These Beautiful Names Have Unexpectedly Dark Meanings

Odin

Odin could be a cute name (especially with the nickname Odie!) if the meaning didn’t matter; it comes from an Old Norse name derived from a root word meaning “rage” or “frenzy.” Of course, if you’re familiar with Norse mythology, you may not mind its meaning — after all, Odin was the god of war and death!

Jennifer

We know what you’re thinking: Jennifer?! Jennifer, the ubiquitous ’80s girl name, the source of all the Jenns and Jennys and Jennas you know, has a bad meaning? Well, it depends on what you consider “bad.” It comes from the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar — the same root as Guinevere — which means “white phantom.” While some might think that’s an unfortunate meaning, we think it’s actually pretty cool. 

Neil

There have been lots of famous Neils — but if you’re thinking of naming your baby after one, you might want to know that Neil is derived from the Irish name Niall, which some sources say comes from an Old Celtic root word meaning “fury.”

Agrona

This name seems to blend peppy vintage “grandma names” like Aggie and Ramona into a unique spinoff, but don’t be fooled; Agrona comes from the Celtic root agro-, meaning “slaughter.”

Tanisha

We can thank stage actress Ta-Tanisha (born Shirley Cummings) for popularizing the name Tanisha, which hit its peak in the 1970s. She allegedly took her stage name from the Swahili word tatanisha, which means “confuse.” So, not a terrible meaning — but still not a word with the greatest connotation.

Phineus

Phineus is an adorable name — even Julia Roberts used it for her son! It’s actually a bird name, which is very popular these days. There’s just a matter of which bird: Phineus comes from the Greek phene, meaning “vulture.”

Averill

If you’re trying to be like Avril Lavigne’s parents and name your child after the French word for April, but you’re aiming for a spelling variant, watch out — because though it sounds a lot like Avril, Averill actually comes from a totally different root. It’s derived from the Old English name Eoforhild, meaning “boar battle.” 

Eris

Eris is a simple and unique feminine name — a great alternative to Erin, maybe! But if you’re superstitious at all, just ignore the meaning: “strife” or “discord.”

Cameron

As I mentioned, Cameron means “crooked nose” — but that weird meaning hasn’t stopped it from being a really popular choice for both boys and girls!

Brogan

Brogan is an adorable Irish name that could make a great alternative to Brendan. But it’s one of those names that bears a meaning some might think isn’t exactly bad, but definitely a little … weird. It means “sandal” or “shoe.”

Blaise

Having a speech impediment is nothing to be ashamed of; approximately 17.9 million U.S. adults and (and nearly 1 in 12 kids!) have one. But when most names have meanings like “strong” or “beloved,” giving your child a name that alludes to a speech impediment can seem less appealing. Blaise comes from the Latin blaesus, meaning “lisping.” 

Valkyrie

OK, hear us out: Valkyrie is a really cool and really unique name. And if you know the legend behind the name, it has a bada*s vibe as well. In Norse mythology, the Valkyries were female figures who guided the spirits of brave warriors slain in battle to the afterlife realm of Valhalla. The word comes from the Old Norse valkyrja, meaning “chooser of the slain.”

Caleb

The meaning of Caleb isn’t exactly bad; it just lacks the dignity and pizzazz that some other name meanings have. It comes from the Hebrew kelev, meaning “dog” — but since dogs are loyal and sweet and adorable, it might not be such a bad meaning after all!

Morana

Morana could be a very elegant-sounding choice … if you can get past its meaning. It comes from the Slavic element morŭ, meaning “death” or “plague.”

Samael

Samael sounds like a viable alternative to the popular Samuel — and it can be, if you don’t mind its meaning. In Jewish tradition, this is the name of a powerful archangel often depicted as a formidable angel of death, associated with destruction; the name means “venom of God.”

Dolores

Vintage names are all the rage, but if you’re considering naming your baby after great-aunt Dolores, you should consider this: it means “sorrow.”

Mortimer

If you have your heart set on nicknaming your little guy Morty — but you’re finicky about name meanings — you may want to opt for Morton over Mortimer. Because where Morton means “moor town,” Mortimer means something a little less cozy-sounding: “dead water.”

Kennedy

From the Irish surname Ó Cinnéidigh, Kennedy means … “ugly head”. While sources do agree that “head” is definitely part of the meaning, some debate the “ugly” part, saying that it means “misshapen” or “armored”. 

Jadis

You might be looking for a lesser-used variation of a name like Jada or Jade — or maybe you’re a big fan of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But if you’re thinking of Jadis (the “White Witch” in the aforementioned novel), it comes from the Persian root word jadu, meaning “witch.”

Tola

Tola is reminiscent of peppy names with a vintage flair, like Tula or Nola. And it has meanings in several cultures. In Khmer, it means “October” (coming from a root word referring to the constellation Libra). In Polish, it’s a diminutive of any names like Antonina. But in Hebrew it means … worm or grub.

Wendel

Wendel sounds old-fashioned in the best way: charming and sweet. Its meaning is a little darker than its sound, though — it’s of Germanic origin and means “vandal.”

Mallory

The peppy Mallory first became popular in the 1980s thanks to the superficial-but-sweet Mallory Keaton in Family Ties. But its meaning is a little less sweet: “unfortunate” or “unlucky”.

Cyrus

Depending on how you look at it, the meaning of Cyrus could either be a detriment or a draw; it comes from the Old Persian name Kuruš, meaning “humiliator of the enemy.”

