What’s in a name? A lot, actually! The perfect gothic girl’s name is sophisticated, dark, and enchanting. Whether you need a name for a furry friend, a fictional character, an online alter ego, or your own little bundle of joy, this collection of goth names could just have the gem you’ve been looking for.
Elegant Gothic Names
Amaris – a Latin name meaning “bitter.”
Amaya – an Arabic name meaning “night rain.”
Artemisia – Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque artist known for her depictions of women, and her gory, passionate portrayal of the biblical story of Judith.
Boudica – a Celtic queen who fought the Romans in ancient Britain.
Celestine – from the Latin for “heavenly.”
Cora – from the Greek for “maiden” and “heart.”
Darcy – from the French for “dark one.” Also spelled D’Arcy.
Dolores – a name meaning “sorrow” or “sadness,” derived from Spanish.
Florence – an old-fashioned girl’s name meaning “flourishing.” Made famous by Florence Welch of Florence & the Machine.
Kiara – from the Irish for “black haired” or “dark.” Can also be spelled Ciara.
Lizzie – a derivative of Elizabeth, this cute goth name has a lot of moxie.
Leila – from “night” or “dark” in Arabic.
Lucinda – from the Latin for “light,” this name is nonetheless mysterious and gothic.
Luna – from the Latin for “moon.” Also the name of the cute black cat from Sailor Moon.
Maeve – an Irish name meaning “enchanting.”
Nisha – from the Hindi word for “night.”
Narcisse – French for Narcissus, after the flower and the Greek myth about the youth who fell in love with his own reflection.
Paloma – from the Spanish word for “dove.”
Perdita – from Latin and Spanish for “lost one.”
Rayne – from the Old French for “queen.”
Rune – a word associated with secret writings, ancient letters, and mysticism.
Salem – from the site of the infamous witch trials in late 17th-century Massachusetts.
Venice – the Italian city known for its winding canals and atmosphere of romantic decay.
Vesper – Latin term for evening prayers.
Zahara – an Arabic name meaning “flower.”
Gothic Names from Pop Culture
Bellatrix – derived from Latin for “warrior woman,” it’s also the name of a character from Harry Potter.
Lydia – after Lydia Deetz, the teen goth girl who befriends two lost ghosts in Tim Burton’s film Beetlejuice.
Lucretia – from the song “Lucretia My Reflection” by the Sisters of Mercy.
Marceline – a guitar-playing vampire from the TV show Adventure Time.
Morticia – after Morticia Addams, the beloved goth mom from The Addams Family.
Rhiannon – from Welsh for “great queen,” and the song by Fleetwood Mac.
Ripley – after the heroine of Ridley Scott’s classic horror film Alien, Ellen Ripley.
Samara – the name of the vengeful ghost girl in the movie The Ring.
Wednesday – everyone’s favorite deadpan daughter from The Addams Family and Neflix's Wednesday.
Zelda – made famous by the videogame The Legend of Zelda. Also the name of Zelda Fitzgerald, writer and wife of The Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Gothic Literary Names
Agatha – after Agatha Christie, the famous mystery novelist.
Anaïs – after the French memoirist and dark fiction author Anaïs Nin.
Annabelle – from the lost love in the poem “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe.
Antigone – The ancient Greek heroine who risked her life to mourn the dead in Sophocles’ tragedy of the same name.
Beatrice – Dante Alighieri’s tragic love was immortalized in the pages of the Divine Comedy and dozens of Sonnets.
Carmilla – the titular lesbian vampire from Sheridan Le Fanu’s Victorian novel of the same name.
Cassandra – the prophetic seer of Homer’s Iliad who foretold the fall of Troy.
Catherine – This one’s for all you Wuthering Heights fans out there. With windswept moors and ghostly visions, Heathcliff and Cathy are a gothic romance for the ages.
Cordelia – the youngest daughter of King Lear in Shakespeare’s tragedy, her death symbolizes the loss of virtue and goodness. Also a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Desdemona – the wife of Othello in Shakespeare’s play, she was killed by her husband after he was tricked into thinking she’d been unfaithful.
Estella – a name derived from the Latin word for “star” and a character from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
Hecuba – the mother of Cassandra, Paris, and others in Homer’s Iliad.
