# Ethereum Address Generator Guide: Prefix, Suffix and Import

Source: https://www.ethvanity.com/guide

Updated: 2026-11-12

## Understand the mechanism step by step

Use these guides in sequence, then explore the topic index below. Each article includes a diagram and links to the next relevant checks.

- [How to Generate an Ethereum Vanity Address](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/how-to-generate-ethereum-vanity-address)
- [Ethereum Vanity Address Format: Hex Characters and EIP-55 Checksum](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-hex-checksum)
- [Ethereum Vanity Address Difficulty: Attempts, Odds and Time](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-difficulty)
- [How Ethereum Addresses Are Derived from a Private Key](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/how-ethereum-addresses-are-derived)

## Your first Ethereum vanity search

Start with ca as a short prefix or 123 as a numeric suffix. These are example fragments, not receiving addresses. The [step-by-step ETH generator walkthrough](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/how-to-generate-ethereum-vanity-address) separates selecting a pattern, searching and checking the returned result.

Use a shorter fallback when the preferred pattern exceeds your time budget. If you need a readable name for an existing address or a contract deployment address, choose the appropriate workflow before starting a wallet keypair search.

- [Check address characters](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-hex-checksum) before entering a fragment.
- [Understand search difficulty](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-difficulty) before adding characters.
- [Review wallet import](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/import-vanity-private-key-metamask) before relying on the returned secret.

## Ethereum Vanity Address Generator: choose your workflow

An Ethereum vanity address is an ordinary account address selected because part of its hexadecimal text matches a pattern. The search creates a new key pair; it does not rename an existing account or move its balance.

Start with the generation method, supported address type, export format and key handling. A speed claim is not evidence of secure randomness or exclusive control of a key. EthVanity provides an account-address search and supporting documentation; it is not an ENS registrar or a contract deployment service.


| Your goal | Approach | What to check |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Recognizable 0x address | A vanity key-pair search | Use hexadecimal characters, then preserve the resulting private key. |
| Readable name for an address | A naming service such as ENS | A name resolves to an address; it is not a custom hexadecimal address. |
| Predictable contract address | A contract deployment workflow | Account key searching does not choose a CREATE2 deployment address. |

- [Ethereum Vanity Address Format: Hex Characters and EIP-55 Checksum](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-hex-checksum)
- [Ethereum Vanity Address vs ENS Name: Which Should You Use?](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-vs-ens)
- [EOA Vanity Address vs CREATE2 Vanity Contract Address](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-wallet-vs-create2-vanity)
- [Profanity Vanity Address Vulnerability: What Happened in 2022](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/profanity-vanity-address-vulnerability)

## Start with the question you need to answer

Use this guide as a starting point. Choose the question below that matches your task; each article explains the decision, provides concrete examples and links to technical sources.

- [Ethereum Vanity Address Format: Hex Characters and EIP-55 Checksum](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-hex-checksum)
- [Ethereum Vanity Address vs ENS Name: Which Should You Use?](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-vs-ens)
- [EOA Vanity Address vs CREATE2 Vanity Contract Address](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-wallet-vs-create2-vanity)

## Which guide answers your question?

Choose the outcome you need before choosing a pattern. These routes separate format rules, planning and verification so that an address example is not mistaken for an implementation guarantee.


| Question or decision | Read next |
| --- | --- |
| Ethereum Vanity Address Format: Hex Characters and EIP-55 Checksum | Which characters an Ethereum vanity address can contain, how the EIP-55 mixed-case checksum is computed, and why case-sensitive patterns cost more attempts. |
| Ethereum Vanity Address vs ENS Name: Which Should You Use? | Compare an Ethereum vanity address with an ENS name: cost, renewal, security, wallet support and when combining a recognizable address with a .eth name makes sense. |
| EOA Vanity Address vs CREATE2 Vanity Contract Address | How a vanity wallet (EOA keypair search) differs from a vanity contract address mined with a CREATE2 salt, with the CREATE and CREATE2 formulas from EIP-1014. |

- [Ethereum Vanity Address Format: Hex Characters and EIP-55 Checksum](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-hex-checksum)
- [Ethereum Vanity Address vs ENS Name: Which Should You Use?](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-vs-ens)
- [EOA Vanity Address vs CREATE2 Vanity Contract Address](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-wallet-vs-create2-vanity)

## What makes an Ethereum address a vanity address?

A vanity address is selected because part of its public address matches a desired pattern. A real generator repeatedly creates candidate keys and derives their addresses until it finds a match. An arbitrary string with the right appearance is not a wallet.

