Goth never really goes away. It grew out of British post-punk in the late 1970s, in the hands of bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus and The Cure, and it has been resurfacing in music, film and baby name lists ever since (1). Siouxsie Sioux, the Banshees’ own frontwoman, pushed back on the tag for years: “Gothic in its purest sense is actually a very powerful, twisted genre,” she said, arguing the word got flattened into horror-movie cliche the moment journalists picked it up.
These 100 gothic girl names run from Victorian revivals like Cordelia and Drusilla to flat-out mood names such as Dusk, Midnight and Twilight. Every entry gives you the meaning, the origin, how to say it, and where the name actually stands in the latest U.S. birth data (2).
Some are far more usable than their reputation suggests. Violet ranked #13 for U.S. girls in 2025, with Luna at #27 and Scarlett at #32. Others, like Solanine and Vespera, are too rare for the federal data to list at all. Pick your shade.
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Popularity at a Glance
The most popular names on this list in the United States, 1965 to 2025: Violet, Luna, Scarlett, Layla and Delilah.
- Violet
- Luna
- Scarlett
- Layla
- Delilah
100 Beautiful Gothic Names for Girls
Find the prettiest and most unforgettable gothic girl names to treat the baby girl you’re expecting.
Adrienne
Adrienne is the feminine form of the Latin Adrian, a name for someone from Hadria in northern Italy. In Italian and Spanish it also carries the sense of dark, which is what earns it a place here. The sound is soft in the middle and firm at the end, so it suits a girl who is quietly gothic rather than loudly so. Addie and Adri handle the school years.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: From Adria
- Pronunciation: Ey-driy-YEHN
- Variations: Adriene, Adreanne, Adrianne
- Namesakes: Adrienne Barbeau, an American actress known for the film Swamp Thing (1982). Adrienne Rich, an American poet whose book A Change of World was selected for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award.
- Popularity: Adrienne ranked #1,673 for U.S. girls in 2025, a long way down from its high of #140 in 1983. It has appeared in the national data since 1880.
Amara
Amara means immortal in Sanskrit, a quiet outlier on a list built around night and death, and the same spelling reads as bitter in Italian while carrying the sense of grace in Nigeria and other African countries. That range is the appeal: one short, symmetrical name that can lean tender or severe depending on the room it walks into.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: Immortal
- Pronunciation: Ah-MAA-raa
- Variations: Amarah
- Namesakes: Amara Asavananda, a Thai actress and the second runner-up of Miss Thailand 1953. Amara Walker, an American journalist and news anchor for CNN This Morning Weekend.
- Popularity: Amara reached #98 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best rank on record and its first year inside the top 100. It has charted since 1961.
Amethyst
Amethyst comes from the Greek amethystos, and because the stone was once believed to keep its wearer from getting drunk, the name also carries the sense of intoxicate. The color is the real draw, deep and cold and a little regal. It is long for a first name. At #1,242 for U.S. girls in 2025, it sits below its 2022 best of #1,069.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Purple gemstone
- Pronunciation: AEM-ah-Thihst
- Variations: Amethyste, Amethist
- Popularity: Amethyst ranked #1,242 for U.S. girls in 2025 after its best showing at #1,069 in 2022. It has turned up in the data since 1967.
Asura
In Hindu mythology the asuras were demons set against the suras gods, described with three heads, three faces and four to six arms. The name means “powerful” in Hindi as well and is mostly used in India, and for a family drawn to mythology rather than horror, Asura is about as dark as a name gets while still sounding gentle.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: Spiritual
- Pronunciation: Ah-SUH-rah
- Popularity: Asura has never been given to enough U.S. babies in a single year to clear the Social Security Administration five-birth publishing minimum, so it carries no U.S. ranking.
Autumn
Autumn arrived through the French autompne from the Latin autumnus, and it was in use as a name by the 14th century, when it also meant season of harvest. At #88 for U.S. girls in 2025, it ranks among the more usable names here: soft, seasonal, and gothic mainly in the way October is gothic, all bare branches and early dark. Nobody ever has to spell it.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Fall season
- Pronunciation: AAH-Tahm
- Variations: Autom, Autum
- Namesakes: Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly, a New Zealand rugby league footballer for the Newcastle Knights. Autumn Chiklis, an American actress known for the TV series The Shield (2002 to 2008).
- Popularity: Autumn ranked #88 for U.S. girls in 2025 and has stayed close to that level since peaking at #64 in 2013. It first charted in 1910.
Badriyah
Badriyah is Arabic for full moon, or more precisely for a person resembling one, and it also points to the second year of the Prophet Muhammad’s stay in the holy city of Medina. A moon name with that much history behind it is quietly gothic without a drop of horror.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Full moon
- Pronunciation: BAA-driy-Yaa
- Variations: Badriyyah, Badria
- Popularity: Badriyah does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which publish a name only once at least five babies receive it in a year.
Belinda
Belinda goes back to the Old German Betlinde, which also gives it the reading bright linden tree, though the serpent element is the one that suits this list. It is sometimes treated as a variation of the Italian Bella, meaning “beautiful.” The name peaked with the baby boomers and now sounds pleasantly out of time, which is exactly why it is due a revival.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Bright serpent
- Pronunciation: Beh-LIHND-ah
- Variations: Belindah, Bellinda Bellynda, Belynda
- Namesakes: Belinda Carlisle, an American singer and of the Go-Go’s. Belinda Vernon, a member of the New Zealand parliament from 1996 to 2002.
- Popularity: Belinda ranked #1,819 for U.S. girls in 2025, a long fall from its peak of #141 in 1961. It has appeared in the data since 1889.
Belladonna
Belladonna reads as beautiful lady in Italian, but it is also tied to the medieval Latin bladona, the deadly nightshade. Women once used the plant cosmetically, long before anyone worried much about the poison, which is the sort of detail that makes this name irresistible to a goth family. It has only been in the U.S. data since 2001. Its best mark came in 2021, at #4,427.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: Beautiful lady
- Pronunciation: Behl-ah-DAAN-ah
- Variations: Belladona
- Popularity: Belladonna ranked #4,783 for U.S. girls in 2025. It has only been in the data since 2001, with a best mark of #4,427 in 2021.
Bellatrix
Bellatrix is the feminine of the Latin bellator, meaning “warrior.” It is also a star in the constellation Orion, so the name has a life well outside fiction, and it reads as a blend of Bella and Beatrix. Most people will hear the Harry Potter Death Eater first, which is either the reason to use it or the reason not to.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Female warrior
- Pronunciation: BEHL-aa-Triks
- Popularity: Bellatrix ranked #4,674 for U.S. girls in 2025, close to its best mark of #3,974 in 2024. It first charted in 2008.
Bernina
Bernina is a variation of the French and German Bernadette, carrying the strong, brave bear meaning through with it, and it is also a high range in the Alps, which gives the name cold air and altitude rather than graveyard fog. A good pick for parents who want dark and remote rather than dark and spooky, and a fine excuse to call a toddler Bear.
- Origin: Latin, German
- Meaning: Strong, brave bear
- Pronunciation: Ber-NIY-nah
- Popularity: Bernina last appeared in U.S. birth records in 1973 at #5,619, and its best year was 1972 at #5,137. It has not charted since.
