Gothic Victorian Names for Girls

Helena

Latinate form of Helen, Greek

"torch; shining light"

Helena is one of those classic names that just misses making the US Top 1000 girl names for its entire history, falling off for a single year in 1992. Since then it's been drifting lazily up the…

Esmeralda

Spanish and Portuguese

"emerald"

Esmeralda came into use as an applied use of the Spanish word for emerald, esmeralda . In the 1831 Victor Hugo novel Notre-Dame de Paris , also known as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame , the heroine was…

Demetria

Greek, alternate form of Demeter

Demetria is a dramatic ancient Greek earth goddess possibility with the star-studded nickname Demi. Young actor/singer/songwriter Demi Lovato was born Demetria, but contrary to common hearsay, Demi…

Desdemona

Greek

"ill-starred"

Desdemona is as Shakespearean as a name can be, but because the beautiful and innocent wife of Othello came to such a tragic end, her name has been avoided for centuries. But at this point in time,…

Drusilla

Latin

"fruitful"

Drusilla is an ancient Roman name, (probably) borne by descendants of Antony and Cleopatra, and is one of the 'illa' names that are ready for a comeback, especially with its cute short form Dru.…

Melvina

Celtic

"chieftain"

Melvina ranked in the Top 1000 for over 65 years in the US, coinciding to a large extent with the years its much more popular masculine counterpart Melvin ranked in the Top 100. Today, Melvin is…

Violetta

Italian, Russian and Hungarian variation of Violet, English

"purple"

With Violet in vogue, this vibrant international variation has been on the rise since the 2010s. Vintage and floral like its more popular sister, Violetta has a slightly softer sound and a touch of…