Superstition has taught us that black cats are signs of misfortune and death. In the Middle Ages, black cats were believed to be witches in disguise and witches’ familiars. They were also linked with the Black Death — a 14th-century pandemic that killed at least 25 million people. Folded into modern Halloween symbols, black cats have a wicked reputation. But in reality, these “miniature panthers” are as sweet (and salty) as any other cat.
In some parts of the world, black cats attract good luck. For instance, if a black cat appears on your doorstep in Scotland, you will become wealthy and successful. Hearing a black cat sneeze in Italy is taken as a sign that great things are to come. The French call black cats ‘matagots’ or ‘magician cats’ and believe that something magical will happen if you treat them well. In Northern Europe, adopting a black cat guarantees fair winds and following seas.
Black cats stay in shelters 2 to 6 days longer than cats with other coat colors. But they have still pawed their way into celebrities’ hearts. John Lennon and Yoko Ono owned a black cat named Salt. And Frank Zappa had a dark-colored feline called Marshmoff. Mark Twain named his black cat Bambino, while Jane Fonda called her black cat Snickers.
Have you fallen in love with a panther-esque cat? From classic to magical, here are 200+ names that will match your black cat’s slick dark fur.
Table of Contents
Male Black Cat Names
These male black cat names are inspired by nature, magic, and mayhem.
A
Aadhar — Darkness
Alaric — Universal ruler
Ankoku — Blackness
Asher — Happy, blessed
Astrophel — Star lover
Astaroth — The Great Duke of Hell and part of the evil trinity with Beelzebub and Lucifer
Athan — Immortal
Azrael — The angel of destruction and renewal
B
Bazil — King; also a Mediterranean herb used in love magic and divination
Badru — Born during the full moon
Betelgeuse (pronounced Beetlejuice) — The 10th brightest star in the night sky (the right shoulder of the constellation Orion)
Betzalel — In the shadow of God
Binx — The black cat from Disney’s 1993 American fantasy comedy horror film Hocus Pocus
Bran — Raven; the Celtic god of death
C
Ciaran — Dark
Cole — Swarthy, coal-black
Colton — From the coal, dark town
Corbin — Crow
D
Dade — Dark one, exploited
Daku — Dark
Damien — Untamed
Dante — Enduring, everlasting
Dinsmore — Dark moor
Dorian — Gift; a young man who sells his soul to the Devil for eternal youth and beauty from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray
Douglas — Black river
Draven — Child of the shadows
Draco — Huge dragon; also the 8th largest constellation in the night sky
Duncan — Dark warrior
Dyrk — One who admires nighttime
E
Elatha — Art, knowledge; the god of the Moon in Irish mythology
G
Golgotha — Skull
Grimshaw — Dark woods
H
Hades — Greek God of the Underworld
Hari — Dark, tawny
Hiei — Flying shadow
Houdini — To appear, vanish; also Harry Houdini, a Hungarian-born American magician famous for his death-defying escapes
Howl — To cry out loud; also the self-indulgent and insecure young wizard in the fantasy novel Howl's Moving Castle by British author Diana Wynne Jones
I
Ingram — Raven of peace
J
Jack — God is gracious
Jet — A velvety black gemstone
K
Kage — Shadow
Keir — Dark, black
L
Lennon — Blackbird
Lucifer — Bearer of light
M
Maverick — An unorthodox or independent-minded person
Morris — Dark-skinned
N
Nigel — Dark, black-haired
Noir — Black
O
Orpheus — The darkness of the night
Osiris — The Egyptian god of the underworld
Orion — Hunter in Greek mythology; also a famous constellation located on the celestial equator
Q
Quillon — Crossing swords, strong
R
Ransley — Raven meadow
Reito — Beautiful, dark moon
Renwick — Raven settlement
Rigel — The 7th brightest star in the night sky (the left leg of the constellation Orion)
S
Sirius — Friend of God; also the brightest star in the night sky
Shiva — The Hindu god of destruction; also part of the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma, the creator, and Vishnu, the preserver
Smoky — Smoke-filled
Severus — Stern, harsh; also the Potions Master, Defense Against The Dark Arts, and Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
T
Thanatos — The personification of death in Greek mythology
Tsuki — Moon
Tsukikage — Moonbeams
V
Vader — Father; also the main villain of the popular science fiction franchise Star Wars
Volkan — Volcano
Y
Yama — The Hindu god of death
Yami — Dark
Z
Zalaam — Darkness
Zalaph — Shadow
Zero — Void
Zorro — Fox; the masked Mexican hero created by pulp fiction author Johnston McCulley in 1919
Female Black Cat Names
These female black cat names pay homage to ancient underworld goddesses, twisted fairy tales, and the dark side of mother nature.
