Names Categorized "negative"

ANGERONA f Roman Mythology
Possibly from Latin angor "strangulation, torment" or angustus "narrow, constricted". Angerona was the Roman goddess of the winter solstice, death, and silence.

ATROPOS f Greek Mythology
Means "inevitable, inflexible" in Greek, derived from the negative prefix ἀ (a) combined with τρόπος (tropos) meaning "direction, manner, fashion". Atropos was one of the three Fates or Μοῖραι (Moirai) in Greek mythology. When her sister Lachesis decided that a person's life was at an end, Atropos would choose the manner of death and cut the person's life thread.

DESDEMONA f Literature
Derived from Greek δυσδαίμων (dysdaimon) meaning "ill-fated". This was the name of the murdered wife of Othello in Shakespeare's play Othello (1603).

JAROGNIEW m Polish (Rare)
Derived from the Slavic elements yaru meaning "fierce, energetic" and gnyevu meaning "anger".

JOB m Biblical, Biblical French, Dutch
From the Hebrew name אִיּוֹב ('Iyyov), which means "persecuted, hated". In the Book of Job in the Old Testament he is a righteous man who is tested by God, enduring many tragedies and hardships while struggling to remain faithful.

JOBY m English (Rare)
Diminutive of JOB and other names beginning with Jo.

KATHERINE f English
From the Greek name Αἰκατερίνη (Aikaterine). The etymology is debated: it could derive from an earlier Greek name Ἑκατερινη (Hekaterine), itself from ἑκάτερος (hekateros) meaning "each of the two"; it could derive from the name of the goddess HECATE; it could be related to Greek αἰκία (aikia) meaning "torture"; or it could be from a Coptic name meaning "my consecration of your name". In the early Christian era it became associated with Greek καθαρός (katharos) meaning "pure", and the Latin spelling was changed from Katerina to Katharina to reflect this.... [more]

LYSSA (2) f Greek Mythology
Means "rage, fury, anger" in Greek. In Greek mythology Lyssa is a goddess associated with uncontrolled rage.

MAITLAND m English (Rare)
From an English surname that was from a Norman French place name possibly meaning "inhospitable".

MALLORY f English (Modern)
From an English surname that meant "unfortunate" in Norman French. It first became common in the 1980s due to the television comedy Family Ties, which featured a character by this name.

MALVOLIO m Literature
Means "ill will" in Italian. This name was invented by Shakespeare for a character in his play Twelfth Night (1602).

MEGAERA f Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Greek Μέγαιρα (Megaira), which was derived from μεγαίρω (megairo) meaning "to grudge". This was the name of one of the Furies or Ἐρινύες (Erinyes) in Greek mythology. The name is used as a word in several European languages to denote a shrewish, ill-tempered woman (for example, French mégère and Italian megera).

MELVILLE m English
From a Scottish surname that was originally from a Norman French place name meaning "bad town". A famous bearer of the surname was the American author Herman Melville (1819-1891), who wrote several novels including Moby-Dick.

MELVIN m English
From a Scottish surname that probably originated as a variant of MELVILLE.

MELVYN m English
Variant of MELVIN.

ODYSSEUS m Greek Mythology
Perhaps derived from Greek ὀδύσσομαι (odyssomai) meaning "to hate". In Greek legend Odysseus was one of the Greek heroes who fought in the Trojan War. In the Odyssey Homer relates Odysseus's misadventures on his way back to his kingdom and his wife Penelope.

TOMISLAV m Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Medieval Slavic
Probably derived from the Slavic element tomiti meaning "torture" combined with slava meaning "glory". This was the name of the first king of Croatia (10th century).

TOMISLAVA f Croatian, Serbian, Medieval Slavic
Feminine form of TOMISLAV.

TUCKER m English (Modern)
From an occupational surname for a cloth fuller, derived from Old English tucian meaning "offend, torment". A fuller was a person who cleaned and thickened raw cloth by pounding it.

ULISES m Spanish
Spanish form of ULYSSES.

ULISSE m Italian
Italian form of ULYSSES.

ULISSES m Portuguese
Portuguese form of ULYSSES.

ULYSSA f English (Rare)
Feminine form of ULYSSES.

ULYSSE m French
French form of ULYSSES.

ULYSSES m Roman Mythology, English
Latin form of ODYSSEUS. It was borne by Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the commander of the Union forces during the American Civil War, who went on to become an American president. Irish author James Joyce used it as the title of his book Ulysses (1920), which loosely parallels Homer's epic the Odyssey.