Branwen
Branwen joins the Welsh bran, meaning raven, with (g)wen, meaning fair, so the whole name reads as beautiful raven. She is the heroine of one of the Mabinogion folk tales, which puts her in old, sad folklore rather than modern horror. It is one of the few genuinely Welsh options here. It last showed up in U.S. birth records in 2019 at #15,940, well off its 1975 best of #8,090.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Blessed raven
- Pronunciation: BRAEN-Wehn
- Variations: Branwenne, Branwyn, Branwynn, Branwynne
- Namesakes: Branwen Gwyn, a Welsh TV presenter of the children’s program Planed Plant. Branwen Okpako, a Nigerian-Welsh German filmmaker, best known for The Education of Auma Obama.
- Popularity: Branwen last showed up in the U.S. data in 2019 at #15,940, and its best mark was #8,090 in 1975.
Briar
Briar is the thorny bush of wild roses and brambles, which is about as gothic as a plant name gets, and it works for girls and boys alike, since Briar-Rose was the original name of the Sleeping Beauty fable. The sound is short, modern and a little rough at the edges, which is the whole point.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Thorn
- Pronunciation: BRIY-aar
- Variations: Bryer
- Namesakes: Briar Nolet, a Canadian actress appearing in The Next Step series.
- Popularity: Briar ranked #400 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best rank so far. It has been in the data since 1972.
Cat
Cat traces to the Latin cattus and also carries the Greek sense of pure. It is mostly used in Vietnam as a name in its own right. In the U.S. it is really a nickname that stayed, and it suits a family whose black cat outranks everyone else in the house.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Cat (animal)
- Pronunciation: KAET
- Variations: Kat
- Namesakes: Cat Stevens (known as Yusef Islam), a British singer-songwriter inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. Charlyn Marshall (known as Cat Power), an American singer-songwriter whose 2012 album Sun debuted at number 10.
- Popularity: Cat is not listed in U.S. Social Security Administration data, which publishes a name only once five or more babies receive it in a year.
Chandra
Chandra means “shining moon” in Hindi, built on the Sanskrit candra for pleasant and moon. It belongs to figures in Hindu mythology, including a Suryavanshi king, so it is used for sons as well as daughters. The name had a real moment in the 1970s. Now it sounds like a vintage find.
- Origin: Hindi
- Meaning: Goddess of the moon
- Pronunciation: CHAEN-Drah
- Variations: Chandrah
- Namesakes: Chandra K. West, a Canadian actress known for The Salton Sea film. Chandra Wilson, an American actress known for the TV series Grey’s Anatomy.
- Popularity: Chandra last charted in the U.S. in 2023 at #11,394, far below its peak of #307 in 1975. It first appeared in 1935.
Circe
Circe comes from the Greek kirke, meaning bird, and in Greek mythology she is the sorceress of the island of Aeaea who turned men into animals with a wave of her wand. No name on this list carries more witch per syllable.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Bird
- Pronunciation: SAHR-Siy
- Variations: Circee, Circey, Circie, Circy, Cyrcee
- Popularity: Circe ranked #4,792 for U.S. girls in 2025 and hit its best mark, #4,229, in 2022. It has been in the data since 1967.
Cordelia
Cordelia builds on the Latin root cor, meaning heart, and it is sometimes linked to the French coeur de lion, heart of a lion. She is the truthful, doomed daughter in King Lear, which is what puts her on a list of dark names for girls. The name is formal without being stiff. It ranked #981 for U.S. girls in 2025, comfortably inside the top 1,000, down from its best mark of #526 in 1913.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Little heart
- Pronunciation: Kaor-DIY-liy-Ah
- Variations: Cordelea, Cordellia, Cordilea, Cordilia
- Namesakes: Cordelia Strube, a Canadian playwright and novelist awarded the City of Toronto Book Award in 2016. Cordelia Cameron, an Australian actor and the first woman theater manager in Australia.
- Popularity: Cordelia ranked #981 for U.S. girls in 2025, inside the top 1,000; its best year was 1913 at #526. It has charted since 1880.
Corvina
Corvina is the rarely used feminine of Corvin, once a surname for someone dark-haired or dark-skinned enough to be compared to a raven. It also means fish in Portuguese and names a variety of wine grape, so it arrives with a table as well as a graveyard, and few people will ever have met one.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Like a raven
- Pronunciation: Kaor-VIHN-ah
- Popularity: Corvina appears in U.S. records only for 1995, at #13,891, and has not charted since.
Crimson
Crimson is the deepest red in the box and the opposite of anything pastel, and the color has long stood for love, passion, courage and vigor. It reads as a color name rather than a horror name, which makes it easier to carry day to day than Belladonna or Solanine. It is used a little more for girls than boys. At #4,793 in 2025, it has cooled since its 2016 peak of #2,545.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Deep red color
- Pronunciation: KRIHM-Zuwn
- Variations: Crimsen, Crimsun, Crymson
- Popularity: Crimson ranked #4,793 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #2,545 in 2016. It first charted in 1974.
Crow
Crow comes from the Old English crawa and was once a nickname for a dark-haired person who looked like the bird, and it leans male in use, but the crow itself stands for transformation and change, which is a fine thing to hand a daughter. One syllable, no spelling lesson, no explanation.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Blackbird
- Pronunciation: KROW
- Variations: Crowe
- Popularity: Crow is new to the U.S. data, first charting in 2024 and sitting at #9,911 in 2025.
Damienne
Damienne is a Greek variation of Damia, and it carries the readings tamer and domesticated. The soft French ending keeps it elegant while the meaning keeps it slightly unsettling, which is the balance most gothic names are chasing.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: To tame
- Pronunciation: DAE-miy-Ehn
- Variations: Damiane, Damianne
- Namesakes: Damienne Merlina, an American actress known for the film Grand Theft Auto V (2013).
- Popularity: Damienne has never met the five-birth minimum the Social Security Administration uses before publishing a name, so it has no U.S. ranking.
Danica
Danica is Slavic for morning star and also means “from Denmark.” In ancient Slavic mythology she was the goddess who personified the star that appeared at dawn, the younger sister of the Sun, and she was called Venus too. It is a bright name on a dark list, which is a useful counterweight if the whole graveyard theme starts to feel heavy.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: Morning star
- Pronunciation: DAEN-iy-Kaa
- Variations: Danika
- Namesakes: Danica McKellar, an American actress known for The Wonder Years from 1988 to 1993.
- Popularity: Danica ranked #1,634 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from its peak of #307 in 2007. It has been in the data since 1916.
Delilah
In the Bible, Delilah cuts Samson’s hair and takes his strength with it, and the name carries the sense of weakened alongside delicate, which is why it spent generations on the do-not-use list. It sounds good now regardless, holding at #51 for U.S. girls in 2025, one place off its 2024 best.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Delicate
- Pronunciation: Dih-LAY-Lah
- Variations: Dalialah, Dalyla, Delilia, Delylah
- Namesakes: Delilah Gore, a Papua New Guinean member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2012 to 2017. Delilah DiCrescenzo, an American distance runner who competed at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
- Popularity: Delilah ranked #51 for U.S. girls in 2025, one place off its best mark of #50 in 2024. It has charted since 1880.
