What To Name Your Baby Goth
Stumped for a name for your little possibly-changeling baby? Look no further! (note: yeah we know many of these are totally lame). Most would not be that great on a human, but might be OK for a pet or a screen name. For further Gothification, try adding a suffix and compounding some of the names, like Absinthia ChaosDemon, Lachrimaeus OmegaThorn... or not.
| Name | significance (if any) |
| Absinthe | If you don't know what this is, you might want to find another subculture to subscribe to. It's an alcoholic beverage made with wormwood (artimisia absinthium), a plant known for its mild hallucinigenic properties. It was very popular among 19th and early 20th century artists. |
| Ague | term for Malaria used from the middle ages up until the 20th century. |
| Ahriman | evil deity in Persian Zoroastrianism |
| Alcina | sorceress in Italian Arthurian legends. |
| Amanita | genus of poisonous mushrooms |
| Amarantha | a mythological Greek flower that never faded. |
| Amaranthus | genus of flower also known as "love lies bleeding." Used in middle ages to stem bleeding. |
| Amethyst | purple gemstone, thought to be a cure for drunkenness, and also to encourage celibacy. Wine goblets in the middle ages were often carved from amethyst. In astrology, it is a symbol of heavenly understanding. |
| Annabel Lee | a tragic poem by Edgar Allan Poe |
| Anubis/Anpu | Egyptian mortuary god |
| Arachne | Greek mythological figure who Athena turned into a spider in a fit of jealousy |
| Artemisia | Greek mythological figure, also the species of wormwood, used to make absinthe. |
| Ash | what's left behind after a fire. Also, think of Daniel Ash. |
| Asmodeus | another name for Satan |
| Aspiradora | means "vaccuum" in Spanish. If you want a name that really sucks! (har har) |
| Astaroth | Demon, Christian mythology |
| Astolat | the place where Elaine the tragic "Lily Maid" of Arthurian legend hailed from |
| Asura | "Demon" in Hinduism |
| Asya | According to one book I have, means "born in a time of grief" in Swahili. |
| Atropine | a poison |
| Autumn | season where everything dies |
| Avalon | the otherworldly place where King Arthur went after he died. Also a model of mini-van. |
| Avarice | Greed. One of the Seven Deadly Sins |
| Aveira | word for "sin" in Hebrew |
| Avon | in Hebrew, a sin of lust or uncontrollable emotion. |
| Azazel | Hebrew Bible goat-like demon |
| Azrael | Angel of Death in the Koran. |
| Balor | one-eyed giant in Irish mythology |
| Banshee | from Irish bean sidhe meaning "woman spirit; fairy; otherwordly being." The banshee screams when someone is about to die. |
| Bealtaine | Celtic holiday-- corresponds with May day (Celtic major festivals are held at mid-points between equinoxes & solstices, not on those days). |
| Beelzebub | Semitic god name sometimes used as an alternate for Satan. |
| Belial | another name for Satan |
| Belinda | a moon of Uranus (snicker, snicker.) The name probably derives from an old word for "serpent." |
| Belladonna | poisonous plant with purple flowers (deadly nightshade) |
| Blood | duh |
| Bran/Branwen | Bran is a Celtic word for "crow." Branwen is apparently a form of Bronwen ("white breast"), altered to include "bran." It would mean white raven. -wen andthe masculine form -wyn are derived from gwen, meaning "white; holy; pure." |
| Breviary | Catholic prayer book for priests |
| Briar | a thorn |
| Caligula | a bizarrely violent and perverted Roman historical figure. Also a movie that has a really smutty version. |
| Calix/Calixa | a Latin name derived for the word for "wine cup.' |
| Candelaria | a plant family thought to drive away evil spirits in the middle ages (common name: mullein) |
| Catafalque | coffin-shaped box covered with a black cloth used in place of a body if one is not available for the funeral. |
