Updated November 2023
Across 2 pages
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English
"swarthy, coal black"
Cole -- a short name that embodies a lot of richness and depth -- has long been associated with the great songwriter Cole Porter. It's quite popular in Scotland. Old King Cole -- which refers to a…
Sanskrit, English
"black one; free man; beauty"
Kali is a number of different things: a playful, contemporary twist on the name Callie; the Hindu goddess of destruction; an alternative spelling for Kaylee; a short form of the Arablic Kalila, the…
Scottish
"black water"
Douglas, and more particularly its nickname, Doug, had a real romantic swagger in the 1950s and 1960s dating back to swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks, but today is more likely to conjure up your mom's…
Spanish and Greek variation of Melanie
"black"
The current wife of Donald Trump, Slovenian model Melania Knauss, brought this pretty version to the fore. Saint Melania was an heiress who freed thousands of enslaved people.
Spanish from Arabic
"hidden river, valley of the wolves"
Popular Spanish name that relates to the patron saint of Mexico. It could conceivably, like Soledad and Consuelo, cross the border into multicultural territory, but the name's decline since the…
Sanskrit
"dark, black"
Krishna is the name of a supreme Hindu god, and is often found in Hindu families. While it leans masculine, it is also given to girls, and a survey of names back in 2014 revealed the split was around…
An attractive and now underused nature name belonging to a tree whose wood is prized for its dark color and dense texture, which shines when polished. Ebony joined the most popular girl names list in…
Irish
Carey is a surname name that works equally well on babies of all genders: Jazz great Carey Bell and motorcross champion Carey Hart are just two examples of how handsome this name can be for a boy.…
Krishna, in Hindu tradition, was the human incarnation of the god Vishnu, a heroic figure representing love, protection, tenderness and joy. Meaning "dark, black, dark blue" in from Sanskrit, Krishna…
"black stranger"
An Irish surname possibility for those who like Daley, Royal, Dougal, and Dolan, though it may sound too much like doily to catch on for modern boys. Nevertheless, it was fairly well used in the 20th…
Cherokee
"black fox"
One of three Cherokee names with the same meaning, along with Inali and Enoli, both male names.
Scottish, Irish
"marsh, thicket; fort; dark, black"
Keir is a single-syllable name that packs a punch, but also has a endearing quality about it thanks to its similarity to the word care . Sometimes used as a short form of the more popular Kieran, it…
African, Mwera
"black cloth"
Energetic choice that bounces off the tongue.
Yiddish
Popular name in Israel, worth considering for a dark-haired daughter with a bit of a bohemian cast.
Short form of Douglas, Scottish
Dougie is one of those names that spotlights the huge gulf that can exist between US and UK naming trends. In England and Wales, Dougie is a trendy nickname-name, ranking all the way up at Number…
Azerbaijani
The unusual Q initial gives this name an air of mystery.
Swahili place name from Persian
"black coast"
Zanzibar is an island region off the coast of Tanzania. It's never been recorded as a baby name, but for those with a connection to Zanzibar, it's an intriguing and unique option chock full of zesty…
Old Norse
"black eyebrows"
Originally an epithet for someone with dark eyebrows, Kolbrún is now in the Icelandic Top 50. Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir is an Icelandic politician.
Variation of Kali, Sanskrit
"black one"
Kalika derives from the name of Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. It appears in the book series The Last Vampire .
Now a mostly-male name, in its earliest incarnation Douglas was used equally for girls and boys and could certainly make a comeback as one of the new boy names for girls" .