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.
