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Names that mean death: 90+ names from myth, legend and history

94 names · Updated · By The Nomezo Editors · Save to Pinterest

Names that mean death are rare as everyday names, so most come from mythology: Thanatos is Greek for death, Mot is Ugaritic for death, and Mortimer comes from Old French for dead water, or still water.

Real given names more often carry the opposite idea. Athanasia and Ambrose mean immortal, and Anastasia means resurrection. Below are girl, boy and unisex names linked to death and eternal life, then the gods and spirits of death from Greek, Roman, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian, Asian and Aztec myth, and the names of the underworld itself. Every entry says what the name means or who the figure was, and where it comes from.

Can't decide? Shuffle 6 random picks

  • Anastasia

    Resurrection, rising again; Greek, from anastasis

  • Javed

    Eternal; Persian, also used in India and Pakistan

  • Khulud

    Immortality, eternity; Arabic. Say khoo-LOOD

  • Ankou

    Breton figure of death who gathers souls in a creaking cart

  • Nergal

    Mesopotamian god of plague, war and the underworld

  • Durosinmi

    Stay to bury me; Yoruba, a wish for a long life

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Girl names that mean death or immortality

Very few girl names mean death outright. These real given names mean immortal, resurrection or the afterlife instead, plus Mara, which is often wrongly listed as meaning death.

  1. Athanasia 8 in 2025: Immortal, literally without death; Greek. Say ah-thah-nah-SEE-ah
  2. Anastasia US #163: Resurrection, rising again; Greek, from anastasis
  3. Ambrosia 8 in 2025: Immortal; Greek, also the food of the gods
  4. Amrita 5 in 2025: Immortal; Sanskrit, also the nectar of eternal life
  5. Amaranta 10 in 2025: Unfading; the Spanish and Italian form of Amarantha, from Greek amarantos
  6. Khalida Under 5 in 2025: Eternal, immortal; Arabic, the feminine form of Khalid
  7. Khulud Under 5 in 2025: Immortality, eternity; Arabic. Say khoo-LOOD
  8. Bengisu Under 5 in 2025: Water of immortality; Turkish, from bengi, eternal
  9. Bengü Under 5 in 2025: Eternal, everlasting; Turkish
  10. Elysia 149 in 2025: From Elysium, the Greek paradise of the blessed dead
  11. Mara US #589: Bitter; Hebrew, the name Naomi takes in her grief (Ruth 1:20). Not the same as the Buddhist Mara

Boy names that mean death or immortality

Mortimer is the rare boy name with death in its meaning. The rest promise a life that does not end.

  1. Mortimer Under 5 in 2025: Dead water or still water; Old French, from a Norman place name
  2. Ambrose US #735: Immortal; Greek, borne by a 4th-century saint of Milan
  3. Ambrogio Under 5 in 2025: Immortal; the Italian form of Ambrose
  4. Athanasios 22 in 2025: Immortal one; Greek. Say ah-thah-NAH-see-os
  5. Thanasis Under 5 in 2025: Immortal one; a Greek short form of Athanasios
  6. Thanos Under 5 in 2025: Immortal; a Greek short form of Athanasios, and also a Marvel villain
  7. Anastasios 9 in 2025: Resurrection, rising again; Greek, the original male name behind Anastasia
  8. Amar 132 in 2025: Immortal, undying; Sanskrit. Common across India
  9. Amartya 6 in 2025: Immortal; Sanskrit, borne by Nobel economist Sen
  10. Mrityunjay Under 5 in 2025: Conqueror of death; Sanskrit, a title of Shiva. Say mrit-yoon-JAY
  11. Khalid US #940: Eternal, everlasting; Arabic, popular across the Arab world
  12. Javed Under 5 in 2025: Eternal; Persian, also used in India and Pakistan
  13. Akshay 14 in 2025: Indestructible, imperishable; Sanskrit. Say ak-SHAY

Unisex names linked to death

Sikh names built on amar, immortal, and Yoruba àbíkú names. Àbíkú names were given to a baby born after earlier children had died, asking the new child to stay. They are shown here for their meaning, not as theme names.

  1. Amrit 9 in 2025: Immortal; Sanskrit. Used for girls and boys in Sikh families
  2. Amardeep Under 5 in 2025: Immortal lamp or light; a Punjabi Sikh name from Sanskrit
  3. Amarjeet Under 5 in 2025: Immortal victory; a Punjabi Sikh name from Sanskrit
  4. Kokumo Under 5 in 2025: Will not die again; Yoruba àbíkú name
  5. Kumapayi Under 5 in 2025: Death should not kill this one; Yoruba
  6. Kosoko Under 5 in 2025: No more hoes to dig a grave; Yoruba àbíkú name
  7. Durosinmi Under 5 in 2025: Stay to bury me; Yoruba, a wish for a long life
  8. Malomo Under 5 in 2025: Do not go again; Yoruba plea for a child to stay
  9. Banjoko Under 5 in 2025: Sit with me till old age; Yoruba àbíkú name
  10. Durojaiye Under 5 in 2025: Stay and enjoy the world; Yoruba àbíkú name

Greek and Roman gods of death

The rulers of the underworld, the Fates who cut the thread of life and the spirits who carried souls away.

