Gothic baby names are commonly chosen for their unusual meanings. If the gothic culture interests you, you may decide to choose a baby name with ties to the darker side of life.

Ancient Gothic Names

Many of these names are borrowed from mythology. They speak to a legacy of power, and sometimes darkness, but are all as beautiful as they are uncommon.

Arachne (girl) - Young woman who challenged Athena and was turned into a spider

Balor (boy) - One-eyed giant in Irish mythology

Chaos (unisex) - Originally, the state of the universe before the Greek Gods arrived

Chimera (girl) - A mythological beast made up of parts of different animals

Circe (girl) - Greek sorceress

Esmerée (girl) - the daughter of a Welsh king who was turned into a serpent by magicians

Griffin/Gryphon (boy) - Mythological beast with the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle

Hades (boy) - Greek lord of the underworld

Hecate (girl) - Greek sorceress

Hler (boy) - Ruler of the underworld in Norse mythology

Isolde (girl) - tragic Irish heroine

Medusa (girl) - mythological Greek monster whose hair was snakes and blood was poison

Moon (unisex) - ancient symbol of fertility

Nephilim (boy) - race of half-human giants

Sabrina (girl) - goddess of the river Severn in Celtic mythology

"I'm due on Halloween My favorite holiday! I think Samhein Skellie is really cute for our daughter." - Reader comment from Vod Skellie

Gothic Last Names

These gothic surnames are beautiful and unique enough that they can be used as first names. The bonus is that most of these really will work for a boy or girl. Coming from various notable people from Goth culture, see if one of these might work for your little person.

Addams - from the famous show The Addams Family

Avenal - last name of British sitcom's goth character from The IT Crowd

Bara - a noted femme fatale from the 1910s

Baudelaire - French poet famous poet from Gothic period in literature

Bowie - last name of musician David Bowie, noted influencer of Goth culture

Burton - as in Tim Burton, noted for having influenced Goth culture with his dark take on films

Dali - last name of famous surrealist painter Salvador Dali

Gorey - artist who has a goth aesthetic

Ladouceur - writer and poet who wrote Encylopedia Gothica

Lugosi - actor who portrayed Dracula in the 1930s film adaptation of the famous book

Mercer - last name of the author of The 21st Century Goth

Mortem - after fashion design Rose Mortem who is married to Goth band frontman from The Awakening

Nietzsche - pronounced nee-chee ; famous philosopher who influenced Goth subculture

Poe - famous poet noted for his dark poems

Stoker - last name of the writer of Dracula

Dark Sounding Names

If you're looking to evoke power with a menacing or scary-sounding baby name, these names may well fit the bill.

Ague (girl) - Term for Malaria

Akeldama (boy) - field of blood; where Judas Iscariot committed suicide

Dade (boy) - dark one

Dolores (girl) - sorrows in Spanish

Draven (m) - Child of the shadows

Leila (girl) - Arabic for night

Maleficent (girl) - working or productive of harm or evil

Mara (girl) - a maleficent female wraith in Scandinavian folklore that causes nightmares

Narcissa (girl) - feminine form of Narcissus

Salem (unisex) - location of witch hunts in Massachusetts

Shadow (unisex) - black

Shiva (boy) - God of destruction

Tueur (boy) - French for killer

Tohopka (unisex) - Native American name meaning wild beast

Thanatos (boy) - He who brings death, death bringer

"I can't decide between Clove, Jezabel, or Belladonna for my new little girl. I need help! What name is your favorite?" -- Reader comment from Mae

Gothic Names With Creepy Meanings

If you're looking for something to help your baby embrace his real, inner goth, try one of these names.

Avarice (girl) - greed

Badriyah (girl) - full moon

Cain (boy) - Biblical character who killed his brother making him known as world's first murderer

Chalice (girl) - fancy cup, used to hold holy blood

Daemon (boy) - an evil attendant or spirit

Diti (girl) - Demon mother in Hinduism

Gehenna (girl) - New Testament version of hell

Grimoire (unisex) - book of incantations, making medicines, summoning spirits etc

Golgotha (unisex) - Hebrew for skull

Melancholia (girl) - a mental condition and especially a manic-depressive condition

Mephistopheles/Mephisto (boy) - Renaissance-era name for Satan

Morte (boy) - French for dead

Thorne (unisex) - sharp

Vladimir (boy) - alleged vampire

Wolfe (boy) - deadly beast

Creative Gothic Names

Looking to be a little outside of the box with your goth name? You can be sure no one else in your child's class will have the same name!

Ascelin (unisex) - of the moon

Aelfwif (boy) - Germanic word for elf + battle or war

Alaric (boy) - first king of the Visigoths; means all-powerful ruler

Bellatrix (girl) - although made famous by the Harry Potter novels, this name is Latin and means female warrior

Clove (girl) - spice

Draconia (girl) - dire

Druscilla (girl) - it sounds dark but actually means fruitful

Dyrk (boy) - one who admires nighttime

Mallory (girl) - cursed or ill-fated one

Perdita (girl) - lost in Spanish

Quillon (boy) - sword

Twilight (girl) - dusk

Vespers (unisex) - Catholic evening prayers

Wednesday (girl) - from The Addams Family

Xander (boy) - vampire hunter from the television show, Buffy, The Vampire Slayer

"Lilith is an amazing name." -- Reader comment from Kenneth

Goth Names From Nature

Nature is full of beautiful, dark and scary moments. Many goth names pay homage to pagan and druid ancestry as well. Try one of these names if you're looking for something to speak to your love of true Gothic roots.

Amethyst (girl) - naturally occurring purple gemstone

Ash (boy) - what's left after a fire

Belladonna (girl) - poisonous plant with purple flowers

Branwen (boy) - Bran is a Celtic word for crow

Briar (boy) - a thorn

Chrysanthemum (girl) - flower associated with death in Japan and some European countries

Foxglove (girl) - a beautiful but poisonous flower

Hellebore (girl) - flower that blooms through the snow in the middle of winter

Hemlock (unisex) - poison Socrates took to commit suicide

Merula (boy) - Latin for blackbird

Oleander (unisex) - a beautiful but poisonous plant

Onyx (unisex) - stone that is pitch black

Raven (girl) - bird often associated with death

Sage (unisex) - a spice

Willow (girl) - weeping tree; symbol of death

Baby Goth Names From Literature

These charming names come straight out of the book.

Annabel-Lee (girl) - tragic character from Edgar Allen Poe poem

Basil - from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Desdemona (girl) - tragic Shakespearean heroine

Grendel (boy) - name of the beast from Beowulf

Guinevere (girl) - white ghost; of Arthurian legend

Elsinore (girl) - Hamlet's castle

Eulalie (girl) - figure from Edgar Allen Poe poem

Hastie (unisex) - character from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Manfred (boy) - the lord in The Castle of Otranto, a gothic novel by Horace Walpole

Mina (girl) - female heroine in Dracula

Nimue (girl) - an Arthurian sorceress

Ophelia (girl) - tragic Shakespearean heroine

Tempest (unisex) - as in The Tempest by Shakespeare

by Shakespeare Tristan (boy) - tragic Arthurian hero

Victor (boy) - man scientist who created Frankenstein

Dark and Beautiful

Most goth names combine an element of beauty with a bit of darkness. If that describes your family perfectly, a goth name might be exactly the right fit for your baby.