diff --git a/evoprompt/utils.py b/evoprompt/utils.py
index 2d41444a25bc0cc186b9c1dace405a9508c304b1..8db75aa63604d0d4392b107708cca3b67b666244 100644
--- a/evoprompt/utils.py
+++ b/evoprompt/utils.py
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ def initialize_run_directory(model):
         system_message=None,
         prompt=RUN_NAME_PROMPT,
         use_randomness=True,
+        # a bit more randomness for the name is okay
+        temperature=1.2,
     )
     run_name_match = re.search(r"^\w+$", response, re.MULTILINE)
     existing_run_names = os.listdir(RUNS_DIR) if RUNS_DIR.exists() else []