Desdemona
Desdemona means ill-fated, with unlucky as the plainer reading, and Shakespeare then proved the point in Othello, though it is also one of the moons of Uranus, so there is a version of this name that lives in the sky rather than the tragedy. Long, formal and unmistakable, it last cracked the U.S. rankings in 2017 at #11,938.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Ill-fated
- Pronunciation: Dehz-dah-MOWN-ah
- Variations: Desdamona, Dezdemona
- Popularity: Desdemona last charted in the U.S. in 2017 at #11,938, and its best mark was #4,988 in 1919. It has never come near the top 1,000.
Draconia
Draconia is the female form of Drake or Drago and means dire, and it will make people think of Dracula first and draconian second, since draconian itself means excessively harsh and severe. Subtle it is not, which is exactly the appeal for parents who want the dark side stated out loud.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Dire
- Pronunciation: Draa-KOHN-iy-Ah
- Popularity: Draconia has no U.S. ranking. The Social Security Administration lists a name only once five babies in a year receive it.
Drusilla
Drusilla began as the Roman surname Drusus, meaning dew, and the ending gives it that Victorian lace sound. Modern readers know her better as the psychic vampire in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is where the name earned its current reputation. It sounds like lace and dust in equal measure. At #11,192 in 2025, down from a peak near #959 a century ago, it is one of the rarer Victorian revivals left standing.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Dew, fruitful
- Pronunciation: Druw-SIHL-ah
- Variations: Druscilla, Drucilla
- Namesakes: Drusilla Modjeska, an Australian writer and winner of the 2000 Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for Stravinsky’s Lunch. Drusilla Wills, a British actress appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Murder! (1930).
- Popularity: Drusilla ranked #11,192 for U.S. girls in 2025, a long fall from #959 in 1914. It has been in the records since 1880.
Dusk
Dusk covers the half hour when the sky goes from blue to nothing, and the name carries the readings twilight and soul along with it. The Czech variation is Duska, which softens it for anyone who finds the English word too stark, and it is a mood more than a name, which is the appeal.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Between day and night
- Pronunciation: DUHSK
- Variations: Duska
- Popularity: Dusk is absent from U.S. Social Security Administration records, so no ranking exists for it. The agency publishes a name only after five babies in one year are given it.
Edana
Edana is a rarely used feminine of the Irish Aidan, borne by an Irish saint, and it also reads as noble in German. The Gaelic sense is fire, small and bright rather than blazing. On paper it looks like Edna’s cooler cousin. Out loud it sounds nothing like her.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Fire
- Pronunciation: Eh-DAEN-ah
- Namesakes: Edana of Ireland, an Irish monastic in the 6th-century whose name means “little fire” or “little flame.”
- Popularity: Edana last appeared in U.S. birth records in 2007 at #18,436, and its best year was 1951 at #4,131.
Electra
Electra comes from the Greek Elektra, carrying the senses of amber and incandescent, and in Greek tragedy she is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, in a story that is among the bleakest in the canon. The name still sounds like a lit filament, which is a rare trick for something this old.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Shining
- Pronunciation: Ah-LEHK-Trah
- Variations: Elektra
- Namesakes: Electra Waggoner, an American rancher and heiress to the Waggoner Ranch in Electra, Texas. Electra Havemeyer Webb, an American antique collector and founder of the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.
- Popularity: Electra ranked #8,000 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #2,582 in 1915. It has charted since 1910.
Elvira
Elvira means truth in German and fair in Spanish. In the U.S. it is inseparable from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, which is either a gift or a problem depending on your household. Vira is the escape hatch.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Truth
- Pronunciation: EhL-VAEY-rah
- Variations: Elvirah, Elvyra
- Namesakes: Elvira Abdić-Jelenović, a Bosnian-Croatian president of the Labour Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2013. Elvira Kurt, a Canadian comedian and host of the game show Spin Off.
- Popularity: Elvira ranked #1,715 for U.S. girls in 2025, well down from #254 in 1914. It has been in the data since 1880.
Elysium
In ancient Rome, Elysium was the home of the blessed after death, also called the Elysian Fields, where the righteous went instead of the underworld proper. It is a paradise name with a graveyard address, which is a hard combination to find. Long and unusual, it ranked #13,710 for U.S. girls in 2025. Its best year was 2015, at #9,119.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Paradise
- Pronunciation: Eh-LIH-siy-Ahm
- Popularity: Elysium ranked #13,710 for U.S. girls in 2025. It first charted in 2001 and reached its best mark, #9,119, in 2015.
Endora
Endora reads as light in Greek and as fountain or spring in Hebrew. Everyone over a certain age hears Samantha’s mother on the 1960s series Bewitched, which is precisely why it belongs here. The name enters the U.S. data in 1965 and has never been common since.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Light
- Pronunciation: Ehn-DAOR-ah
- Variations: Endorah, Endorra, Endorrah
- Popularity: Endora last charted in the U.S. in 2006 at #18,004. It first appears in 1965, which is also its best year at #2,264.
Eternity
Eternity means what it says, everlasting, neverending, infinite, and it came into English from Latin. It sits in the same family as Destiny and Serenity but with the darker edge that suits this list, and it has held near its best mark, #1,974 in 2021, ever since.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Everlasting
- Pronunciation: Iy-TER-nah-Tiy
- Variations: Eternitie, Eternyti, Eternyty
- Popularity: Eternity ranked #2,305 for U.S. girls in 2025, near its best mark of #1,974 in 2021. It first charted in 1990.
Feronia
Feronia comes from the Latin Feronia and reads as patron of freed slaves. In Roman mythology she was the goddess of forests and wildlife, standing for freedom and fertility, so the name is wild rather than sinister. It has never cleared the U.S. five-birth threshold. That keeps it rare rather than remote.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Untamed
- Pronunciation: Fih-ROWN-iy-Ah
- Variations: Feronea, Feroniah, Feroniya
- Popularity: Feronia is not listed in U.S. Social Security Administration data, which needs at least five births in a year before it publishes a name.
Garnet
Garnet is the Middle English word for the red gemstone that resembles a pomegranate, and it doubles as an occupational surname for a seller of hinges. It belongs to the Victorian jewel set alongside Ruby and Pearl, but darker and far less used, and the stone reads almost black in low light, which is the whole argument for it.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Dark red gemstone
- Pronunciation: GAAR-Niht
- Variations: Garnete, Garnetta, Garnette
- Popularity: Garnet ranked #11,263 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from #407 in 1918. It has been in the U.S. data since 1884.
Gossamer
Gossamer is the fine silky thread of a spiderweb, and the word began as goose summer in Old English. It is the most delicate thing on a list full of ravens and poison, which is its own kind of gothic. Long, soft and strange, it belongs with the rarest entries here. It has never once cleared the SSA’s five-birth line.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Fine silky thread
- Pronunciation: GOS-ah-Mehr
- Popularity: Gossamer has no entry in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which list a name only once five babies in a year receive it.