A
Achlys — The Greek goddess of everlasting night and the mist of death
Adreanna — Darkness
Aloka — Shadow
Amaris — Child of the moon
Amaya — Night rain
Aradia — The Italian goddess of the moon and queen of the witches
Aruna — Moon love
Aspen— Quaking tree
B
Bastet — The lower Egyptian goddess of the home, domesticity, women's secrets, cats, fertility, and childbirth
Belladonna — Beautiful woman; Deadly nightshade
Bellatrix — Female warrior
Bonnie — Pretty, attractive; also a very powerful witch and one of the main female characters on the CW's The Vampire Diaries
Blair — Battlefield
Branwen — Beautiful raven
C
Cassandra — Unheeded prophetess; also the daughter of King Priam and Trojan prophetess that foresaw the fall of Troy in Homer's 'The Iliad'
Ciara — Little dark one
Circe — The Greek goddess of sorcery
Celeste — Heavenly
Chhaya — The Hindu goddess of shadows
Clio — Glory
D
Dahlia — Valley flower; also the national flower of Mexico named after Swedish botanist Anders Dahl
Danika — Morning star
Drusilla — Prophecy
E
Ebony — Deep black wood
Eris — The Greek goddess of strife and discord
Eleena — Shining in the darkness
Elvira — Truth
Esmeray — Dark moon
G
Glinda — The good witch of the North in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz
H
Hecate — The Greek goddess of magic and witchcraft
Hel — The Norwegian goddess of death
Hermione — Messenger, earthly; also the main female witch in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
Hesperia — Evening star
I
Izanami — The Japanese goddess of death and queen of the underworld
J
Jocasta — Shining moon
Jemisha — Queen of the night
K
Kali— The Hindu goddess of death and destruction (Sanskrit: “She Who Is Black” or “She Who Is Death”)
Kalma — The Finnish god of death and decay (Finnish: “The stench of corpses”)
Kanika — Black cloth
Keket — The Egyptian goddess of darkness
Kiera — Little dark one
Kindle — Set fire, to glow
L
Lamia — An evil witch-queen in the 2007 fantasy movie Stardust; also a Greek monster with the head and breast of a woman and the body of a serpent
Laylah — Night
Leanira (pronounced ley-ah-NEE-ra)— Black butterfly
Lilith — Ghost, night monster
Lisha — Darkness before midnight
Livana — Lunar
Lorelei — Enchantress
Lucinda — Light; also Samantha’s black cat familiar in the 1964 TV show Bewitched
Luna — Moon
M
Magena — Moon
Maleficent — Doing evil or harm; also the evil fairy godmother in Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault
Medora — Ruler
Mei — Dark
Melantha — Dark flower
Melaina — Dusky
Melanie — Someone who is covered by shadows
Miyako — Beautiful night child
Morrigan — Irish goddess of death, destiny, and war (Irish for “Phantom Queen”)
Moriah — The hill country; also a large black cat in the 1974 World Fantasy Award-winning novel The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
N
Naenia – The Roman goddess of funerals
Nisha — Darkness of the night
O
Orenda — Magical powers
P
Pandora — All-giving
Persephone— The goddess queen of the underworld and wife of Hades in Greek mythology
R
Rosemary — Dew of the sea; also a Mediterranean herb that's used to ward off evil spirits and witches
S
Sabrina — Welsh Goddess of the River Severn
Sage — Wise; also a Mediterranean herb used to purify and cleanse a religious space
Samara — Guardian, protected by God
Sauda — Dark Beauty
Sombra — Shade
Stella — Celestial Star
Sukie — Lily; also a mild-mannered and tender-hearted witch from John Updike's 1984 fantasy novel The Witches of Eastwick
Sybil — Oracle
T
Turaya — Star
Tia — The goddess of peaceful deaths in Haida mythology
U
Umbra — Shadow
Ursula — Bear; also the evil sea witch in Disney's 1989 feature film The Little Mermaid
V
Valonia — Shadow Valley
Vespera — Of the evening
W
Willow — Willow tree; also an extremely powerful teenage witch on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Winnifred — Holy, blessed; also the head of the Sanderson witches in Disney's 1993 cult classic Hocus Pocus
Winter — Time of water
X
Xena — Guest, stranger
Z
Zelda — Gray battle
Zila — Shadow
Gender Neutral Cat Names
These unisex Black cat names draw inspiration from astronomy, pop culture, Gothic short stories, and ancient death gods.