| Chalice | fancy cup, used to hold holy blood. Derived from the Latin Calix (see also). |
| Chaos | originally, the state of the universe before the Greek Gods arrived. Has come to mean a state of complete disorder. |
| Chimera/Chimaera | a mythological beast made up of parts of different animals. Also a word for a grotesque product of the imagination. |
| Chrysanthemum | flower associated with death in Japan and some European countries |
| Cinder | see Ash |
| Circe | Greek sorceress |
| Clove | cigarettes that goths and art students smoke a lot of |
| Cloven | what Satan's hoofs are |
| Corvus/Cornix | Be creative! Use the Latin words for 'raven' instead of being GothRaven123112744 |
| Crow(e) | bird associated with death |
| D'Elormie | tragic bridegroom in Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Bridal Ballad" |
| Damian | priest in the Exorcist movies, and the possessed kid in the Omen movies. |
| Dark/Darque/Darkling etc. | goths like the dark. |
| Delora | H.P. Lovecraft's aunt, who he was raised by. The name probably is dervied from "dolores" meaning "sorrows." |
| Demon/Daemon/Demona | an evil attendant or spirit |
| Desdemona | tragic Shakespearean heroine |
| Dicaculus/Dicacula/Dicax | "sarcastic" in Latin |
| Dies Irae | means 'day of wrath'-- the part of a requiem mass concerned with the Day of Judgement. |
| Digitalis | (foxglove) poisonous flower |
| Diti | Demon mother in Hinduism |
| Dolores | "sorrows" in Spanish |
| Draconia | "Draconian" means "dire" or "really really serious" |
| Dragon | if you're into that sort of thing |
| Draven | The main dead guy in The Crow was named Eric Draven. Sounds kinda like 'raven," no? |
| Dunsany | influential Irish fantasy/horror writer Lord Dunsany (1878-1957) |
| Dystopia | the opposite of Utopia - theoretical place where everything sucks. |
| Elsinore | Hamlet's castle |
| Elysium | where dead heroes go in Greek mythology. |
| Ember | dying coals |
| Eris | Greek goddess of dischord |
| Esdras | another name for Azrael (see also) |
| Esmerée | the daughter of a Welsh king who was turned into a serpent by magicians. She was freed by a kiss (Arthurian legend) |
| Eulalie | figure in another poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The name means "well spoken." |
| Eurydice | tragic Greek heroine |
| Evilyn | it's got the word "evil" in it-- ok, we're grasping at straws here-- I think she was the bad guy on some cartoon in the 80s. |
| Felony | a major crime. Think about it, though-- Felony. It sounds like Melanie. Wouldn't it make a nice name? |
| Foxglove | a beautiful but poisonous flower |
| Freya | Norse goddess of sex and childbirth. She rode around in a chariot pulled by cats. |
| Funereal/funerea | put the "fun" in funeral! |
| Gefjun/Gefion | Norse goddess to whom virgins went after they died. |
| Gehenna | New Testament version of hell |
| Giger | H.R. Giger, the guy who designed the aliens for Alien, among other stuff goths like. |
| Golgotha | Hebrew for "skull," The skull-shaped hill where Christ was crucified. |
| Grendel | beast in Beowulf |
| Griffin/Gryphon | Mythological beast with the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle. |
| Grigori | fallen angels of the Christian bible |
| Grimoire | book of incantations, making medicines, summoning spirits etc. |
| Hades | Greek lord of the underworld |
| Hecate | Greek sorceress |
| Hellebore | flower that blooms through the snow in the middle of winter. Medieval lore suggested it could be used for curing insanity, leprosy and gout. |
| Hemlock | poison. Plato took it to commit suicide. |
| Ianthe | daughter of the poet Shelley who died in childhood; poem by Lord Byron. The name means 'purple flower' in Greek. |