  1. Thanatos: Greek for death; the gentle personification of dying
  2. Hades: Greek god of the dead and ruler of the underworld
  3. Persephone: Greek queen of the underworld, who returns to earth each spring
  4. Charon: Ferryman who rows the dead across the underworld river
  5. Keres: Greek spirits of violent death; ker means doom
  6. Atropos: Greek for unturning; the Fate who cuts the thread of life
  7. Mors: Latin for death; the Roman personification of death
  8. Morta: Roman Fate of death, who cut the thread of life
  9. Pluto: Roman god of the dead; from Greek Plouton, the wealthy one
  10. Dis Pater: Roman underworld god; Latin for rich father
  11. Orcus: Roman god of the underworld who punished broken oaths
  12. Proserpina: Roman queen of the underworld, the match of Persephone
  13. Libitina: Roman goddess of funerals and burial

Norse, Celtic and Slavic death names

Northern Europe pictured death as a goddess, a band of battle maidens or a cart creaking down a lane at night.

  1. Hel: Norse ruler of the dead; her realm shares her name
  2. Valkyrie: Old Norse for chooser of the slain; Odin's battlefield maidens
  3. Rán: Norse sea goddess who gathers the drowned in her net
  4. Morana: Slavic goddess of winter and death; from a root meaning death
  5. Kalma: Finnish personification of death and the grave; kalma is a poetic word for death
  6. Tuoni: Finnish god of death and lord of Tuonela
  7. Ankou: Breton figure of death who gathers souls in a creaking cart
  8. Arawn: Welsh king of Annwn, the otherworld, in the Mabinogion
  9. Morrígan: Irish goddess of war and fate who foretells death in battle
  10. Banshee: Irish bean sí, woman of the fairy mound, who wails before a death

Gods of death from Egypt, Asia and the Americas

Judges of souls, guides to the afterlife and rulers of the land of the dead from around the world.

  1. Anubis: Egyptian jackal-headed god of embalming and tombs
  2. Osiris: Egyptian god of the afterlife and judge of the dead
  3. Ammit: Egyptian devourer of the dead, who ate unworthy hearts
  4. Nephthys: Egyptian goddess who mourned and protected the dead
  5. Yama: Hindu god of death; in the Vedas, the first mortal to die
  6. Enma: Japanese king of hell who judges the dead; from Yama
  7. Izanami: Japanese creator goddess who became ruler of the land of the dead
  8. Shinigami: Japanese death god, from shi, death, and kami, god; a mostly modern idea
  9. Yanluo: Chinese king of the underworld who judges every soul
  10. Meng Po: Chinese Lady Meng, who serves the soup of forgetting
  11. Ereshkigal: Sumerian queen of the underworld; queen of the great earth
  12. Nergal: Mesopotamian god of plague, war and the underworld
  13. Mot: Ugaritic for death; the Canaanite god who ruled the underworld
  14. Mictlantecuhtli: Aztec lord of Mictlan, the land of the dead
  15. Mictecacihuatl: Aztec lady of the dead and queen of Mictlan
  16. Hine-nui-te-pō: Māori goddess of death; great woman of the night
  17. Baron Samedi: Haitian Vodou spirit of the dead; French for Baron Saturday
  18. Erlik: Turkic and Mongol god of death and the underworld
  19. Azrael: Angel of death in Islamic lore and later Jewish writings; Hebrew, God has helped

Underworld and afterlife names

The places the dead or the otherworld were said to be, from the halls of Valhalla to the rivers of the Greek underworld.

  1. Valhalla: Old Norse for hall of the slain, where Odin gathers fallen warriors
  2. Fólkvangr: Old Norse for field of the host, Freyja's meadow for the slain
  3. Helheim: Old Norse for home of Hel, the realm of the dead
  4. Elysium: Greek paradise where heroes rested after death
  5. Tartarus: Greek abyss below the underworld, prison of the Titans
  6. Styx: Greek river of the underworld; from a word meaning hate
  7. Lethe: Greek for forgetfulness; the river the dead drank to forget
  8. Acheron: Greek river of the underworld crossed by Charon's boat
  9. Asphodel: Greek meadows of pale flowers where ordinary souls wandered
  10. Duat: Egyptian realm of the dead, crossed by the sun each night
  11. Aaru: Egyptian Field of Reeds, the paradise of the blessed dead
  12. Mictlan: Nahuatl for place of the dead, the Aztec underworld
  13. Xibalba: Maya underworld of the Popol Vuh, ruled by lords of death
  14. Yomi: Japanese land of the dead, ruled by Izanami
  15. Tuonela: Finnish land of the dead, across a dark river guarded by a black swan
  16. Annwn: Welsh otherworld of feasting and eternal youth, ruled by Arawn. Say AN-oon
  17. Diyu: Chinese earth prison, where souls are judged and punished
  18. Irkalla: Mesopotamian underworld ruled by Ereshkigal

How to pick the right name

Choose the opposite meaning for a baby

Names that mean death are heavy for a child. Athanasia, Ambrose, Amar and Anastasia carry the same theme in a hopeful way: immortal, undying and risen again.