Cecilia

Whether you spell it Cecilia or Cecelia — or go for the related name Cecily — this name comes from the Roman surname Caecilius … which comes from the Latin word for “blind.”

Mara

Mara is a gorgeous Hebrew name … that means “bitter”. In the Old Testament, Naomi calls herself Mara after her husband and two sons die, expressing her grief and despair over her losses. 

Emilia

The beautiful Emilia — and also the megapopular Emily — both come from a Roman name derived from the Latin word aemulus, meaning “rival”. However, the similar Amelia means “industrious” or “brave”, so there’s that option if the meaning bothers you too much.

Claudia

The name Claudia is said to have derived from the Latin claudus, meaning “lame” or “crippled”. Still, claudus gave rise to Claudius, which was the name of a prominent Roman political family (not to mention several saints) — with the feminine form being Claudia. So even though its meaning is not sweet and cheery, it hasn’t stopped the name from being associated with power and prestige.

Calvin

To be fair, the meaning of Calvin isn’t exactly ominous — but if you want your little guy to have a voluminous head of hair, you might want to steer clear of this charming vintage moniker. It comes from a surname that originated from the French word chauve … meaning “bald”.

Soren

This intellectual-sounding name calls to mind famous 19th-century Danish theologian, philosopher, and poet Soren Kierkegaard. But its roots come from the Latin name Severus (yes, like Snape!), meaning “stern”.

Lola

The perky-sounding Lola is short, sweet, and completely on-trend with the vintage baby name craze going on right now. But it’s a diminutive of Dolores, which means … “sorrows”.

Simon

Now, regarding Simon — there’s good news and bad news. The good news is, it has dual meanings, and one of them is “hearing” or “listening” (from the Hebrew name Shim’on). The bad news is … the other meaning is from the Greek word simos: “flat-nosed”.

Rue

Rue is an adorable name, calling to mind The Golden Girls’ sassy Southern belle Blanche Devereaux (played to perfection by actress Rue McClanahan). Its meaning can be traced back to a bitter medicinal herb — but it is also literally a word that means “regret”.

Lyssa

A perfect example of a beautiful name with a less-than-beautiful meaning, Lyssa is of Greek origin and means “rage”, “fury”, “anger”, and by some accounts, “rabies”. In Greek mythology, the goddess Lyssa embodies uncontrolled rage. Tack a letter A onto the front, though, and you’ve got Alyssa — which means “noble”.

Tristan

There are two possible meanings behind the name Tristan … but to be honest, neither one is exactly fantastic. The first is that it stems from the French triste, meaning “sad”. The second is that it’s related to the Celtic name Drustan, meaning “noise”.

Sloane

A preppy-sounding unisex name? Absolutely. A name with a sweet and honorable meaning? Not so much. Sloane is an Anglicized derivative of the Irish surname Ó Sluaghadháin, meaning “raid”.

Caesar

Thinking of having a Roman emperor moment and bestowing your little guy with the name Caesar? Fair enough, but you should know that it comes from the Latin caesaries, meaning “hairy”. (Another name with this meaning is Esau!)

Cicero

If you’re familiar with ancient history, you may associate the name Cicero with political power; after all, in ancient Rome, Cicero was the political enemy of Julius Caesar. But the actual meaning of the name is … well, a little less powerful. It comes from the Latin cicer, meaning “chickpea.”

Leah

Leah is an Old Testament classic, a pretty name used for centuries. But it comes from the Hebrew word le’ah, meaning “weary”.

Morrigan

While this name’s meaning isn’t something rosy like “angel” or “beloved”, we have to admit that its meaning is pretty cool, if you don’t mind something a little ominous. In Irish mythology, Morrigan was a powerful goddess of war and death who often shapeshifted into a crow … and her name means “demon queen”.

Barrett

The name Barrett sounds refined, genteel, even aristocratic — and has associations with celebrated poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. But unfortunately, its meaning is a little less agreeable. It comes from an English surname meaning “quarrelsome” or “deceptive”.

Bethany

This name comes from a Biblical Greek town named Bethania, which itself is likely of Aramaic origin. There are two possible meanings: “house of affliction” or the slightly-better-but-still-not great “house of figs”.

Tucker

The meaning of this English occupational name is “cloth pleater” — not bad, right? But what if we told you that it comes from the word tucian, meaning “torment” or “offend”?

Delilah

Gorgeous and lyrical, Delilah is a solid, ultra-feminine name choice — if you don’t mind that it means “languishing” or “weak”. Although some sources say “delicate” instead … potato, potahto!

Melvin

With the popularity of vintage names like Oliver and Theodore on a sharp rise, Melvin is an old-school classic that could be cool again. If you’re cool with the fact that it comes from the French place name Malleville, meaning “bad town”.

Persephone

Some Greek mythological names have lovely meanings like “beautiful voice” (Calliope) and “to flourish” (Thalia). And then there are Greek mythological names like Persephone, which is a combination of two words meaning “destroy” and “murder”. Still pretty, though!

The bottom line is, the name you choose to give your baby should be influenced only by how you feel about it. A person’s name is just one small part of who they are, and it’s impossible to sum up a person’s personality, character, or potential in a single word. Many people go their entire lives without even knowing the meaning of their names, anyway. And besides — a baby name with a bad meaning is better than a name with a bad association. Just ask anyone named Karen.

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