Cultures throughout the world offer a remarkable range of beautiful names that mean death; encouraging children to celebrate the memory of a dearly departed loved one or reflect on the natural, inevitable transience of life.
Death has always been seen as synonymous with life itself, as confirmed by the world’s greatest thinkers and philosophers.
The ancient Hindu masterpiece, the Bhagavad-gita, reminds us that, “For one who is born, death is certain; therefore, when confronted with life’s doubts and fears, do not lament.”
Whatever your reason might be for looking for names that mean death, we invite you to browse through the list we’ve compiled from various countries. Hopefully, it will inspire you to find the one that your precious newborn will come to love and embrace for a lifetime!
Female baby names
- Angrboda — [Norse] “foreboder of sorrow”
- Amithi — [Hindi] “the end”
- Anahita — [Persian] “goddess of the underworld”
- Ananta — [Sanskrit] “infinite” or “endless”
- Aniruddhi — [Sanskrit] “irrepressible” or “unstoppable”
- Atropos — [Greek] “the inevitable”
- Cailleach — [Celtic] “old woman” or “veiled one”
- Carman — [Irish] “goddess of the underworld”
- Chellam — [Tamil] “the end”
- Ereshkigal — [Sumerian] “queen of the underworld”
- Hine-nui-te-pō — [Maori] “great woman of night”
- Kali — [Hindi] “black” or “time”
- Keres — [Greek] “death spirits”
- Maman Brigitte — [Haitian Vodou] “loa of the dead”
- Mara — [Sanskrit] “destroyer” or “death”
- Morrigan — [Irish] “goddess of death”
- Niflheim — [Norse] “mist home” or “mist world”
- Nirvana — [Sanskrit] “blowing out”
- Nyx — [Greek] “goddess of the night”
- Persephone — [Greek] “bringer of death”
- Phoebe — [Greek] “bright” or “radiant”
- Saki — [Japanese] “blossom of hope” or “the end”
- Santa Muerte — [Mexican folk religion] “saint of death”
- Sekhmet — [Egyptian] “goddess of death and destruction”
- Shima — [Japanese] “island” or “the end”
- Terminus — [Latin] “boundary” or “the end”
- Tiamat — [Babylonian] “goddess of the underworld”
- Vanth — [Etruscan] “underworld goddess”
- Xibalba — [Mayan] “place of fear” or “underworld”
- Yasmina — [Arabic] “jasmine flower” or “the end of suffering”
Male baby names
- Acheron — [Greek] “river of woe”
- Angra — [Persian] “lord of the underworld”
- Ansh — [Hindi] “a part of”
- Ayinla — [African] “the end has come”
- Belial — [Hebrew] “lord of the underworld”
- Chetan — [Hindi] “consciousness” or “soul”
- Cronus — [Greek] “time”
- Dis — [Roman] “god of the underworld”
- Ender — [Turkish] “very rare”
- Erebus — [Greek] “darkness of the underworld”
- Fimbar — [Sindarin] “the end”
- Finis — [Latin] “the end”
- Hades — [Greek] “the unseen”
- Hel — [Norse] “the underworld”
- Jezreel — [Hebrew] “God sows”
- Kalma — [Finnish] “death”
- Kokytos — [Greek] “river of lamentation”
- Morpheus — [Greek] “god of dreams”
- Nergal — [Babylonian] “god of death”
- Orcus — [Roman] “god of the underworld”
- Pluto — [Roman] “god of the underworld”
- Sammael — [Hebrew] “venom of God”
- Seneca — [Native American] “place of stones”
- Set — [Egyptian] “god of chaos”
- Styx — [Greek] “river of hate”
- Tartarus — [Greek] “abyss”
- Thanatos — [Greek] “death”
- Umair — [Arabic] “long-lived” or “the end of life”
- Yama — [Hindu] “god of death”
- Zalmoxis — [Thracian] “god of the underworld and rebirth”
- Zephyr — [Greek] “west wind”
Unisex baby names
- An — [Chinese] “to be ended or finished”
- Dara — [Hebrew] “ending,”
- Gwynedd — [Welsh] “white grave”
- Jabin — [Hebrew] “God has made things end”
- Kaifeng — [Chinese] “completion” or “ending”
- Mukta — [Sanskrit] “liberated”
- Nishtha — [Sanskrit] “end” or “completion”
- Seshat — [Egyptian] “goddess of the end of life”
- Telos — [Greek] “end” or “purpose”
- Tzaphkiel — [Hebrew] “angel of the end of the world”
- Uziel — [Hebrew] “God is my strength,” and end of times
- Zayin — [Hebrew] “sword” and the end of battles.