400+ Witch Names
Every memorable witch begins with a name that sparks curiosity. Whether you are creating a mysterious character for a fantasy novel, choosing a name for a Halloween costume, naming a pet, or searching for inspiration for a magical story, the right choice can make all the difference. A witch’s name can suggest wisdom, beauty, mischief, darkness, or extraordinary power before the character even enters the scene. Some names sound charming and playful, while others carry an air of mystery that makes people wonder about the story behind them. Finding a name that captures exactly the atmosphere you want, however, can take more imagination than you might expect.
This collection brings together more than 400 witch names, covering a wide variety of personalities, themes, and meanings. You will discover cute witch names, good witch names, evil witch names, and unusual choices for anyone looking to move beyond familiar fantasy conventions. The collection also explores names inspired by mythology, folklore, literature, and historical accounts, giving you more than a collection of attractive words to choose from. Where relevant, names come with explanations of their meanings, origins, or cultural associations, helping you understand why a particular choice might suit your character or creative project. Whether you imagine a kind-hearted enchantress, a mysterious forest witch, or a powerful fictional sorceress, there are options to match different creative visions.
Witch names also have a fascinating connection to history, and some are associated with real people who were accused of witchcraft during periods of persecution. These historical accounts deserve careful treatment because many accused individuals suffered severe injustice. Understanding the difference between historical records, folklore, and fictional portrayals adds depth to the search for a meaningful name. As you explore the categories, you can select a favorite, combine different ideas, or use the name-building method near the end to create something entirely your own. With a little creativity, you can find a name that feels distinctive, memorable, and perfectly suited to the story you want to tell.
The History Behind Witch Names
Before you pick a name, it helps to know where the word came from. “Witch” traces back to the Old English wicce, a woman who practiced magic, and its masculine twin wicca. Scholars still argue about the deeper roots. “Warlock” has a nastier backstory: it grew out of wǣrloga, which meant oath-breaker. Not exactly a compliment.
Then there’s “sorceress,” which comes from the Latin sors, meaning lot or fate, because early sorcerers were people who cast lots. And “hex”? That one slipped into English from the German Hexe, the word for a witch.
The bigger story is darker. Between roughly the 1400s and the 1700s, witch hunts swept across Europe and its colonies, and commonly cited estimates put the number of people executed somewhere around 40,000 to 60,000. Most were ordinary women, plus a fair number of men. The Salem trials of 1692 and 1693 are the ones Americans know best: twenty people were executed, and several more died in jail.
Historical Witch Names and Their Stories
| Name | Who she was |
| Bridget Bishop | First person hanged in the Salem witch trials, on June 10, 1692. |
| Rebecca Nurse | Respected churchgoer in her seventies, hanged July 19, 1692, even though neighbors signed petitions for her. |
| Sarah Good | Hanged July 19, 1692. Her young daughter Dorcas, about four years old, was jailed too. |
| Tituba | Enslaved woman in Salem Village and one of the first three people accused in 1692. She confessed and was later released. |
| Giles Corey | Refused to enter a plea and was pressed to death on September 19, 1692. |
| Martha Corey | Giles Corey’s wife, hanged on September 22, 1692. |
| Mary Easty | Rebecca Nurse’s sister, hanged September 22, 1692, after writing a moving petition for the court. |
| Agnes Waterhouse | One of the first women executed for witchcraft in England, at Chelmsford in 1566. |
| Alice Kyteler | Accused in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1324. She escaped, but her maid Petronilla de Meath was burned. |
| Agnes Sampson | Scottish healer tried in the North Berwick witch trials of 1590 and 1591, and executed. |
| Isobel Gowdie | Scottish woman whose vivid 1662 confessions are among the most famous in witchcraft history. |
| Anne Whittle | Known as “Old Demdike,” a Pendle witch of 1612 who died in prison before trial. |
| Anna Göldi | Swiss servant executed in 1782, often called the last woman executed for witchcraft in Europe. |
Look at that list again. No cauldrons, no pointy hats. Mostly neighbors, servants, midwives and widows who’d annoyed the wrong person. That’s useful to know if you’re writing fiction: the most believable witches often carry plain names like Rebecca, Sarah or Agnes, and the magic comes later.
What Makes a Great Witch Name?
There’s no rulebook, but the names that stick tend to share a few traits. Here’s what we look for.