Grey
Grey began as the surname Gray, once given to anyone with gray hair, and it is also a place name in France, standing for everything that is neither black nor white, which is a useful thing for a name to say. Both spellings are in use and it moves easily between girls and boys.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Gray-haired
- Pronunciation: GREY
- Variations: Gray, Greye
- Namesakes: Grey DeLisle (born Erin Grey Van Oosbree), an American voice actress appearing on The Simpsons since 2019.
- Popularity: Grey ranked #1,014 for U.S. girls in 2025, just outside the top 1,000, after its best mark of #717 in 2021. It first charted in 1913.
Hecate
Hecate rests on the Greek hekatos, meaning worker from afar, and she is the goddess of witchcraft, the underworld and its demons. The name also carries the sense of willpower. That suits a girl who is not afraid of witches. Expect to say it twice every time.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Far-reaching
- Pronunciation: HHEH-kah-Tiy
- Variations: Hekate
- Popularity: Hecate appears in U.S. data only for 2022, at #16,223.
Hesperia
Hesperia is the ancient Greek name for Italy, meaning western land. It also belongs to one of the Hesperides, the daughters of Hesperus who personified the evening star, which makes it the older and stranger way of naming a daughter Venus.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Evening star
- Pronunciation: HHeh-SPEE-riy-Ah
- Popularity: Hesperia does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration data, so it has no U.S. ranking.
Hestia
In Greek mythology Hestia is the goddess of the hearth and home, the counterpart of the Roman Vesta, and she is the goddess of chastity as well. A fire name that stays indoors makes her the warmest entry on this list, and she is close enough to Hester and Hazel to sit comfortably in a vintage nursery.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Hearth, fireside
- Pronunciation: HHES-tiy-Ah
- Variations: Hestea, Hesteah, Hestiah, Hestya
- Popularity: Hestia ranked #9,701 for U.S. girls in 2025. It first charted in 2016 and peaked at #8,221 in 2023.
Ianira
Ianira means enchantress and also lady of the Ionians, and Ianeira was one of the Oceanids, the water nymphs of Greek myth. The anime series Black Clover has a goth character called Ianira Erebus, so the name keeps one foot in myth and one in modern fandom.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Enchantress
- Pronunciation: Ay-ah-NEER-ah
- Variations: Ianeira
- Popularity: Ianira has no U.S. ranking; the Social Security Administration publishes a name only after five babies in a year are given it.
Isolde
Isolde joins the Old German is, meaning ice, with hiltja, meaning battle, and it may also mean she who is gazed upon. It is mostly used in Germany, and English speakers know it from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, where she is the tragic half of the pair. Ice ruler is a great deal to hand a newborn. The sound, at least, is pure opera.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Iron ruler, ice ruler
- Pronunciation: Ih-SOWL-Dah
- Variations: Izolde
- Namesakes: Isolde Kostner, an Italian Alpine skier and silver medalist at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Isolde Ries, a German member of the Landtag of Saarland since 1990.
- Popularity: Isolde ranked #5,997 for U.S. girls in 2025, close to its best mark of #5,436 in 2007. It has appeared in the data since 1971.
Jinx
Jinx comes from the Latin jynx, a magical charm or a curse depending on who is casting it. It is short, sharp and unrepentant, and parents who like Nyx and Rue tend to like this one too.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Spell, charm
- Pronunciation: JINKS
- Variations: Jinxx, Jynx, Jynxx
- Popularity: Jinx ranked #11,363 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #2,386 in 1950. It has been in the data since 1926.
Jocasta
Jocasta derives from the Greek Iokaste, built on kaustikos, meaning burning. In Greek mythology she is the wife of Oedipus, and the story ends the way Greek stories do. The name is primarily used in Brazil. Here, it is close to unheard of, which is half its charm.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Shining moon
- Pronunciation: Jhow-KAES-tah
- Variations: Jocastah, Joccasta, Jockasta
- Popularity: Jocasta last charted in the U.S. in 1979 at #10,866, with its best mark of #6,366 in 1956.
Juliet
Juliet is the English form of the French Juliette, itself a diminutive of Julie, and it means youthful, though Shakespeare made it the most dramatic name on this list, complete with a crypt, a sleeping draught and a knife. It wears beautifully in real life, where none of that happens.
- Origin: English, French
- Meaning: Youthful
- Pronunciation: Jhuw-liy-EHT
- Variations: Juliette, Juillet
- Namesakes: Juliet Landau, an American actress known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Juliet Huddy, an American co-anchor of Good Day Wake Up on Fox 5 NY.
- Popularity: Juliet ranked #274 for U.S. girls in 2025, not far off its best mark of #228 in 2016. It has charted every year since 1880.
Kalma
Kalma is the Finnish goddess of death and decay, which makes it one of the most literally gothic entries here, and it also means calm in Hindi and Sanskrit, so the same two syllables can be read as peace or as the grave. That is an enormous gap for such a small name to hold.
- Origin: Finnish, Hindi
- Meaning: Goddess of the dead
- Pronunciation: KAEL-Mah
- Popularity: Kalma is absent from U.S. Social Security Administration records, which publish a name only once five babies in a year receive it.
Keir
Keir started as a masculine form of the Irish Ciaran, taken from a place name, and it was given to children with a darker complexion, meaning dark and dusty, and it has crossed over to girls in recent decades. One syllable, no frills, and it lands like a closing door in the best possible way.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Dark, dusty
- Pronunciation: KIHR
- Variations: Kear, Keare, Keire
- Popularity: Keir ranked #10,207 for U.S. girls in 2025, well below its 1970 peak of #1,028. It first charted in 1963.
Ketura
Ketura rests on the Hebrew qeturah, meaning incense. In the Bible, Ketura (spelled Keturah) is Abraham’s wife after Sarah dies. A fragrance name with that much weight behind it is unusual. Nothing else here sounds remotely like it.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Fragrance
- Pronunciation: Keh-TUH-raa
- Variations: Keturah, Keturra
- Popularity: Ketura ranked #16,148 for U.S. girls in 2025, roughly one girl in every 333,333 born, the rarest of the names here the federal data still ranks. Its best mark was #5,414 in 1981.
Lamya
Lamya means dark complexion in Arabic and also carries the readings shining and radiant. In Libyan mythology Lamya was a queen who turned herself into a mythological creature, which gives the name a genuine horror pedigree, and the Bosnian form is Lamija.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Dark complexion
- Pronunciation: LAA-MYaa
- Variations: Lamia, Lamyae, Lamiya, Lamija
- Namesakes: Lamya Al-Mugheiry, a Kenyan-English singer-songwriter with the R&B group Soul II Soul.
- Popularity: Lamya ranked #7,704 for U.S. girls in 2025 after peaking at #1,452 in 2007. Measuring the last 10 years of births against the 10 years before them, it is down about 69 percent, the steepest fall of any name on this list.
Layla
Layla is Arabic for night and was traditionally given to girls born after dark, with the extra reading daughter of the night. In the Jewish Talmud, Layla (spelled Lailah) is the name of a mystic angel. It is the most usable night name in the language. The ranking reflects that.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Night
- Pronunciation: LEY-Lah
- Variations: Lailah, Laylah, Laila, Leyla
- Namesakes: Layla Balabakki, a Lebanese journalist known for the book Ana Ahya (I Live) in 1958. Layla McCarter, an American boxer and the WIBF welterweight champion since 2018.
