Dark Academia Names

Ludwig may be out, but Ludovico is very very in, at least in Italy. Undiscovered in the US and other English-speaking countries, Ludovico comes with the short form Ludo. The female form Ludovica is also popular.

Leontine is the French form of a name that's more familiar by its spelling variation Leontyne, the name made famous by opera diva Price. An obscure choice, Leontine nevertheless feels right for our lion-name-crazed moment.

Admirers of the haunting works of esteemed Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats might consider this, especially as a middle name.

Xanthia gets this classic Greek name closer to the modern Cynthia, sometimes used as its Anglo equivalent.

Torquil, is a quirky but intriguing option that evolved from an ancient Scandinavian nameand was imported into Scotland by the Vikings. The Gaelic form of the name is Torcaill.

In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Marinell is a knight and the son of a water nymph. He is wounded in battle against the valiant female knight Britomart.

The name of a beautiful village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, Veryan actually derives from a series of misunderstandings: Sen Veryan ("Saint Veryan") is a Cornish corruption of Severian, which is itself a corrupted form of the saint’s name Symphorian, to whom the village church at Veryan is dedicated.

Variation of Isolde, the name of a great Celtic heroine. The mononymous French singer Yseult is the most notable bearer today.

Variant of Artemas

The name of the character in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" whom the poet intended as a representation of Queen Elizabeth I. While it will no doubt thrill your daughter's English professor, the addition of the "Bel" to already great Phoebe is on the fussy side.

Rousseau gives French flair to other red-haired names like Russell and Rory. It is associated with the influential eighteenth century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as the painter Henri Rousseau.

Proserpine is the Roman equivalent of the goddess Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld in Greek myth.

Henriette is to Henri (or Henry) what Charlotte is to Charles. Yet this elegant French name is surprisingly rare in the States.

The French spin on the name of the great Homeric hero with the vulnerable heel seems somewhat more portable into the modern world.

Clarimond is related to the Occitan name Esclarmonde, and is probably the more wearable of the two variations.

Tatjana is an interesting twist on an already uncommon name, borne by German-born supermodel Tatjana Patitz. Note that as j is pronounced as y in German, the name is spoken just like sisters Tatiana and Tatyana.

Variation of Pharamond.

Ursula, while beautiful, still carries a whiff of the Disney sea witch. Perhaps Ursuline smells a bit sweeter?

On one hand, Saturnine is a bright and golden French name, ultimately derived from the Roman God Saturn, associating it with agriculture, renewal, time, and abundance, along with the planet. On the other, it is an English word name, referring to a person, a place, or an occasion that is dark, sombre, and gloomy.

A Scottish variant of Dougal, Dugald is also a Harry Potter name. In fact, there are not one but two characters name Dugald in the Harry Potter books.