A
Ash — Ash tree, happy
Altair — The brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle and the 12th brightest star in the night sky
B
Bambino — The black cat of American author and humorist Mark Twain
Blackwell — Dark stream
Blackberry — Fruit of the bramble
Blackie — One that is black
Blake — Fair-haired, dark
Blakeney — From the black island
C
Church —The black cat from Stephen King’s Pet Sematary
Chocolate — A food made from cacao beans
Cinder — Hot ashes
Coffee — A brewed drink made from roasted coffee beans
Comet — A head with long hair
D
Dade — Dark one
Darcy — Dark one, from Arcy, from the fortress
Delaney — Dark challenger
Donaver — Brown black
Draven — Child of the shadows
Dublin — Black Pool
Dusk — Sunset
E
Echo — Reflected sound
Eclipse — The hiding of any heavenly body by another
Elphaba (pronounced El-pha-ba) — The name of the wicked witch of the West in the 2003 Broadway musical Wicked
F
Fabre — Blacksmith
Fate — One of great destiny, faith
Friday —Day of Frigga, the Norwegian goddess of marriage, love, and destiny and wife of Odin
G
Ghost — Breath, good or bad spirit
Gypsy— Wanderer
H
Hastie — Speedy; from the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
I
Inali — Black fox
J
Jiji — The black cat from Hayao Miyazaki's 1989 animated film Kiki’s Delivery Service
Jinx — Wicked spell
Jupiter — The supreme god
K
Keir — Black
Kyran — Black
L
Lethe — River of forgetfulness in Greek mythology
Licorice — A black-colored sweet made from the extract of the roots of the licorice plant Glycyrrhiza glabra
M
Mage — Learned magician
Mahogany — Dark wood
Midnight — The middle of the night
Moonshine — The light of the moon
Mugwort — A Eurasian perennial herb that's used for healing, divination, and dreaming
N
Nebula — Mist
Nightshade — Shade of night
Nightmare — Terrifying dream
Nimbus — Dark cloud
Ninja — Oneskilled in stealth
Nirvana — Bliss
Nova — New; also the exploding surface of a white dwarf star
Nox — Night
O
Obsidian — Black volcanic glass
Olive — Olive tree; also the longtime love interest of Popeye the Sailor Man
Omen — Faithful; also a sign or warning of something good or bad that will happen in the future
Onyx — Deep black gemstone
Ouija — Spirit board
P
Patchouli (pronounced puh-choo-lee) — A bushy, tropical herb that's associated with love, wealth, and sexual power
Pennyroyal — A toxic herb that's carried to ward off the "evil eye" in American folk magic and Hoodoo
Pepper — Hot spice
Panther — Puma concolor, the largest of the small wildcats
Phoenix — From the ashes
Pluto — The black cat from Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Black Cat
R
Raven — Blackbird
S
Sable — Black
Salem — Complete, peaceful; also Sabrina Spellman’s black cat familiar in Netflix’sChilling Adventures of Sabrina
Samhain — Halloween
Shadow — Shade from the sun
Stardust — Dust made of stars
Storm — Tempest
Styx — One of the rivers of the Greek underworld
Sullivan — Black-eyed one
T
Tamala — Dark tree
Twilight — The time between dawn and sunrise, or between sunset and dusk
V
Vega — Dweller in the meadow; also the 5th brightest star in the night sky
W
Wednesday — Day of Woden, the Norwegian god of death and war; alsothe only daughter in the dark comedy The Addams Family by American cartoonist Charles Addams
Y
Yarrow — A plant used in courage, healing, or love spells
Yin — In the shade
Z
Zil — Shadow