- Popularity: Layla ranked #36 for U.S. girls in 2025, one of nine names here inside the top 100, and peaked at #23 in 2019. It first charted in 1950.
Lilith
Lilith comes from the Akkadian lilitu, a feminine word meaning “demon” or spirit, and the name means belonging to the night. In Mesopotamian mythology she is Adam’s first wife, banished from the Garden of Eden for her deception, and for a name with that history it sits remarkably comfortably inside the top 300 today.
- Origin: Mesopotamian
- Meaning: Belonging to the night
- Pronunciation: LIHL-Ihth
- Variations: Lilithe, Lillyth, Lillith
- Namesakes: Lilith Naggar, an Israeli Arabic-language TV host of the Israeli children’s series “The Flying Carpet” in the 1970s. Lilith Stangenberg, a German actress appearing in the 2016 film Wild.
- Popularity: Lilith ranked #277 for U.S. girls in 2025, just off its best mark of #232 in 2023. It first charted in 1913.
Lisha
Lisha works as a Latin short form for names like Alicia and Felicia, and on its own it means darkness before midnight in Arabic. It also carries the senses of sweet, honest and true. So the name can go either way. Soft sounds, late hour.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Darkness before midnight
- Pronunciation: LIY-Shaa
- Variations: Lishe, Lysha
- Popularity: Lisha ranked #14,217 for U.S. girls in 2025, far below its 1960 peak of #598. It has appeared in the data since 1954.
Lola
Lola began as the Spanish nickname for Dolores, itself a title for the Virgin Mary meaning Our Lady of Sorrows, so the grief is baked in. It is also a diminutive of the German Aloisia and a more serious take on Lolita, two easy syllables carrying a great deal of weight.
- Origin: Spanish, Latin
- Meaning: Sorrows
- Pronunciation: LOW-Lah
- Namesakes: Lola Beeth, an Austrian opera singer and member of the Vienna Opera Company. Lola Bravo, the first Mexican female photographer involved in the Mexican renaissance.
- Popularity: Lola ranked #275 for U.S. girls in 2025 after peaking at #130 in 1913 and bottoming out in 1993. Measured by births per million, it has recovered more than 41 times over from that low point, the biggest comeback of any name here.
Luna
In Roman mythology Luna is the divine personification of the Moon, not a goddess who watches over it but the thing itself. Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood gave the name a fresh push with a generation of parents, and it now sits at #27. It is the moon name that won.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Moon
- Pronunciation: LUW-Naa
- Variations: Lunah
- Namesakes: Gertrude Vachon (known as Luna Vachon), an American-Canadian wrestler posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Luna Boyd, an American actress for the NBC/Netflix series Manifest.
- Popularity: Luna ranked #27 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #10 in 2022. It has been in the U.S. data since 1880.
Lycia
Lycia was an ancient province of Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey. The name also reads as happy and hopeful in Latin and wolf in Greek. Lycia is likewise an American darkwave band, so the goth credentials here are literal. The wolf reading is the one most parents on this list will want.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: From Lycia
- Pronunciation: LAEY-Shah
- Variations: Licia
- Namesakes: Lycia Naff, an American actress appearing on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Lycia Trouton is a Northern Irish-Canadian artist known for the Linen Memorial in 1999.
- Popularity: Lycia last charted in the U.S. in 1999 at #15,843, with a best mark of #4,415 in 1961.
Maeve
Maeve comes from the Old Irish Medb, meaning she who rules, and it carries the sense of intoxicating, and in Irish mythology she is the Queen of Connacht, also known as the queen of the fairies. One syllable, no nickname required, and it has quietly become a top 100 name.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Intoxicating
- Pronunciation: MEYV
- Variations: Maev, Maiv
- Namesakes: Maeve Hillery, the first lady of the 6th President of Ireland, Patrick Hillery, from 1976 to 1990. Maeve Murphy, a Northern Irish filmmaker and winner of the Soka Art Award in 2004.
- Popularity: Maeve ranked #76 for U.S. girls in 2025, close to its best mark of #73 in 2023. It first charted in 1940.
Magena
Magena means new moon, or the coming moon. It also derives from the Hebrew magen, meaning shield and protector. The further senses are to cover and to defend. A moon name that also means guard her is a good thing to hand a daughter.
- Origin: Native American
- Meaning: New moon
- Pronunciation: Maa-GEH-Naa
- Popularity: Magena appears in U.S. records only for 2006, at #18,948.
Mara
Mara is Hebrew for bitterness and also carries the reading of the sea. In the Bible, Naomi asks to be called Mara while grieving the death of her husband and sons, so this is a name of open sorrow rather than costume darkness. Short, plain and heavy.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Bitterness
- Pronunciation: MAA-Rah
- Variations: Marrah, Mahra
- Namesakes: Mara Hvistendahl, an American writer whose book Unnatural Selection was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize. Mara Brunetti, an Italian synchronized swimmer who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- Popularity: Mara ranked #589 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #538 in 1990. It has been in the data since 1892.
Marcelina
Marcelina is a diminutive of Marcella and also means dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war and fertility. The war-like reading puts some steel under a long, pretty name. Lina and Marcy do the daily work.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: War-like
- Pronunciation: Maar-sey-LIY-Naa
- Variations: Marcellina, Marcelline
- Namesakes: Marcelina Darowska, a Polish nun beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996.
- Popularity: Marcelina ranked #2,882 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from #946 in 1934. It has appeared in the data since 1892.
Midnight
Midnight is the middle of the night, from the Old English middre niht, and there is no subtlety on offer. It is a rare, romantic choice that will draw comment for a lifetime. Night works as the everyday short form.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: 12 o’clock at night
- Pronunciation: MID-Nayte
- Namesakes: Midnight (born John McDonald), an American musician and vocalist of the heavy metal band Crimson Glory.
- Popularity: Midnight last charted in the U.S. in 2022 at #14,742, with a best mark of #11,833 in 2021. It first appeared in 2005.
Mina
Mina is a pet name for the German Wilhelmina and also reads as everybody in Japanese and royalty in Greek. She is the heroine who cannot quite resist the vampire in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which is the gothic claim here. Two syllables and nothing to explain.
- Origin: German, Arabic
- Meaning: Love
- Pronunciation: MIY-Nah
- Variations: Minah, Minna, Myna
- Namesakes: Mina Popović, a Serbian volleyball player for OK Crvena Zvezda. Mina Kimes, an American journalist and a senior writer at ESPN.
- Popularity: Mina ranked #597 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #455 in 1913. It has charted since 1880.
Morticia
Morticia was built from the American word mortician on the Latin root mort, meaning “death.” The cartoonist Charles Addams invented her, and The Addams Family did the rest. It is a full costume of a name, and Tish is the only way out of it.
- Origin: American
- Meaning: Mortician
- Pronunciation: Mohr-TIH-shaa
- Popularity: Morticia ranked #7,772 for U.S. girls in 2025. Its best mark was #4,727 in 1965, the year it first charted.