Recognizable characters do not prove who controls an address. Compare the complete address when identifying a recipient; a short matching prefix or suffix is not an identity check.


## Choose a pattern that fits the address format

Ethereum addresses contain 40 hexadecimal characters after 0x. Patterns use digits 0–9 and letters a–f. Mixed-case checksum formatting is separate from the hexadecimal value.

A prefix matches the beginning and a suffix matches the end. Choose the position first, then keep the pattern short enough to be practical.


## Why longer patterns take more work

Every additional constrained character narrows the set of acceptable results. Actual search time depends on the address encoding, matching rules, randomness and implementation. No fixed generation time is guaranteed.


## Technical references

The official Ethereum account documentation explains the underlying account model. The FAQ explains address concepts; the About page describes our editorial scope.

- [Official Ethereum account documentation](https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/accounts/)
- [Address questions and answers](https://www.ethvanity.com/faq)
- [About EthVanity](https://www.ethvanity.com/about)

## All articles by topic

### Generation

- [How to Generate an Ethereum Vanity Address: Prefix or Suffix](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/how-to-generate-ethereum-vanity-address): Use an ETH address generator with a short hex prefix or suffix. Follow a worked cafe example, review the result and distinguish wallets from ENS and CREATE2.

### Address format

- [Ethereum Vanity Address Format: Hex Characters and EIP-55 Checksum](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-hex-checksum): Which characters an Ethereum vanity address can use, how the EIP-55 checksum works, and why case-sensitive patterns need more attempts.
- [Ethereum Address or Transaction Hash: How to Tell Them Apart](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-address-vs-transaction-hash): Separate account addresses from transaction identifiers before copying values into a wallet, explorer or project page.

### Comparison

- [Ethereum Vanity Address vs ENS Name: Which Should You Use?](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-vs-ens): Compare an Ethereum vanity address with an ENS name: cost, renewal, security, wallet support and when to use both together.

### Developer guide

- [EOA Vanity Address vs CREATE2 Vanity Contract Address](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-wallet-vs-create2-vanity): How a vanity wallet (EOA keypair search) differs from a vanity contract address mined with a CREATE2 salt, with the EIP-1014 formulas.
- [Leading-Zero Ethereum Addresses: How They Save Gas](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-leading-zero-address-gas): Why addresses with leading zero bytes cost less calldata gas (4 vs 16 gas per byte, EIP-2028), with Seaport and Uniswap v4 hook examples.
- [Same Address on Every EVM Chain: EOAs, CREATE2 and CREATE3](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/same-address-every-evm-chain): Why an EOA has the same address on every EVM chain, how contracts match via CREATE2 and CREATE3, and lessons from the 20M OP incident.

### Security

- [Profanity Vanity Address Vulnerability: What Happened in 2022](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/profanity-vanity-address-vulnerability): How Profanity's 32-bit seed made private keys recoverable, its link to the $160M Wintermute hack, and what to do if you used the tool.
- [Ethereum Address Poisoning: Look-Alike Address Scams Explained](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-address-poisoning): How address poisoning uses zero-value transfers and look-alike vanity addresses that copy the first and last characters, and how to verify.

### Difficulty

- [Ethereum Vanity Address Difficulty: Attempts, Odds and Time](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/ethereum-vanity-address-difficulty): How hard is an Ethereum vanity address? 16^n expected attempts, EIP-55 case factors, prefix plus suffix, success odds and search time.

### Fundamentals

- [How Ethereum Addresses Are Derived from a Private Key](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/how-ethereum-addresses-are-derived): From secp256k1 private key to Keccak-256 hash, last 20 bytes and EIP-55 checksum, with an ethers v6 example and why it is one-way.

### Wallets

- [How to Import a Vanity Private Key into MetaMask Safely](https://www.ethvanity.com/blog/import-vanity-private-key-metamask): How to import a vanity private key into MetaMask, why imported accounts are not covered by your recovery phrase, and safer hardware options.