Privacy
Last updated 20 October 2026
In short: no accounts, no adverts and no tracking, and nothing is sold. Your swipes stay on your phone. If you pair with a partner, your first name and your lists of names are shared with them through Nameling's server until either of you unpairs. If you agree, the app also sends anonymous counts, such as how many names are swiped, which can't be traced to you.
On your device
Everything you do in Nameling is stored on your phone or computer: the names you like, love or pass on, your shortlist, your Name-off rankings, your filters and your settings (including the first name and surname you can type in), and the name you choose, with any middle name, due date and birth details you add. Nameling doesn't send any of this anywhere unless you pair with a partner, and even then the chosen name and its details stay on your device.
In the iPhone app, the due-date reminder is a notification your phone sets for itself. Nothing about it is sent to Nameling.
To delete it, use Settings → Start over, or delete the app (on the website, clear the site's data in your browser).
When you pair with a partner
Pairing is optional. When you create or join a pairing, the app sends Nameling's server:
- your first name, if you entered one, so your partner knows it's you;
- the names you've liked, loved and passed on, so the two apps can find the names you both like;
- which country's names you're looking at, and whether for a girl, a boy or either, so a partner who joins starts in the same place;
- a random pairing code and a random member key (the server stores only a fingerprint of the key).
Only the two people in a pairing can read its lists; anyone who has the pairing code can see the first names of the people in it, so an invite shows who sent it. When either of you unpairs (Together → Unpair), the whole pairing is deleted from the server straight away: both names, both lists and the code. Unpairing needs a connection, so that nothing is left behind. The restore code shown on the Together screen contains your member key: keep it to yourself.
If you deleted the app without unpairing, the pairing stays on the server until your partner unpairs. To have it deleted sooner, contact us with your pairing code.
Anonymous usage counts
To see how Nameling is used and to find bugs, the app asks once whether it may send occasional counts to Nameling's server. Nothing is sent unless you say yes. The counts look like this: "the iPhone app was opened 3 times, 40 names were passed on and 12 liked, by someone using UK names". Each batch holds only:
- whether it came from the iPhone app or the website, and which version;
- the country setting (UK, US or somewhere else);
- totals of things done: opening the app, finishing the welcome steps, deciding on names, pairing, matches, choosing a name and sharing;
- if something went wrong, the error message and the part of the app it happened in.
There's no ID of any kind, no name you swiped or typed, and nothing about your phone; the server adds each batch into daily totals and keeps no IP address with it, so the counts can't be traced back to you or your device. You can change your answer at any time with Settings → Send anonymous usage counts.
If you contact us
The contact form sends us your email address and your message, which are used only to reply and to fix what you tell us about. Messages are deleted within 12 months.
Who runs the server
Nameling's website, pairing server, counts and contact form are hosted by Netlify, which may process them in the United States. Like any web host, Netlify handles your device's IP address to deliver pages and to stop abuse, and may keep standard server logs for a short time. Nameling doesn't keep IP addresses or use them for anything else, and doesn't sell or share data with anyone.
The iPhone app
The app carries every name and every figure with it, so it works offline. It only goes online to pair with a partner and keep your lists in step, and to send the anonymous counts if you've agreed to them. It keeps a second copy of your swipes and settings in its own storage on your phone, so they aren't lost if iOS clears its web storage. Haptics, the share sheet and the rating prompt work on your phone and send nothing to Nameling. The app doesn't use advertising identifiers or track you across other apps and websites.
Where the names come from
The popularity figures are public statistics from the Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the US Social Security Administration. They count names, not people, and contain no personal data. Meanings come from Wiktionary or are Nameling's own notes. Links to Wiktionary and the statistics offices open their websites, which have their own privacy policies.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of the data Nameling's server holds about you, or for it to be corrected or deleted, through the contact form. Include your pairing code, since that's the only way the server can find your part of a pairing. Anything on your device is already yours to export (Settings → Export) or delete.
Children
Nameling is made for parents-to-be, not for children, and doesn't knowingly collect anything from them.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will appear on this page with a new date.