ABITALfBiblicalMeans "my father is the night dew" in Hebrew. She is the fifth wife of
David in the Old Testament.
BLAKEmEnglishFrom a surname which 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).
CHERNOBOGmSlavic MythologyMeans "the black god" from Slavic
cherno "black" and
bogu "god". Chernobog was the Slavic god of darkness, evil and grief.
CIARmIrishDerived from Irish
ciar meaning "black".
COLBYmEnglishFrom a surname, originally from various English place names, derived from the Old Norse nickname
Koli (meaning "coal, dark") and
býr "town".
DONNDUBHÁNmAncient IrishComposed of the Gaelic element
donn "brown" combined with
dubh "dark" and a diminutive suffix.
DOUGALmScottish, IrishAnglicized form of the Gaelic name
Dubhghall, which meant "dark stranger" from
dubh "dark" and
gall "stranger".
DOUGLASmScottish, EnglishAnglicized form of the Scottish surname
Dubhghlas, meaning "dark river" from Gaelic
dubh "dark" and
glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to
glas "grey, green"). Douglas was originally a place name (for example, a tributary of the River Clyde), which then became a Scottish clan name borne by a powerful line of earls. It has been used as a given name since the 16th century.
DUBHÁNmIrishIrish name derived from
dubh "dark, black" combined with a diminutive suffix.
DUBHSHLÁINEmAncient IrishOld Irish name derived from
dubh "dark, black" and either
slán "defiance" or
Sláine, the Gaelic name of the River Slaney.
DUBHTHACHmAncient IrishOld Irish name derived from
dubh "dark, black" in combination with a second element of unknown meaning.
DUNSTANmEnglish (Rare), Anglo-SaxonFrom the Old English elements
dunn "dark" and
stan "stone". This name was borne by a 10th-century saint, the archbishop of Canterbury. It was occasionally used in the Middle Ages, though it died out after the 16th century. It was revived by the Tractarian movement in the 19th century.
FERRERmVariousFrom a surname which meant "blacksmith" in Catalan. This name is often given in honour of Saint Vicente Ferrer, a 14th-century missionary who is the patron saint of builders.
GARNET (1)fEnglishFrom the English word
garnet for the precious stone, the birthstone of January. The word is derived from Middle English
gernet meaning "dark red".
ISRAfArabicMeans "nocturnal journey", derived from Arabic
سرى (sara) "to travel at night".
KALIf & mHinduism, Bengali, TamilMeans "the black one" in Sanskrit. The Hindu goddess Kali is the fierce destructive form of the wife of
Shiva. She is usually 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.
KRISHNAmHinduism, Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, NepaliMeans "black, dark" in Sanskrit. This is the name of a Hindu god believed to be an incarnation of the god
Vishnu. He was the youngest of King Vasudeva's eight children, six of whom were killed by King Kamsa because of a prophecy that a child of Vasudeva would kill Kamsa. Krishna however was saved and he eventually killed the king as well as performing many other great feats. In some Hindu traditions, Krishna is regarded as the supreme deity. He is usually depicted with blue skin.
LAMYAfArabicMeans "having beautiful dark lips" in Arabic.
LAYLAfArabic, EnglishMeans "night" in Arabic. This was the name of the object of romantic poems written by the 7th-century poet known as Qays. The story of Qays and Layla became a popular romance in medieval Arabia and Persia. The name became used in the English-speaking world after the 1970 release of the song 'Layla' by Derek and the Dominos, the title of which was inspired by the medieval story.
LI (1)f & mChineseFrom Chinese
理 (lǐ) meaning "reason, logic",
立 (lì) meaning "stand, establish",
黎 (lí) meaning "black, dawn",
力 (lì) meaning "power, capability, influence" (which is usually only masculine) or
丽 (lì) meaning "beautiful" (usually only feminine). Other Chinese characters are also possible.
LILITHfSemitic Mythology, Judeo-Christian LegendDerived from Akkadian
lilitu meaning "of the night". This was the name of a demon in ancient Assyrian myths. In Jewish tradition she was
Adam's first wife, sent out of Eden and replaced by
Eve because she would not submit to him. The offspring of Adam (or
Samael) and Lilith were the evil spirits of the world.
