Reference / Press Names

Serial Killer Nicknames

Q: Who gives serial killers their nicknames?

Most serial killer nicknames are coined by the press — journalists summarising a killer's method, location or appearance, like the Boston Strangler or the Night Stalker. A few are self-coined by the killer in letters or calls, such as the Zodiac and BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill).

Q: What were Albert Fish's nicknames?

Albert Fish was given at least six press names between 1924 and 1935: the Gray Man, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Moon Maniac, the Boogeyman, and the alias Frank Howard he used himself. The Gray Man, drawn from a witness description of a grey-haired stranger, is the most enduring.

Q: What does BTK stand for?

BTK stands for Bind, Torture, Kill. Unlike most serial killer nicknames, it was self-coined — Dennis Rader used it himself in his communications to police and the media.

Almost every infamous killer is remembered by a name no one gave them at birth. The press needs a headline; the public needs a handle; and so the murderer becomes the Ripper, the Strangler, the Vampire. This is a reference to the most famous serial killer nicknames and where they actually came from — beginning with Albert Fish, who collected more of them than almost anyone.

By Margaret Hollis Editor-in-Chief · Bureau of Historical Research Historian of early 20th-century American criminal cases

New York Daily News page, 1931 — the press that coined many serial killer nicknames — The tabloid press of the 1920s and 1930s — the machine that turned killers into nicknames.

Albert Fish — the killer with the most nicknames

Between the 1924 disappearance of Francis McDonnell and his 1935 trial, the New York press gave Albert Fish at least six different names — more than almost any killer of his era:

The Gray Man — the earliest and most enduring, drawn from a witness's description of a "tall, grey-haired stranger" in the 1924 McDonnell coverage and contracted by the papers to "the gray man."
The Brooklyn Vampire — a tabloid label tying him to the borough where Billy Gaffney vanished and to the cannibalism revealed at trial.
The Werewolf of Wysteria — a sensational name fixed to the Wisteria Cottage scene of the Grace Budd murder.
The Moon Maniac — coined from trial testimony that some of his compulsions tracked the phases of the moon.
The Boogeyman — the folk-horror label that outlived all the others in popular memory.
Frank Howard — not a press name but the false identity Fish used himself to approach the Budd family in 1928.

The full origin of each, paper by paper, is documented on our dedicated Albert Fish nicknames page. Fish is the clearest case study in how a single killer accumulates a whole vocabulary of names.

Famous serial killer nicknames and their origins

A reference list of the best-known aliases, with the documented reason behind each. The dates are the years of the crimes.

Press-coined names

Jack the Ripper — unidentified, London 1888. Popularised by newspapers during the Whitechapel murders; it first appears in a letter to the press whose authorship is disputed.
The Boston Strangler — Albert DeSalvo, 1962–1964. A press label for the Boston murder series, applied during the investigation.
The Night Stalker — Richard Ramirez, 1984–1985. Coined by journalists covering the night-time home-invasion killings across California.
The Killer Clown — John Wayne Gacy, 1970s. From his public persona as "Pogo the Clown," fixed by the press after his arrest.
The Co-Ed Killer — Edmund Kemper, 1972–1973. From his murders of college-age women hitchhiking near campuses.
The Milwaukee Cannibal — Jeffrey Dahmer, 1978–1991. A press name from the dismemberment and cannibalism uncovered in his apartment.
The Acid Bath Murderer — John George Haigh, 1940s. From his method of dissolving victims' bodies in acid.
Lady Bluebeard — Belle Gunness, early 1900s. Linking her to the Bluebeard folk tale after a string of suspicious deaths of suitors and husbands.

Self-coined names

A rarer category — names the killer gave themselves, usually to taunt police and press:

The Zodiac — unidentified, Northern California 1968–1969. A pseudonym the killer signed in his own letters and ciphers.
BTK — Dennis Rader, Wichita, 1970s–2000s. Standing for "Bind, Torture, Kill," used by Rader himself in messages to authorities.
Son of Sam — David Berkowitz, 1976–1977. Adopted in his own notes and letters before the press made it standard.

How serial killers get their nicknames

Two mechanisms account for almost every name on this page. Press-coined names — the large majority — are shorthand invented by journalists to summarise a method (Acid Bath Murderer), a place (Boston Strangler), or an appearance (the Gray Man). Self-coined names come from the killer's own communications and are far rarer: Zodiac and BTK named themselves. A third, blurrier category exists where a label drifts between the two, or where later true-crime writing standardises an epithet the contemporary press used loosely — which is exactly what happened with several of Fish's names, the Brooklyn Vampire and Moon Maniac among them. Distinguishing which is which is part of reading these cases honestly, and it is the approach taken throughout this archive.

Frequently asked questions

Who gives serial killers their nicknames?

Most are coined by the press — journalists summarising a killer's method, location or appearance (the Boston Strangler, the Night Stalker). A few are self-coined by the killer in letters or calls, such as the Zodiac and BTK.

What were Albert Fish's nicknames?

Fish was given at least six press names between 1924 and 1935: the Gray Man, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Moon Maniac, the Boogeyman, and the alias Frank Howard he used himself. The Gray Man is the most enduring.

What does BTK stand for?

BTK stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill." Unlike most nicknames it was self-coined — Dennis Rader used it himself in his messages to police and media.