Helena – an elegant variant of Helen, and a character from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Isolde – a Welsh name meaning “beautiful” and heroine of the tragic romance Tristan and Isolde.
Lamia – in Greek mythology, a Libyan queen who was transformed into a female vampire or witch, and the title of a poem by John Keats. In Arabic, it means “radiant.” Can also be spelled Lamiya.
Lenore – the tragic “rare and radiant maiden” in Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem “The Raven.”
Mary – Mary Shelley invented science fiction as we know it with her gothic masterpiece Frankenstein.
Medea – in Greek mythology, an enchantress who married the hero Jason and is depicted killing her own children to get revenge on him in a play by Euripedes.
Mina – the name of the main female character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Morgan – from the sorceress of Arthurian legend, Morgan le Fey.
Ophelia – the tragic drowned maiden in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Penelope – the faithful wife of Odysseus in the Odyssey.
Verona – a city in Italy, “fair Verona” is the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Viola – Shakespeare’s beloved cross-dressing, wisecracking heroine from Twelfth Night.
Gothic Nature Names
Cassia – Greek for “cinnamon,” it has fragrant and rich associations that would make it an excellent female gothic name.
Chrysanthe – a Greek name that evokes the chrysanthemum, a flower associated with funerals. Also a character from Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles.
Ebony – a polished dark wood associated with elegance.
Ember – the dying vestige of a fire, a perfect gothic symbol.
Etoile – this unique name is the French word for “star.”
Fen – an archaic English word for a marshland or swamp.
Fern – Delicate ferns grow wild on the forest floor, making them ideal for goth imagery.
Ivy – dark, leafy ivy curls its tendrils over ruined houses in classic gothic literature.
Garnet – a dark red gemstone the color of blood.
Jasmine – night-blooming jasmine is fragrant and enchanting, a lovely namesake.
Lark – a songbird known to sing at dawn.
Misty – evoking mysterious mountains and landscapes, this cute gothic name is at once enchanting and ominous.
Nasrin – a Persian name meaning “wild rose”--a rose with thorns.
Nightshade – a poisonous bloom referenced in the film A Nightmare Before Christmas.
River – Rivers are rich with dark symbolism, running through the underworld in Greek mythology and Dante’s Inferno.
Raven – a classic for a reason. These ominous black birds symbolize death in Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem “The Raven.”
Rue – an herb in Ophelia’s bouquet in Hamlet, and a synonym for regret.
Sable – a dark fur symbolizing richness and royalty.
Willow – the weeping willow tree represents sadness. Also Buffy’s bff from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Winter – traditionally associated with death, the coldest season would make an elegant gothic name.
Gothic Names from Mythology and Religion
Ariadne – helped Theseus evade the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth.
Artemis – the Greek goddess of the hunt, maidens, nature, and the moon.
Bellona – the Roman goddess of war.
Calliope – the Greek muse of poetry.
Circe – an ancient Greek sorceress figure, she turns Odysseus’ men into pigs in the Odyssey.
Danae – the mother of Perseus in Greek mythology, she was fathered by Zeus in a shower of gold. Sometimes spelled Danaë.
Delia – another name for Artemis.
Eris – the Greek goddess of strife, who famously caused a rift between Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera by gifting them a golden apple “for the fairest.”
Eurydice – the wife of the heavenly musician Orpheus, lost to him in the underworld when he turned around to look at her in the Greek myth.
Hekate – the Greek goddess of magic and sorcery. Also spelled Hecate.
Hestia – the Greek goddess of domesticity & the hearth.
Lethe – in Greek mythology, the river that flows through the underworld and brings eternal forgetfulness and oblivion.
Lilith – in Jewish mythology, the first wife of Adam, who became a demonic sorceress.
Lyssa – the Greek goddess of rage.
Morrigan – a Celtic goddess of destiny.
Nyx – the Greek goddess of night.
Judith – in the biblical Book of Judith, she beheaded the Assyrian general Holofernes who had besieged her city.
Juno – the Roman name for the Greek goddess Hera, the queen of the gods.
Pandora – in Greek mythology, she unleashed evil on the world. Also the name of a character from Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles.
Persephone – in Greek mythology, the queen of the dead and goddess of spring.
Selene – the Greek goddess of the moon.
Thalia – the Greek muse of comedy.