Quick answer: Hybrid strain names follow six patterns. Some mash the parents together, like Blue Dream from Blueberry and Haze. Others borrow a dessert, a place, a breeder's house style or a numbered cut such as GG4. A few were forced renames after trademark fights. Names describe marketing, not chemistry.
What is a hybrid strain name?
A hybrid strain name is a trade name that a breeder or grower gives a cross, and nobody polices it. There is no registry. Nothing requires the name to match the plant.
That is why the names are fun, and why they are unreliable. Sensi Seeds named a cross after an activist. A Humboldt farm named one after its area code.
For the shortlist with effects and terpenes, our roundup of the best hybrid marijuana strains does that job. This page is the reference list.
How do hybrid strains get their names?
Six patterns cover most of a Washington shelf.
Parent mashups
The oldest pattern, and the only one that carries information. Blue Dream is Blueberry crossed with Haze. Banana Punch is Banana OG crossed with Purple Punch. A name that reads like two strains jammed together usually is one.
Dessert and candy names
Gelato came from the Bay Area breeder Sherbinskis, founded by Mario Guzman, who also made Sunset Sherbet. Wedding Cake, Ice Cream Cake and Cereal Milk followed. The pattern sold, so it spread. It also draws criticism for sounding like something aimed at kids.
Place names
Maui Wowie carries a Hawaiian name and a Hawaiian parent. Durban Poison is named for the South African port city of Durban. Most of what circulates about the Maui Wowie name is folklore.
Breeder signatures
Some names work as house marks. Seed Junky Genetics, run by JBeezy, is behind Wedding Cake, Jealousy and Permanent Marker. Green House Seeds bred White Widow in 1990s Netherlands, as the White Widow name story explains.
Numbered cuts
A number marks a selected plant, not a strength rating. GG4 was the fourth keeper from the GG Strains project. 707 Headband borrows the Humboldt County area code. Chem 91 points back at a 1991 bag seed.
Forced renames
Gorilla Glue Co. sued GG Strains in 2017. The October settlement gave the company until 19 September 2018 to drop the name and all gorilla imagery. The strain became GG4, also sold as Original Glue. The full Gorilla Glue story is worth your time.
People and pop culture
Gary Payton is the clearest case, and it is a Seattle one. Powerzzzup Genetics kept the twentieth phenotype of a cross, and Payton wore number 20 for the Sonics. Bruce Banner came out of Dark Horse Genetics with a comic book name and no explanation.
40 real hybrid strain names and their reported lineage
Every name below belongs to a real strain. The lineage column reports what breeders and the databases claim, not what is proven.
| Hybrid strain name | Reported lineage |
|---|---|
| Parent mashups | |
| Blue Dream | Blueberry x Haze |
| Banana Punch | Banana OG x Purple Punch |
| Kush Mints | Bubba Kush x Animal Mints |
| Gelatti | Gelato x Biscotti |
| Wedding Crasher | Wedding Cake x Purple Punch |
| Gorilla Cookies | Original Glue (GG4) x GSC |
| Apples and Bananas | Gelatti x Blue Power, or a Jet Fuel Gelato cross |
| Dessert and candy names | |
| Gelato | Sunset Sherbet x Thin Mint GSC |
| Wedding Cake | Triangle Kush x Animal Mints |
| Ice Cream Cake | Wedding Cake x Gelato #33 |
| Biscotti | Gelato 25 x Sour Florida OG |
| Sunset Sherbet | GSC x Pink Panties |
| Cereal Milk | Y Life x Snowman |
| Apple Fritter | Animal Cookies x Sour Apple |
| Zkittlez | Grape Ape x Grapefruit |
| Runtz | Zkittlez x Gelato |
| GSC | OG Kush x F1 Durban |
| Blue Lobster | Apples and Bananas x Eye Candy |
| Oreoz | Cookies and Cream x Secret Weapon |
| Place names | |
| Maui Wowie | Hawaiian x an unnamed parent |
| Pineapple Express | Trainwreck x Hawaiian |
| Georgia Pie | Seed Junky Genetics, parents unpublished |
| Breeder signatures | |
| White Widow | Brazilian sativa x South Indian indica |
| Permanent Marker | Biscotti x Jealousy |
| Jealousy | Gelato 41 x Sherbert Bx1 |
| Bacio Gelato | Sunset Sherbet x Thin Mint Cookies |
| Mimosa | Clementine x Purple Punch, Symbiotic Genetics |
| Grease Monkey | GG4 x Cookies and Cream, Exotic Genetix |
| Numbered cuts | |
| Original Glue (GG4) | Chem's Sister x Sour Dubb x Chocolate Diesel |
| 707 Headband | Sour Diesel x OG Kush x Master Kush |
| Chem 91 | A Chemdawg cut from a 1991 seed |
| Chem Sis | A Chemdawg cut, short for Chem Sister |
| Gelato #33 | Sunset Sherbet x Thin Mint GSC, aka Larry Bird |
| People and pop culture | |
| Gary Payton | The Y x Snowman |
| Bruce Banner | OG Kush x Strawberry Diesel, Dark Horse Genetics |
| Jack Herer | Haze x Northern Lights #5 x Shiva Skunk |
| Trainwreck | Thai x Mexican x Afghani |
| Chemdawg | A 1991 bag seed, Chem plus Dog bud |
| Do-Si-Dos | GSC x Face Off OG |
| Headband | OG Kush x Sour Diesel |
Our write-up on Jack Herer goes deeper on one row of that table.