| Imbolc | Celtic festival - corresponds with St. Bridig's day (Feb. 1). Groundhog Day actually stems from this. |
| Inclementia | harshness; cruelty (Latin) |
| Innominata | the name of the first patented embalming fluid. |
| Isolde | tragic Irish heroine |
| Israfil/Rafael/Israfel | angel who blows the horn signalling Judgment Day. Israfel is the form used by Edgar Allan Poe in his poem Israfel. |
| Jack | as in jackdaw (a kind of raven, said to bring bad luck), jack-o-lantern, Jack the Ripper, Jack from A Nightmare Before Christmas", JFK & Jackie-O etc. |
| Jezabel | Biblical ho |
| Kalma | ancient Finnish goddess of death whose name means "corpse stench." |
| Lachrimae | "tears" in Latin |
| Lamia | "witch; sorceress" in Latin. |
| Lanius | "Butcher; executioner" in Latin. |
| Leila | "night" in Arabic |
| Lenore | figure in Edgar Allan Poe poetry |
| Lethe | river that runs through the underworld in Greek mythology |
| Lilith | legendary evil first wife of Adam (before Eve came along) |
| Lily | traditional funeral flower |
| Lolita | that book by Nabokov about the teenage seductress |
| Lovecraft | after our old buddy H.P. |
| Lucifer | fallen angel, often associated with Satan |
| Lughnasa | /LOO nuh sa/ - Celtic midsummer festival |
| Luna | Latin for "moon" |
| Malady | an illness |
| Malice | harmful intent |
| Malik | Angel who presides over Hell in the Koran. |
| Maleficent, Maleficence | "working or productive of harm or evil" |
| Mara | a maleficent female wraith in Scandinavian folklore that causes nightmares. Bonus: mara means "bitter" in Hebrew. Double bonus: Mara is a (male) demon in traditional Buddhism personifying evil, and the fall from a spiritual state. |
| Marionette | I just find them creepy |
| Medusa | mythological Greek monster whose hair was snakes and blood was poison. |
| Melancholia | "a mental condition and especially a manic-depressive condition characterized by extreme depression, bodily complaints, and often hallucinations and delusions" (merriam-webster) |
| Melania/Melanie | Greek, "black" |
| Melanthe | Greek, "Black flower" |
| Mercy | a virtue, goths like the band Sisters of Mercy. |
| Merula | "Blackbird" in Latin |
| Mephistopheles/Mephisto | Renaissance-era names for Satan |
| Midnight | The Witching Hour. Or maybe that's 2:00, I can't remember. |
| Minax | means "menacing" in Latin |
| Misericordia | literally, "merciful heart" in Latin |
| Mitternacht | "Midnight" in German |
| Miyuki | according to one book I have, means "silence of deep snow" in Japanese. |
| Moon, Moonless, Moonlight | ancient symbol of fertility and stuff. |
| Moirai | the Greek Fates |
| Monstrance | hollow cross that holds the holy host |
| Morbidia | It seemed like a good idea at the time |
| Morbosa/Morbosis | "horny" in latin |
| Morfran | "great crow"-- In Welsh mythology, he was so ugly that his mother tried to compensate for it by instill ing him with great wisdom. |
| Morrigan, the | Celtic war/fertility goddess |
| Mort(e) | French for "dead; death" |
| Mortifer/Mortifera | Latin for "lethal; fatal; deadly." |
| Mortis | Latin, adjectival form of "death" |
| Mortualia | funeral dirge |
| Naenia | a type of moth known as "the Gothic" |
| Narcissa | feminine form of Narcissus, a Greek dude who fell in love with his own reflection. |
| Natrix | Latin for 'water snake.' |
| Necro- | prefix meaning "dead; of death" |
| Necropolis | fancy name for a graveyard. Means, literally, "city of the dead" |
| Nephilim | race of half-human giants |
| Nightshade | belladonna - a poisonous purple flower. |
| Nimue | (NIM oo ay) - an Arthurian sorceress. Also called Niniane. |
| Nin | Ogham letter whose kennings include "establishment of peace," and "boast of women." The letter itself is derived from the word for the ash tree. Also the writer Anaïs, or Nine Inch Nails. |
