There are some wild weed names out there.

It can be overwhelming to walk into a provisioning center and see all of the zany names on the menu. Names like Zkittlez, Gorilla Glue, and Poison OG may not even sound like they would be good (but trust us… they are).

Some names like Afghan Kush may be more recognizable thanks to movies and TV shows. But where did these names come from, who names them, and why those names?

Let’s look at a little bit of the history of marijuana strain names and where the wacky, modern names come from.

HUMBLE ORIGINS

It wasn’t until the 1960s and 1970s that cannabis strains began to be named varieties. Up until that point the plant was simply known as marijuana, weed, cannabis, or one of hundreds of slang terms.

But the 60s and 70s saw the emergence of landrace strains of cannabis — original strains of sativa and indica that were cultivated in different regions of the world.

Like wine, these strains developed a terroir (a fancy French word that basically means qualities that come from the environment), which gave them unique flavors and aromas that were distinct to the plant. Also like wine, these strains were given names based on the region in the world where they were grown, like Acapulco Gold, Panama Red, and Maui Wowie.

These strains became the parent strains for many of the plant hybrids available today. Most cannabis breeders today aren’t using parent strains that came straight from the ground in the countries of origin, so the regional terroir is lost.

Other strains of cannabis have been named after their distinctive aroma or flavor, like Sour Diesel, Lavender, Strawberry Cough, and Lemon OG.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

There are no standardized naming conventions when it comes to cannabis strain names. Ultimately, the naming is up to individual breeders.

Some breeders like to create clever names for their strains by combining the names of the parent plants or by how the strain is going to make the user feel. Some examples are Ice Cream Cake (Wedding Cake + Gelato #33), Banana Punch (Banana OG + Purple Punch), Blue Dream (Blueberry + Haze), and Blue Cheese (Blueberry + Cheese).

Other strains are named after the appearance of the flower, like White Widow and Granddaddy Purple.

Names alone aren’t a perfect predictor that you’ll always have the same or similar plant and experience with a bud. Keep a weed journal and take note of specific breeders and the names of their plants so you know which ones you enjoy. Keep track of the strains and terpenes too!

A WHOLE NEW MARKET

In some cases, marijuana strains are just named for their marketability.

Because strains with the same or similar names aren’t identical from breeder to breeder, some people like to come up with a catchy name instead. The right name and good branding can have a huge impact on the success of a strain.

Sometimes, breeders don’t want to let their competition know too much about what species went into creating their strains. That’s where you can get some random names like AK-47 or ones with pop culture references like SleeStack (10 points if you get that reference without clicking on the link).

There aren’t any rules when it comes to the way that breeders are required to name the strains, so it’s kind of a wild west of weed names. Ultimately, breeders select names that end up being informative, fun, or marketable. It’s possible that uniform naming conventions and genetic mapping of strains will happen in the future. But for now, anything goes!

If you want to learn more about different cannabis strains and what their names are all about, visit Prosper and chat with one of our Cannsultants. We’ll help demystify every aspect of marijuana names so you can truly understand what you’re looking at.