Polychaete worms are used widely as bait in South Africa, but common names are not used consistently among fishers or in the literature. This can have implications for conservation, since different polychaete species will not be equally vulnerable to exploitation, and uncertainties about the names of species make it difficult to monitor harvests to assess catch rates. This study develops a consensus view of English and Afrikaans common names for known bait species, building on names already used by fishers and in the literature. The greatest (but not complete) consensus in use of names among fishers and in the literature was for species in the families Arenicolidae, Eunicidae and Nereididae. However, most species are known by multiple common names, some common names are used for multiple species in different families, and the use of at least one name has changed. By applying principles like those used to develop scientific names, we propose a binomial naming system that includes a collective common name that applies to the family or genus, and which, for most species, is already used by fishers, as well as qualifying names that apply to the individual species. The qualifying names may refer to a morphological character that can be observed in the field, its distribution, ecology or the specific name. Research is needed to develop consensus names in isiXhosa.