Why can two jars with the same name hold different plants?
Because the name travels and the plant does not. A cutting gets passed around, relabeled, and grown under different lights. The name stays put while the chemistry drifts.
The paperwork disagrees with itself too. Cannigma reports two Wedding Cake lineages: the repeated Cherry Pie and GSC version, and Seed Junky's own Triangle Kush and Animal Mints account. Leafly's Apples and Bananas page lists one pair of parents in its genetics field and a different pair in the text.
So read the grower, not the name. Our guide to finding out who grew your weed walks through a Washington label. A farm that repeats the same cut tells you more than any lid.
The most famous place names are not hybrids at all
Durban Poison, Hindu Kush and Acapulco Gold are landrace populations, not crosses. They are named for where they grew, and they predate modern breeding. Our primer on landrace strains covers why those names still carry weight. Food naming also runs well past desserts, as our piece on lobster strains shows.
What a strain name is worth at our counters
Not much by itself, and our Cannabis Guides will tell you so. At West Seattle and Redmond, the useful question is not which Gelato this is. It is who grew it and what the terpene numbers say.
Names work as shorthand. A regular who likes Wedding Cake usually gets pointed at Ice Cream Cake or Wedding Crasher. That works because the crosses share a parent, not because the names rhyme.
Both stores handle medical consultations for patients holding a Washington DOH recognition card. If you are using cannabis for a health reason, talk to a healthcare provider.
Frequently asked questions
Why do so many hybrid strains have dessert names?
Because one family of names worked, and the trade copied it. Sherbinskis released Sunset Sherbet and the Gelato line. Cookies pushed Girl Scout Cookies, Cereal Milk and Runtz. Dessert names are easy to remember on a crowded menu, and they also draw criticism for sounding like candy.
What does the number in a hybrid strain name mean?
Almost always a selected plant, not a strength score. GG4 was the fourth keeper from the GG Strains project. Gelato #33 is one numbered pheno out of a batch of seedlings. 707 Headband is the exception, since 707 is the Humboldt County area code.
Why was Gorilla Glue renamed to GG4?
The Gorilla Glue adhesive company sued GG Strains over the name. The two sides settled in October 2017. GG Strains and its licensees had to drop the name and all gorilla imagery by 19 September 2018. The strain now sells as GG4 or Original Glue.
Can a grower rename a cannabis strain?
Yes, and it happens often. No registry governs strain names, and no botanical authority signs off on them. One cross can reach shelves under two labels. Purple Caper Seeds sold the Zkittlez and Gelato cross as Gelato Zkittlez while Cookies Fam sold it as Runtz.
Do hybrid strain names tell you anything about effects?
Only loosely, and never reliably. A Diesel name usually signals a gassy, sharp aroma. A Cake name usually signals something sweet and heavy. Those are habits of the trade, not rules. The terpene panel and the cannabinoid numbers do the real work.
Is the Gary Payton strain really named after the Seattle SuperSonics guard?
Yes. Kenny of Powerzzzup Genetics crossed The Y with Snowman and kept the twentieth phenotype. The crew were basketball fans, and Payton wore number 20 for the Sonics, so the number decided the name. Berner of Cookies then licensed it from Payton himself.
Reading the shelf instead of the list
A list like this is useful for one thing: spotting the pattern. Once you know a Cake name usually means a Cookies descendant, the menu looks less like a list and more like a family tree.
Then check the label anyway. The West Seattle flower menu and the Redmond flower menu list the producer next to the name, which is the part worth reading.
Origins Cannabis is a licensed Washington retailer serving adults 21 and over in West Seattle and Redmond. Nothing here is medical advice.