LONÁNmIrishMeans "little blackbird", derived from Irish Gaelic
lon "blackbird" combined with a diminutive suffix.
MAURUSmLate RomanLatin name which meant "dark skinned". This was the name of numerous early saints, most notably a follower of Saint Benedict.
MELANIEfEnglish, German, DutchFrom
Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name
Melania, derived from Greek
μελαινα (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] MERLEf & mEnglishVariant of
MERRILL or
MURIEL. The spelling has been influenced by the word
merle meaning "blackbird" (via French, from Latin
merula).
MIYAKOfJapaneseFrom Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful",
夜 (ya) meaning "night" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can be formed from other combinations of kanji as well.
NIGELmEnglishFrom
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 Sir Walter Scott's novel 'The Fortunes of Nigel' (1822).
NYXfGreek MythologyMeans "night" in Greek. This was the name of the Greek goddess of the night, the daughter of Khaos and the wife of Erebos.
ORPHEUSmGreek MythologyPerhaps related to Greek
ορφνη (orphne) meaning "the darkness of night". In Greek mythology Orpheus was a poet and musician who went to the underworld to retrieve his dead wife Eurydice. He succeeded in charming Hades with his lyre, and he was allowed to lead his wife out of the underworld on the condition that he not look back at her until they reached the surface. Unfortunately, just before they arrived his love for her overcame his will and he glanced back at her, causing her to be drawn back to Hades.
PHILOMELfLiteratureFrom an English word meaning "nightingale" (ultimately from
PHILOMELA). It has been used frequently in poetry to denote the bird.
PHOENIXm & fEnglish (Modern)From the name of a beautiful immortal bird which appears in Egyptian and Greek mythology. After living for several centuries in the Arabian Desert, it would be consumed by fire and rise from its own ashes, with this cycle repeating every 500 years. The name of the bird was derived from Greek
φοινιξ (phoinix) meaning "dark red".
POMAREm & fTahitianFrom Tahitian
po "night" and
mare "cough". This name was borne by four kings and a queen of Tahiti. The first king adopted the name after his child died of a cough in the night.
RAJNISHmIndian, HindiMeans "lord of the night" from Sanskrit
रजनि (rajani) meaning "night" and
ईश (isha) meaning "lord, ruler". This is another name for the moon in Hindu texts.
RATREEfThaiFrom the name of a variety of jasmine flower, the night jasmine, ultimately from a poetic word meaning "night".
SABLEfEnglish (Modern)From the English word meaning "black", derived from the name of the black-furred mammal native to Northern Asia, ultimately of Slavic origin.
SHYAMAm & fHinduism, Indian, HindiDerived from Sanskrit
श्याम (shyama) meaning "dark, black, blue". This is a transcription of the masculine form
श्याम, which is another name of the Hindu god
Krishna, as well as the feminine form
श्यामा, one of the many names of the wife of the god
Shiva. It is also the name of a Jain goddess.
SIAVASHmPersian, Persian MythologyMeans "possessing black stallions" in Avestan. This is the name of a prince in the 11th-century Persian epic the 'Shahnameh'.
SMITHmEnglishFrom an English surname meaning "metal worker, blacksmith", derived from Old English
smitan "to smite, to hit". It is the most common surname in most of the English-speaking world.
SULLIVANmEnglishFrom an Irish surname which was derived from
Ó Súilleabháin meaning "descendant of Súilleabhán". The name
Súilleabhán means "little dark eye" in Irish.
SUNILmIndian, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, NepaliFrom Sanskrit
सु (su) meaning "good, very" combined with
नील (nila) meaning "dark blue".
TINUVIELfLiteratureMeans "nightingale" in Sindarin. In the 'Silmarillion' (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Tinuviel was the daughter of Thingol the elf king and the beloved of Beren, who with her help retrieved one of the Silmarils from the iron crown of Morgoth.
ZELOPHEHADmBiblicalPossibly means either "first born" or "shadow from terror" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, Zelophehad is a man who dies while the Israelites are wandering in the wilderness, leaving five daughters as heirs.