Naenia
Naenia is the Roman goddess of funerals, and the name carries the readings divinity of memorials and theology of burial. Incantation is the plainer meaning. Few names are more purely gothic in origin, and yet it sounds soft and ordinary out loud.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Incantation
- Pronunciation: NEHN-iy-Ah
- Variations: Naenea, Naeniah
- Popularity: Naenia is not published in U.S. Social Security Administration data, which lists a name only once five babies in a year are given it.
Noir
Noir is French for black, with dark as the second reading. It began as a French surname for anyone with dark eyes, skin or hair who came from Italy, Spain or North Africa. It carries the whole film noir mood with it, all rain and streetlight, and it works beautifully in the second slot on a birth certificate if it feels like too much up front.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: Black
- Pronunciation: No-AHR
- Popularity: Noir ranked #12,830 for U.S. girls in 2025. It first charted in 2018 and peaked at #6,855 in 2023.
Nyx
In Greek mythology Nyx is the literal personification of the night, and she was the only goddess Zeus feared. Three letters, one syllable, and more power per character than anything else on this list. Pass her along and see what your daughter does with it.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Night
- Pronunciation: NAHKS
- Popularity: Nyx ranked #2,577 for U.S. girls in 2025, near its best mark of #2,244 in 2022. It first charted in 2008.
Ombra
Ombra is Italian for shadow, with shade as the second reading, and it sits next to the French ombre for shaded. The ombre technique, where a darker color fades slowly into a lighter one, comes from the same word. Quiet, pretty and completely on theme.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: Shadow
- Pronunciation: OEM-Brah
- Variations: Ombre
- Popularity: Ombra has no U.S. ranking. The Social Security Administration publishes a name only after at least five babies in a year receive it.
Ophelia
Ophelia began as the ancient Greek opheleia, meaning aid, and Shakespeare handed it to the drowned girl in Hamlet. That image, flowers and river water, is why the name reads gothic however prettily you say it. If it is too formal for a toddler, Leah and Lee are both inside it.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Benefit
- Pronunciation: Ow-FIY-lyaa
- Variations: Opheliah, Ophelya, Ophilia
- Namesakes: Ophelia Marie, a Dominican cadence-lypso singer called “Dominica’s Lady of Song.” Ophelia Benson, an American author and editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine.
- Popularity: Ophelia ranked #264 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best mark being #259 in 2024. Comparing the last 10 years of births with the 10 years before them, it is up about 685 percent, the fastest rise of any name on this list.
Orenda
Orenda is the New York State Iroquois word for the extraordinary invisible power of the divine, sometimes given as great spirit and sometimes as magical powers. It is a name about force rather than gloom, and it belongs to a far older idea of the supernatural than anything in a vampire film. Ren is the modern short form.
- Origin: Native American
- Meaning: Great spirit
- Pronunciation: Ow-REHND-ah
- Variations: Orendah
- Namesakes: Orenda Fink, an American musician and member of the duo Azure Ray.
- Popularity: Orenda last charted in the U.S. in 2000 at #12,796. It first appeared in 1981, which is also its best year at #10,001.
Ostara
In Germanic mythology Ostara is the goddess of springtime, fertility and the dawn, and her name derives from the Old German for Easter. Ostara was also the title of an occult publication, which is where the darker association comes from. A dawn name on a night list is a good contradiction to hand a daughter.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Dawn
- Pronunciation: Ohs-TAAR-ah
- Popularity: Ostara last charted in the U.S. in 2024 at #9,415, with a best mark of #8,045 in 2019. It first appeared in 2011.
Ozul
Ozul means shadow in Hebrew and, unusually for this list, has actual Gothic origins carrying the same meaning. It may be the most obscure choice here, which is either the drawback or the entire point. Short, unisex, and unspellable to strangers.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Shadow
- Pronunciation: Oh-ZUHL
- Popularity: Ozul is absent from U.S. Social Security Administration records, which need five births in a year before a name is listed.
Pandora
Pandora joins the Greek pan, meaning all, with doron, meaning gift, and it also reads as she who sends up gifts. In Greek mythology she is the first mortal woman, handed a mysterious box and told not to open it, which is the most human story in the canon. All gifts is a fine thing to call a baby, whatever happened next.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: All gifts
- Pronunciation: Paen-DOW-rah
- Variations: Pandorra, Panndora, Pandorah
- Namesakes: Pandora Clifford, an English actress appearing on Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Pandora Gibson-Gomez, a Bahamian comedian after whom the Pandora Gibson-Gomez Award for Excellence in Drama is named.
- Popularity: Pandora ranked #4,526 for U.S. girls in 2025, a long way from its peak of #784 in 1952. It has been in the data since 1912.
Perdita
Perdita comes from the Latin perditus, meaning lost, and it refers specifically to a lost woman. Shakespeare invented her for A Winter’s Tale, so like Cordelia and Ophelia she arrives with a stage history behind her. Perdy is the friendly version for anyone who finds the meaning too bleak.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Lost
- Pronunciation: Per-DIY-taa
- Variations: Perditah, Perditta, Perdyta
- Namesakes: Perdita Weeks, a British actress in the 2018 series Magnum P.I. Perdita Felicien, a Canadian hurdler and silver medalist at the 2010 World Indoor Championships.
- Popularity: Perdita last appeared in U.S. records in 1971 at #9,235, having peaked at #4,644 in 1955.
Phaedra
Phaedra rests on the Greek phaidros, meaning bright, with glowing and splendid as further readings. In Greek mythology she is the daughter of Minos and the wife of Theseus, and her story ends badly enough to earn her a place here. A bright name with a dark biography.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Bright
- Pronunciation: FAY-Drah
- Variations: Phaidra, Phadra, Phadrah, Phedra
- Namesakes: Phaedra Nicolaidis, an Australian actress appearing in the TV series Outriders. Phaedra Parks, an American TV personality on The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
- Popularity: Phaedra ranked #7,409 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from #1,193 in 1971. It first charted in 1963.
Rain
Rain derives from the Old English and German regn and reads as an abundant blessing from above. It is gentler than most of what surrounds it and sits where gothic female names meet hippie names. Four spellings are in circulation, so pick one and defend it.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Abundant blessing from above
- Pronunciation: REYN
- Variations: Raen, Raine, Rayne
- Namesakes: Rain Graves, an American horror/fantasy author and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award winner for Best Poetry Collection. Rain Pryor, an American actress and daughter of comedian Richard Pryor, appearing on the TV series Head of the Class.
- Popularity: Rain ranked #1,239 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #1,216 in 2023. It has been in the data since 1956.
Raven
Raven comes from the Old English hraefn and carries the readings dark-haired and wise. The bird is known for its black feathers and its cleverness, and Edgar Allan Poe made it the permanent mascot of everything gloomy. It is the most mainstream bird name here and it still sounds like midnight.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Blackbird
- Pronunciation: REY-Vahn
- Variations: Raeven, Raiven, Ravenn, Rayven
- Namesakes: Raven Symoné, an American actress who appeared on the Cosby Show and is a recipient of five NAACP Image Awards.
- Popularity: Raven ranked #404 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from its peak of #139 in 1993. It first charted in 1941.