Save the gods for stories

Thanatos, Hel, Anubis and Mictlantecuhtli make memorable names for characters, villains, game avatars and dark-themed pets, where the story behind the name is part of the fun.

Respect living traditions

Yoruba àbíkú names, Baron Samedi and Azrael belong to living faiths and cultures. Read the story behind a name before you borrow it, and use it with care.

Check the meaning, not the mood

Many names that sound dark have gentle meanings, and some gentle-sounding names hide a dark one. Use the notes on this page to check the meaning and origin before you decide.

Names that mean death: 94 ideas from Nomezo

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Names that mean death, checked: the dark names US parents now use, the ones that only sound deadly, and the stories behind them

By The Nomezo Editors · Updated October 26, 2026 · How we research names

Death and underworld names are showing up on real babies: 421 US boys were named Azrael in 2025, its best rank ever, and 372 girls were named Persephone. Several names sold as death names do not mean it, though: Mara is Hebrew for bitter and Malachi means my messenger.

Every entry on this page says what the name means or who the figure was. The finder above narrows the names by section, length or first letter, and the tags show the 2025 US count of the real given names.

  1. Step 1Pick a kind of nameA real given name, a god or a place.
  2. Step 2Check the meaningMara is bitter, not death.
  3. Step 3See real useAzrael went to 421 US boys in 2025.
  4. Step 4Respect the storyÀbíkú names come from loss.

Names often called death names, and what they mean

Names listed elsewhere as meaning death
NameWhat it really means
MaraHebrew for bitter, the name Naomi takes in her grief; the Buddhist Mara is a different word
MalachiHebrew for my messenger or my angel
ThanaArabic for praise
MorticiaCoined by Charles Addams for the 1964 TV series, inspired by mortician
MortimerOld French for dead water or still water, from a place in Normandy

Sources: Behind the Name: Mara, Malachi, Thana, Mortimer; Wikipedia: Morticia Addams.

Death and underworld names on US babies

Names from death myths among US babies, 2025
NameUS babies, 2025Trend
Mara499 girls (No. 589)Near its 2021 high of 568
Azrael421 boys (No. 656)Its best rank ever
Persephone372 girlsDown from 429 in 2022
Osiris200 boysDown from 244 in 2020
Valkyrie101 girlsDown from 153 in 2022
Morrigan63 girlsDown from 69 in 2023
Hades43 boysIts most ever
MortimerFewer than 5 boysMost in 1916, with 91

Source: US Social Security Administration, births 1880 to 2025. Thanatos, the Greek word for death, has appeared only once, with 7 boys in 2018.

Stories behind the names

  • Azrael is not in the Bible. The Hebrew Bible does not mention an angel named Azrael; in Islam he is the angel of death, identified with the Quran's Malak al-Mawt (Wikipedia).
  • Àbíkú names ask a child to stay. Àbíkú is Yoruba for one who is born to die, a spirit blamed for a child dying young, and parents gave names like Kokumo, it will not die again, to coax the child into staying (Wikipedia). Treat them with care.
  • Morana is a real name. The Croatian girl's name Morana comes from Old Slavic morŭ, death or plague, and was the name of a Slavic goddess of winter and death (Behind the Name).

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What name means death?

Thanatos is the Greek word for death and Mot means death in Ugaritic. Among names used today, Mortimer contains Old French mort, dead, and the Croatian name Morana comes from a Slavic root meaning death.

What girl names mean death?

Very few. Morana, a Croatian name from an Old Slavic word for death or plague and the Slavic goddess of winter and death, is the closest real example. Most families choose a name with the opposite meaning, such as Athanasia (immortal) or Anastasia (resurrection).

What is the Greek god of death called?

Thanatos is the personification of death, while Hades rules the underworld with his queen, Persephone. The Keres were spirits of violent death, and Charon ferried souls across the underworld river.

What name means immortal?

Athanasia and Athanasios (Greek), Ambrose (Greek), Amar, Amrit and Amrita (Sanskrit) all mean immortal. Khalid and Khalida (Arabic) mean eternal.

What does Mortimer mean?

Mortimer comes from Mortemer, a place in Normandy, and means dead water or still water in Old French. It became an English surname after the Norman Conquest and later a given name.

Does Mara mean death?

Not the given name. Mara is Hebrew for bitter, the name Naomi takes after losing her husband and sons in the Book of Ruth. The Buddhist Mara, a demon whose name comes from Sanskrit for causing death, is a different word. 499 US girls were named Mara in 2025.

Is Azrael used as a baby name?

Increasingly. Azrael, the angel of death in Islamic lore, whose name means God has helped, went to 421 US boys in 2025, its highest rank ever.

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