| Nocturne | piece of music evoking night. Means "night" |
| November | cold, crappy month in the northern hemisphere |
| Obsidian | black glass-like stone made from volcanic eruptions. Used in surgical instruments because it is sharper than steel. |
| October | month that Halloween is in |
| Oleander | a beautiful but poisonous flower |
| Omega | Last letter of the Greek alphabet; signifies the last, or the end. |
| Ophelia | tragic Shakespearean heroine |
| Orchid | I don't know why, orchids pop up a lot in goth clubs, They're exotic and rare. |
| Orpheus | tragic Greek musical hero |
| Osiris | Eqyptian ruler of the underworld |
| Pancuronium | a poisonous compound used in lethal injection death sentences. |
| Penance | what you have to do to make up for your sins |
| Perdita | name invented by Shakespeare - means "lost" in Latin. |
| Pestilentia | Latin for "plague-ridden; unhealthy climate" |
| Raven | bird often associated with death -name used by 14 year old goths all over |
| Reaper | don't fear the reaper. |
| Requiem | a mass for the dead |
| Sabine/Sabina | tribe of Italy that once occupied Rome. Popular legend has Romans kidnapping Sabine women to help populate Rome. |
| Sabrina/Sabre/Sabrenn | Goddess of the river Severn in Celtic mythology. Also the Teenage Witch, and |
| Sail/Saile/Salley | Ogham letter derived from the Irish name of the willow tree. The Yeats poem "Down By The Salley Gardens" uses this old term for "willow." A kenning used for this letter means "pallor of a lifeless one." Bonus: Sally was the girl doll in A Nightmare Before Christmas. |
| Salem | place in Massachusetts where several people were hanged as witches. |
| Samael | Angel of death in the Talmud. |
| Samhain | /SOW un/ Celtic festival -- corresponds with Halloween |
| Sanctity | holiness |
| Sanctuary | a place to find refuge |
| Sanguinaria | "bloody,' the scientific name for the bloodroot plant. |
| Sanguinary | "attended by blood" |
| Sardonyx | a type of onyx that is red instead of black. |
| Semyazza | a fallen Christian angel |
| Serpent | symbols of evil in a lot of cultures |
| Severin | Siouxsie Sioux's guitarist. he named himself for "Severin, your servant," a character in the Velvet Underground's song "Venus in Furs." |
| Shabriri | Jewish Rabbinical demon of blindness |
| Shade | where there's no sunlight. |
| Shadow | favorite name for black cats |
| Sidhe | Pronounced "shee" or "SHEE yeh" - Irish class of otherworld beings |
| Solanine | the poison found in nightshade plants |
| Sullen | What any good goth is most of the time |
| Tansy | a weed used to induce abortion |
| Tartarus | eternal pit for bad people in Greek mythology |
| Tenebrae | Latin for "darkness" |
| Thorn(e) | sharp and pointy, but you can't have roses without them. Represents the harsh side of beauty. |
| Tintagel | the castle in Cornwall where King Arthur was said to have been born. |
| Titania | queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream |
| Tristan/Tristram | tragic Arthurian hero |
| Tristesse/Tristessa | "Sadness" in French and Italian. |
| Twilight | dusk |
| Umbra | another word for 'darkness' |
| Valerian | a flower that causes drowsiness when steeped in a tea. A cool side effect: gets cats totally high (like catnip plus!) |
| Vespers | Catholic morning prayers |
| Viaticum | emergency Communion given to dying people |
| Vladimir | "Vlad the Impaler"--legendary Romanian ruler and alleged vampire |
| Wednesday | the little girl on the Addams Family |
| Willow | "weeping" tree-- a Victorian symbol of death |
| Winter | season where everything's dead |
| Wolf(e) | deadly beast; what werewolves hang out with. |
| Xenobia | "stranger" in Greek |
| Yama/Yamaraja | Lord of death in Hinduism. |
| Zothecula | "little alcove" in Latin. Bauhaus fans will understand. |