Ravette
Ravette is an English surname for a raven-like person, and it also carries the readings justice and friendly. It is the frilliest possible way to say raven, which turns out to be a real gap in the market. Rae is the everyday form.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Raven like
- Pronunciation: Rah-VEHT
- Popularity: Ravette has no U.S. ranking; the Social Security Administration lists a name only after five babies in one year receive it.
Rue
Rue means regret in English and street in French, and as a diminutive of Ruth it carries friend, companion and neighbor. It is also a herb with bluish leaves, bitter enough to have earned its reputation. One syllable that manages to sound both sweet and sorry.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: Regret
- Pronunciation: RUW
- Variations: Rhue, Roo, Rou, Ru
- Namesakes: Rue McClanahan, an American actress known for The Golden Girls (1985 to 1992).
- Popularity: Rue ranked #1,324 for U.S. girls in 2025, close to its best mark of #1,241 in 2024. It has appeared in U.S. data since 1896.
Sabrina
Sabrina once referred to someone from Cyprus or from near the Severn river, and it is the name of a Welsh river and a Celtic maiden. Most people will think of Sabrina the Teenage Witch first, which is no bad thing on a gothic list. Bri and Brina are the shortcuts.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Legendary princess
- Pronunciation: Sah-BRIYN-ah
- Variations: Sabreena, Sabrena, Sabrinah, Sabryna
- Namesakes: Sabrina Brazzo, a principal Italian ballet dancer with La Scala in Milan. Sabrina Ricciardi, an Italian member of the Senate of the Republic since 2018.
- Popularity: Sabrina ranked #321 for U.S. girls in 2025 after peaking at #53 in 1997. It has been in the data since 1916.
Salem
Salem means complete and safe, with peaceful and perfect as further readings, and it is the biblical name for Jerusalem. Americans hear the witch trials instead, which is the reason it appears on this list at all. It works for girls and boys and now sits inside the top 500.
- Origin: Arabic, Hebrew
- Meaning: Complete, safe
- Pronunciation: SEY-Lehm
- Variations: Seleme
- Namesakes: Salem Mitchell, an American model known for her facial freckles associated with LA Ford Models.
- Popularity: Salem ranked #436 for U.S. girls in 2025, near its best mark of #417 in 2023. It first charted in 1976.
Saoirse
Saoirse is Irish for freedom, with liberty as the second reading, and it first became popular in Ireland in the 1920s during the political revolution there. It is a political name more than a spooky one, but the sound is strange enough to earn a place. Expect to say it before anyone tries to spell it.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Freedom
- Pronunciation: SUR-shaa
- Variations: Saoyrse
- Namesakes: Saoirse Ronan, an Irish-American actress known for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Saoirse Noonan, an Irish footballer for Durham in the English FA Women’s Championship.
- Popularity: Saoirse ranked #1,089 for U.S. girls in 2025 and reached its best mark, #735, in 2020. It first charted in 1993.
Sapphire
Sapphire comes from the Greek sappheiros, which originally referred to lapis lazuli rather than the stone we mean today. It is the traditional birthstone of September and the darkest blue in the case, which is where the gothic reading comes from. Saffie softens it for a small child.
- Origin: Latin, Greek
- Meaning: Dark blue gemstone
- Pronunciation: SAEF-Ayr
- Variations: Saphire, Sapphyre, Saphyre
- Namesakes: Ramona Lofton (known as Sapphire), an American author whose novel Push was adapted into the 2009 film Precious. Sapphire Elia, an English actress appearing in the soap opera Emmerdale.
- Popularity: Sapphire ranked #1,058 for U.S. girls in 2025, near its best mark of #913 in 2022. It has been in the data since 1979.
Scarlett
Scarlett, spelled Scarlet, was once an English occupational surname for medieval fabric dyers. The color stands for courage, passion and love, and the double-t spelling has been a fixture for years. It is the rare gothic name that needs no defending at the school gate.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: Red
- Pronunciation: SKAAR-Leht
- Variations: Scarlet, Skarlette
- Namesakes: Scarlett Johansson, an American actress and the world’s highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019. Scarlett Moffatt, the English winner of season 16 of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2016.
- Popularity: Scarlett ranked #32 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #14 in 2022. It first charted in 1937.
Shadow
Shadow is another word for shade, the places the sun does not reach. From the 1930s radio character The Shadow to the film Shadow of the Vampire, the word has been doing gothic work for a century. As a name it is blunt, unisex and impossible to forget.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Shade from sun
- Pronunciation: SHAA-Dow
- Variations: Shaddo, Shadoe, Shadowe
- Popularity: Shadow ranked #6,091 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from #2,202 in 1993. It first charted in 1987.
Solanine
Solanine is the poison found in the berries of European black nightshade, which makes it the most literal name on this list. It is all but extinct as a given name, if it ever really lived. For a family that wants the darkest possible choice with a soft sound, this is the one.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Poisonous substance in nightshade
- Pronunciation: SOW-lah-NEEN
- Popularity: Solanine is not listed in U.S. Social Security Administration data, which publishes a name only once five babies in a year receive it.
Storm
Storm may derive from the Old Norse stormr, an uproar blow or a gale, and tempest is the plain meaning. It is a weather name with real force behind it and it works in the light or the dark. One syllable, no nickname, no argument.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Tempest
- Pronunciation: STOHRM
- Variations: Stormm, Storme
- Namesakes: Storm Constantine, a British science fiction and fantasy author known for the Wraeththu series. Storm Huntley, a Scottish TV presenter with the STV Glasgow Riverside Show.
- Popularity: Storm ranked #1,442 for U.S. girls in 2025, which is also its best mark on record. It has appeared in U.S. data since 1946.
Tabitha
Tabitha is composed of the Arabic tabhyetha, meaning gazelle, and it carries beauty and grace as its readings. It is best known as the daughter of the good witch Samantha Stephens on the 1960s series Bewitched, which places it in the friendly-witch tradition. Tabby is inevitable and rather good.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Beauty, grace
- Pronunciation: TAEB-ih-Thah
- Variations: Tabbytha, Tabithah, Tabbitha, Tabytha
- Namesakes: Tabitha Soren, an American reporter for MTV News. Tabitha Tsatsa, a Zimbabwean runner who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
- Popularity: Tabitha ranked #1,308 for U.S. girls in 2025, well down from #126 in 1978. It has charted since 1880.
Thora
Thora is the ancient Norse thunder goddess whose name relates to Thor, the son of Odin, and it also reads as Thor’s struggle. She was the wife of the Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok, which is about as saga as a name can get. Short, hard and cold in the best way.
- Origin: Scandinavian
- Meaning: Thunder goddess
- Pronunciation: THAOER-ah
- Variations: Tora
- Namesakes: Thora Birch, an American actress known for American Beauty (1999). Thora Bjorg Helga, an Icelandic actress known for the film Metalhead.
- Popularity: Thora ranked #6,093 for U.S. girls in 2025, a long way from its peak of #693 in 1913. It has been in the records since 1883.
