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Secret Service code name

Term used by US law enforcement agency

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
8 min read
Source updated July 8, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

The United States Secret Service uses code names for U.S. presidents, first ladies, and other prominent persons and locations. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity, and tradition. The Secret Service does not choose these names, however. The White House Communications Agency maintains a list that candidates choose from, often choosing ones that resonate with them personally.

According to an established protocol, good codewords are unambiguous words that can be easily pronounced and readily understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages by radio or telephone regardless of their native language. Traditionally, all family members' code names start with the same letter.

The code names change over time for security purposes, but are often publicly known. For security, code names are generally picked from a list of such 'good' words, but avoiding the use of common words which could likely be intended to mean their normal definitions.

01Presidents and their families

From left to right: President Bill Clinton, codename "Eagle"; Chelsea Clinton, codename "Energy"; Senator Hillary Clinton, codename "Evergreen"; Vice President Al Gore, codename "Sundance".
From left to right: President Bill Clinton, codename "Eagle"; Chelsea Clinton, codename "Energy"; Senator Hillary Clinton, codename "Evergreen"; Vice President Al Gore, codename "Sundance".

02Vice presidents and their families

03Political candidates and their spouses

U.S. Secret Service codenames are often given to high-profile political candidates (such as presidential and vice presidential candidates), and their respective families and spouses who are assigned U.S. Secret Service protection. These codenames often differ from those held if they are elected or those from prior periods if they held positions needing codenames.

1968

1972

1976

1980

1984

1988

1996

2000

2004

2008

2012

2016

2020

04Government officials

Queen Elizabeth II, codename "Kittyhawk".
Queen Elizabeth II, codename "Kittyhawk".

05Other individuals

06Locations, objects, places and parts of Secret Service

U.S. Secret Service codenames are not only given to people; they are often given to places, locations and even objects, such as aircraft like Air Force One, and vehicles such as the Presidential State Car.

07In fiction

In popular culture, the practice of assigning codenames is often used to provide additional verisimilitude in fictional works about the executive branch, or high-ranking governmental figures.

Watch videos about Secret Service code nameExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Secret Service code name”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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