Browse Names

This is a list of names in which the meaning contains the keyword black.
gender
usage
meaning
Akli m Berber
Means "slave, servant, black" in Tamazight.
Blake m & f English
From an English surname that was derived from Old English blæc "black" or blac "pale". A famous bearer of the surname was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827). It was originally a mainly masculine name but in 2007 actress Blake Lively (1987-) began starring in the television series Gossip Girl, after which time it increased in popularity for girls.
Blakely f English (Modern)
From an English surname that was derived from Old English blæc "black" and leah "woodland clearing".
Catahecassa m Shawnee
Means "black hoof" in Shawnee. This was the name of an 18th-century Shawnee warrior and chief.
Charna f Yiddish (Rare)
From a Slavic word meaning "black".
Chernobog m Slavic Mythology
Means "the black god" from Old Slavic čĭrnŭ "black" and bogŭ "god". According to a few late sources, Chernobog was a Slavic god of misfortune.
Ciar m & f Irish, Irish Mythology, Old Irish
Derived from Irish ciar meaning "black". In Irish legend Ciar was a son of Fergus mac Róich and Medb, and the ancestor of the tribe of the Ciarraige (after whom County Kerry is named). As a feminine name, it was borne by an Irish nun (also called Ciara) who established a monastery in Tipperary in the 7th century.
Ciardha m Medieval Irish
Irish byname derived from ciar meaning "black".
Donndubán m Old Irish
Composed of the Old Irish element donn "brown" combined with dub "dark" and a diminutive suffix.
Dougal m Scottish
Anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic name Dubhghall meaning "dark stranger", from Old Irish dub "dark" and gall "stranger". This name was borne by a few medieval Scottish chiefs.
Dubhán m Irish (Rare)
From Old Irish Dubán meaning "little dark one", derived from dub "dark, black" combined with a diminutive suffix. This was the name of a few early saints.
Dubhshláine m Old Irish
Derived from Old Irish dub "dark, black" and either slán "challenge, defiance" or Sláine, the Irish name of the River Slaney.
Duff m English (Rare)
From a Scottish or Irish surname, derived from Anglicized spellings of Gaelic dubh meaning "dark".
Ebony f African American
From the English word ebony for the black wood that comes from the ebony tree. It is ultimately from the Egyptian word hbnj. In America this name is most often used in the black community.
Gonzalo m Spanish
From the medieval name Gundisalvus, which was the Latin form of a Germanic (possibly Visigothic or Suebi) name composed of gunda "war" and maybe salba "salve, ointment", salo "dark, dusky" or sal "house, hall" (with the spelling perhaps influenced by Latin salvus "safe"). Saint Gonzalo was an 11th-century bishop of Mondoñedo in Galicia, Spain.
Inola f Cherokee
Derived from Cherokee ᎢᏃᎵ (inoli) meaning "black fox".
Kali 1 f & m Hinduism, Bengali, Tamil
Means "the black one", derived from Sanskrit काल (kāla) meaning "black". The Hindu goddess Kali is the fierce destructive form of the wife of Shiva. According to stories in the Puranas, she springs from the forehead of Durga in order to defeat various demons. She is typically depicted with black skin and four arms, holding a severed head and brandishing a sword. As a personal name, it is generally masculine in India.
Kara 2 m Ottoman Turkish
Means "black, dark" in Turkish. This was sometimes used as a byname by Ottoman officials, figuratively meaning "courageous".
Krishna m Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Nepali
Derived from Sanskrit कृष्ण (kṛṣṇa) meaning "black, dark". This is the name of a Hindu deity believed to be an incarnation of the god Vishnu. According to the Mahabharata and the Puranas he was the youngest of King Vasudeva's eight sons by Devaki, six of whom were killed by King Kamsa because of a prophecy that a child of Vasudeva would kill Kamsa. However, Krishna and his brother Balarama were saved and he eventually fulfilled the prophecy by slaying the evil king. He then helped the Pandavas defeat the Kauravas in the Mahabharata War. His philosophical conversation with the Pandava leader Arjuna forms the text of the important Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita.... [more]
Li 1 f & m Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "reason, logic", () meaning "stand, establish", () meaning "black, dawn", () meaning "power, capability, influence" (which is usually only masculine) or () meaning "beautiful" (usually only feminine). Other Chinese characters are also possible.
Melaina f Greek Mythology
Derived from Greek μέλαινα (melaina) meaning "black, dark". This was the name of a nymph in Greek mythology.
Melanie f English, German, Dutch
From Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name Melania, derived from Greek μέλαινα (melaina) meaning "black, dark". This was the name of a Roman saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Her grandmother was also a saint with the same name.... [more]
Melanthios m Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek
Derived from Greek μέλας (melas) meaning "black, dark" and ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower". In Homer's epic the Odyssey this is the name of an insolent goatherd killed by Odysseus.
Nero 2 m Italian
Short form of Raniero. It also coincides with the Italian word nero meaning "black".
Nigel m English
From Nigellus, a medieval Latinized form of Neil. It was commonly associated with Latin niger "black". It was revived in the 19th century, perhaps in part due to Walter Scott's novel The Fortunes of Nigel (1822).
Pittiulaaq f & m Inuit
Means "black guillemot" in Inuktitut (a guillemot is a type of sea bird; species Cepphus grylle).
Sable f English (Modern)
From the English word meaning "black", derived from the name of the black-furred mammal native to northern Asia, ultimately of Slavic origin.
Sawda f Arabic
Means "black" in Arabic. This was the name of a wife of the Prophet Muhammad. She was said to have lived for a time in Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia and Eritrea).
Shyama m & f Hinduism, Hindi
Derived from Sanskrit श्याम (śyāma) meaning "dark, black, blue". This is a transcription of both the masculine form श्याम (another name of the Hindu god Krishna) and the feminine form श्यामा (another name of the goddess Kali).
Shyamal m Bengali
From Sanskrit श्यामल (śyāmala), a derivative of श्याम (śyāma) meaning "dark, black, blue".
Shyamala f Tamil, Telugu, Marathi
Feminine form of Shyamal.
Siavash m Persian, Persian Mythology
Persian form of Avestan 𐬯𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬱𐬀𐬥 (Siiāuuarshan) meaning "possessing black stallions". This was the name of a virtuous prince in Iranian mythology. He appears briefly in the Avesta, with a longer account recorded in the 10th-century Persian epic the Shahnameh.
Sunil m Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Nepali
From Sanskrit सु (su) meaning "good, very" combined with नील (nīla) meaning "dark blue".