Titania
Titania is based on the Greek titanes and reads as great one, with revenge and punishment underneath. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses the daughters of the giant race of Titans are the Titanias, and Shakespeare gave the name to the mischievous fairy queen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Giant is the plain meaning, and it suits a girl who will not be talked over.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Giant
- Pronunciation: Taey-TEY-niy-Ah
- Popularity: Titania ranked #13,079 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from #2,308 in 1972. It first charted in 1963.
Tristessa
Tristessa means sadness, with the fuller reading of a bold, sad woman. It may be a blend of Trista and Vanessa, or the feminine answer to the tragic hero Tristan. Either way it is four syllables of romantic gloom, with Tess waiting at the end.
- Origin: Italian, Gaelic
- Meaning: Sadness
- Pronunciation: Trihs-TESS-ah
- Variations: Tristezza
- Popularity: Tristessa does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration data, so no ranking exists for it.
Twilight
Twilight comes from the Middle English twyelyghte, built from twi, meaning half, and light, so the name is literally the half-light of dusk. The vampire novels own the word now, for better or worse. As a name it is a bold statement that will always date to a decade.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Dusk
- Pronunciation: TWAY-Layt
- Popularity: Twilight last charted in the U.S. in 2009 at #15,132. It first appeared in 1977, which is also its best year at #11,243.
Velonia
Velonia is an ambiguous name that may simply combine Val and onia, and it is usually given the meaning shadow valley. It may also point to Wallonia in Belgium. Rare enough that your daughter will define the name rather than the other way around.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Shadow valley
- Pronunciation: Veh-LOW-niy-Ah
- Variations: Vellonia, Valonia
- Popularity: Velonia has no U.S. ranking. The Social Security Administration publishes a name only after five babies in a year are given it.
Vespera
Vespera originated with the Latin vesper, meaning evening, and it also reads as evening tide and of the evening. The Vespers are the evening prayers said daily in the Catholic church, so the name arrives with candlelight and stone. It is the prettiest way to say dusk on this list.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Evening Star
- Pronunciation: Veys-PEH-rah
- Popularity: Vespera is not published in U.S. Social Security Administration data, which lists a name only once at least five babies receive it in a year.
Victoria
Victoria is the feminine equivalent of Victor and, in Roman mythology, the goddess of victory, the counterpart of the Greek Nike. The Victorian era is where most of this list’s mourning jewelry and black lace comes from, which is the gothic connection. It is one of nine names here still inside the U.S. top 100, and it hands you Tori, Vicky and Via.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Victory
- Pronunciation: Vihk-TOW-riy-Ah
- Variations: Victoriah, Victorria, Viktoria, Vicktoria
- Namesakes: Victoria Pendleton, a British track cyclist and gold medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Victoria Tolbert, the First Lady of Liberia from 1971 to 1980.
- Popularity: Victoria ranked #54 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from its peak of #16 in 1998. It has charted every year since 1880.
Violet
Violet comes from the Old French Violete, based on the Latin viola, meaning “purple.” The flower has long been associated with death and resurrection, which is how the sweetest name here also earns a gothic reading. It is a Victorian revival that has gone all the way to the top of the charts.
- Origin: Latin, French
- Meaning: Blue/purple flower
- Pronunciation: VAEY-Leht
- Variations: Viollet, Viollette, Vyolet
- Namesakes: Violet Attlee, the English first lady to Prime Minister Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951. Violet Carson, a British actress appearing in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.
- Popularity: Violet ranked #13 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best rank on record and the highest of any name on this list. It has charted since 1880.
Whisper
Whisper comes from the Old English hwisprian, meaning to mutter or to murmur. It is hardly used as a first name and makes a lovely surprise in the middle slot. Quiet is its whole personality, which is unusual on a list this theatrical.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Soft voice
- Pronunciation: WIHS-Per
- Variations: Whysper, Wisper, Wysper
- Popularity: Whisper peaked at #3,022 in 1996 and has faded to #13,112 for U.S. girls in 2025. It first appeared in the data in 1973.
Winter
Winter was originally a German word meaning “time of water.” It is the coldest of the season names and the only one that arrives with bare trees and long nights built in. It has become a solid top 500 name, so it is gothic without being strange.
- Origin: English, German
- Meaning: Winter (season)
- Pronunciation: WIHNT-er
- Variations: Wintar, Wintr, Wynter
- Namesakes: Winter Vinecki, an American marathon runner who placed third in the 2013 Antarctica Marathon. Winter Zoli, an American actress known for FX’s TV series Sons of Anarchy.
- Popularity: Winter ranked #426 for U.S. girls in 2025, close to its best mark of #305 in 2022. It has appeared in the data since 1954.
Wren
Wren is the English word for the small songbird, and it is unisex in practice. Sir Christopher Wren, the 17th-century English architect, gives the name an architectural claim as well as a feathered one. Short, current and easy to live with.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Songbird
- Pronunciation: REHN
- Variations: Wrene, Wrenn
- Namesakes: Wren Blackberry, an American children’s fiction author known for the Métrico Mesh series.
- Popularity: Wren ranked #231 for U.S. girls in 2025, near its best mark of #184 in 2022. It has been in U.S. records since 1888.
Xylia
Xylia is Greek for woodland, with wood dweller and from the forest as further readings. It is also used as a Spanish girls’ name meaning queen or ruler. The X does the heavy lifting: it looks strange and sounds soft, which is a good trade.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Woodland
- Pronunciation: ZIY-Liy-aa
- Variations: Xilia, Xiliah, Xilya
- Popularity: Xylia ranked #3,641 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best mark so far. It first charted in 1994.
Zakira
Zakira means speaker, with remembrance as the second reading, and it is the Arabic female form of Zechariah, meaning God has remembered. A name about memory suits a list this preoccupied with the past. Zaki and Kira both work.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Speaker
- Pronunciation: Zaa-KIY-Rah
- Popularity: Zakira last charted in the U.S. in 2024 at #8,934, with a best mark of #4,375 in 2007. It first appeared in 1993.
Zenobia
Zenobia is derived from the Greek Zenos and reads as of Zeus, with force of Zeus and life of Zeus as fuller senses. In Arabic it is given the meaning father’s ornament, so both readings point upward at something greater. Grand, historical and never common, which is a rare combination.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Of Zeus
- Pronunciation: Zeh-NOW-biy-Ah
- Variations: Zenobiah
- Namesakes: Zenobia Shroff, an Indian-American actress known for the 2017 film The Big Sick. Zenobia Galar, a Dominican painter and board member of the Dominican College of Plastic Artists.
- Popularity: Zenobia ranked #6,541 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from #932 in 1919. It has appeared in the data since 1881.
Zephyr
Zephyr refers to the seasonal west wind controlled by the ancient Greek god Zephyrus. It is used more for boys, but the sound is light and fast and makes a strong statement on a girl. Zeph is the everyday form, and the name closes this list on a breeze rather than a scream.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: West wind
- Pronunciation: ZEHF-ihr
- Variations: Zefir
- Namesakes: Zephyr Wright, an African-American civil rights activist and personal chef for President Lyndon Johnson from 1942 until 1969.
- Popularity: Zephyr ranked #1,203 for U.S. girls in 2025, close to its best mark of #1,097 in 2021. It first charted in 1975.
