It’s time to drag names that mean shadow into the light. You might not have considered shadow names an obvious choice, but who wants the obvious when it comes to your little bundle of joy?
And you’re not alone! Many ancient cultures and civilizations have embraced names meaning shadow. They worshiped dark gods, practiced shadowy ceremonies in tribute to their deities, and offered thanks to try and curry favor.
We shine a spotlight on names that mean shadow and explain their significance to help your naming journey take a dark turn.
Table of Contents
26 Goulish Girl Names That mean Shadow
Forget sugar and spice and all things nice; these girl names are brimming with darkness.
- Adrianna – from the Latin Hadrianus, meaning “from Adria” and “dark.”
- Ahma – such a pretty Japanese name meaning “black rain.”
- Andhera – a beautiful female Urdu name meaning “shades.”
- Bruna – this German female name means “brown” and “dark-haired.”
- Chhaya – a cool Hindi name meaning “giving shelter, protection” and “shadow.”
- Ebony – with Latin origins, this unusual name means “deep black wood.”
- Hamutal – an edgy Hebrew girl’s name meaning “the shadow of his heat.”
- Kasumi – is of Japanese origin, meaning “mist” and “shadow.”
- Leila – this Arabic name made famous in a song means “night” and “dark.”
- Lilith – this Mesopotamian mythical name means “belonging to the night.”
- Mdima – a Northwestern African name meaning “dark” and “shadow.”
- Melaina – a variant of the Greek Melanie, meaning “dark-skinned” and “black.”
- Melanie – is derived from ancient Greek meaning “blackness.”
- Moriti – derived from the African Sesotho dialect meaning “shadow.”
- Nisha – this cute girl’s name means “night.”
- Ombretta – this unusual Italian name means “shadow, shade,” and “beyond a shadow.”
- Oscurita – another Latin/Italian name meaning “darkness” and “obscurity.”
- Pouri – this Moari name means “sad, regret, darkness,” and “grief.”
- Senka – the first Serbian entry meaning “shadow.”
- Shyama – a Sanskrit name meaning “cloud, black, shadow,” and “goddess Kali.”
- Skia – of Greek origin, meaning “pertaining to shade” and “darkness.”
- Sombra – a pretty Spanish girl’s name meaning “shadow.”
- Tama – this Croatian name means “darkness.”
- Tari – in Albanian Arabic, Tari means “one who pounds the door at night.”
- Tzilla – of Hebrew origin, meaning “shade.”
- Zylah – derived from the Hebrew Zillah, meaning “shadow.”
33 Brilliant Boy Names That Mean Shadow
Let’s hear it for the badass boys.
- Abaddon – this biblical Hebrew name means “destruction” and “realm of the dead.”
- Aeron – a classic Celtic name describing the “god of battle and death.”
- Ahriman – this Persian (Iranian) name means “evil spirit.”
- Anpu – not strictly a “shadow” meaning, but this Egyptian name means “god of the dead.”
- Araysh – a unique Muslim name meaning “overshadower.”
- Betzalel – this Hebrew name means “in God’s shadow.”
- Blagdan – possibly of English origin, meaning “shadowy valley.”
- Bukki – a descriptive biblical name meaning “void” and “emptied.”
- Cethin – this cool Welsh male name means “dusky, dark” and “resembling a shadow.”
- Chaiyn – an alternate name for Lord Krishna, who is “the color of a shadow.”
- Ciaran – of Scottish and Gaelic descent, meaning “little dark one.”
- Dargan – a masculine Irish name meaning “black-haired.”
- Devroop – a cool Hindu name meaning “shadow of God.”
- Donovan – of Irish origin, meaning “dark” and “brown-haired chieftain.”
- Drake – a shadowy mythological name describing a “dragon” or “a serpent.”
- Draven – this dark comic character’s name means “child of the shadows” and “the raven.”
- Druvish – the meaning of Druvish is the “shadow of Lord Shiva.”
- Duncan – a typically Scottish name meaning “dark-skinned warrior.”
- Eodum – our first Korean entry means “shade” and “shadow.”
- Erebus – an edgy Greek demon whose name means “god of darkness” and “son of chaos.”
- Grimshaw – some names meaning shadow are last names – means “dark wood.”
- Kage – this trendy Japanese boy’s name means “shadow.”
- Kardama – some girl names that mean shadow are from Sanskrit – means “shade” and “covered in mud.”
- Mohandas – this unusual Japanese surname means “full moon.”
- Niratap – a wonderfully descriptive Bengali name meaning “one filled with shade and shadow.”
- Ozul – is a short and sweet Hebrew name for a nightwalker, meaning “shadow.”
- Siyahi – this Muslim name means “ink, blemish,” and “darkness.”
- Tenebris – some names that mean shadow are Latin – means “darkness” and “the night itself.”
- Tirich – this Iranian/Pashto name means “a shadow or darkness.”
- Tywyll – a handful of boy names that mean shadow are Welsh – means “dark tunnel.”
- Varjo – a rare Finnish name meaning “shadows.”
- Wolf – this English nature-inspired name represents “cunning and courage.”
- Zalaam – a male Arabic name meaning “sadness” and “gloominess.”
10 Gender-Neutral Names That Mean Shadow
Regardless of gender, these mysterious names embrace the darkness perfectly.
- Ataringi – is a cute Maori name meaning “morning sky.”
- Ciemny – a lesser-known Polish name meaning “dark.”
- Erembour – an Arabic name describing a character from mythology who “rides shadows.”
- Eyphah – a rare Hebrew name meaning “shadow” and “swarthy.”
- Nox – the Roman goddess of the night, meaning “night.”
- Ohanzee – this Native American name means “shadow.”
- Sjena – is a unique Serbian-Croatian name meaning “dark.”
- Yami – of Sanskrit origin, meaning “dark.”
- Yinying – a descriptive Chinese name meaning “flickering light” and “twinkling glimmer.”
- Zil – the shortest of shadow names, meaning “shadow” in Arabic.
