or it could simply be a silly name that’s fun to show off to your friends. Either way, it’s weed, man; it’s supposed to be fun. There are numerous strain name generators available on the internet, so feel free to create a few of your own. And in the meantime, take a look at our flower menu to find your favorite strain name on our menu.