- It sounds like the witch. Hard sounds (K, T, X, hard C) feel sharp and dangerous, like Bellatrix or Kestrel. Soft ones (L, W, long vowels) feel gentle, like Luna or Willow. Match the sound to the personality.
- It has a meaning you can explain. Readers love hearing that Circe’s name is linked to a falcon, or that Elphaba was built from L. Frank Baum’s initials. A tiny story makes a name feel earned.
- It’s easy to say. Fantasy fans are patient, but not infinitely so. If readers have to stop and sound a name out every time it appears, they’ll start skipping it.
- It fits the world. A medieval village witch called Brittani feels off. A modern coven with a Hester and a Saoirse feels right at home. Think about era and place.
- It isn’t already famous. Hermione is wonderful, and it’s taken. Borrow a name’s mood rather than the Monk names itself, unless you’re paying tribute on purpose.
- It has room to grow. The best witch names work for an eight-year-old and for an eighty-year-old, and that’s harder to pull off than it sounds.
Female Witch Names
Start here if you want the classics. Female witch names lean on goddesses, enchantresses and a handful of fictional icons, and the best ones carry a little history in the syllables. Hecate and Circe are older than almost anything else on this page. Morgana keeps showing up because nobody has ever managed to make her boring. The table gives meanings, and the grid after it is for when you’d rather scroll and let something jump out.
Female Witch Names With Meanings
| Name | Meaning / Origin |
| Morgana | Arthurian sorceress and half-sister of King Arthur; linked to the Welsh name Morgan, often read as “sea-born.” |
| Circe | Greek enchantress in the Odyssey who turns sailors into pigs. Her name is tied to the Greek word for falcon. |
| Hecate | Greek goddess of witchcraft, crossroads and the night. |
| Medea | Greek sorceress and priestess of Hecate; the name is linked to ideas of cunning and planning. |
| Selene | Greek goddess and personification of the moon. |
| Morrigan | Irish goddess of war and fate, often translated as “phantom queen.” |
| Seraphina | From the Hebrew seraphim, the “fiery ones.” |
| Raven | The bird itself, long tied to omens and dark magic. |
| Cerridwen | Welsh goddess who tends the cauldron of wisdom. |
| Lilith | Figure of Jewish folklore and Mesopotamian myth, often linked with night spirits. |
| Freya | Norse goddess whose name means “lady,” associated with seiðr, Norse magic. |
| Brigid | Irish goddess of poetry, healing and smithcraft; “exalted one.” |
| Minerva | Roman goddess of wisdom, and Professor McGonagall’s first name. |
| Calypso | Nymph who keeps Odysseus on her island; the name is often linked to “concealing.” |
| Endora | Samantha’s formidable mother in Bewitched, echoing the biblical Witch of Endor. |
| Nimue | Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legend, sometimes the sorceress who traps Merlin. |
| Elphaba | Coined from the initials of author L. Frank Baum (L-F-B); the green witch of Wicked. |
| Agatha | Greek for “good,” and the first name of Marvel’s Agatha Harkness. |
More Female Witch Names
| Adelaide | Alcina | Araminta | Belladonna |
| Calliope | Cordelia | Delphine | Eldora |
| Fiona | Gretel | Gwendolyn | Hester |
| Isolde | Jezebel | Kassandra | Lavinia |
| Lenore | Mabel | Magdalena | Nyx |
| Odette | Ophelia | Persephone | Petra |
| Quilla | Rhiannon | Rosalind | Sibyl |
| Tamara | Valeria | Vivienne | Wilhelmina |
| Xanthe | Yarrow | Zelda | Dahlia |
| Eugenia | Ilsa | Octavia | Saffron |
Male Witch Names
Witches aren’t only women, and honestly, the male side of this list is underused. “Warlock” has a rough reputation (remember the oath-breaker origin), so plenty of writers reach for wizard, sorcerer or simply “witch” for a man. Whatever word you choose, these Names That Mean Monster suit him. Some are pure fantasy. Others are old saints’ names that just happen to sound like trouble.
Male Witch Names With Meanings
| Name | Meaning / Origin |
| Merlin | The great wizard of Arthurian legend, from the Welsh Myrddin. |
| Gandalf | Tolkien’s wizard; the name comes from Old Norse and means roughly “wand-elf.” |
| Dumbledore | Old English dialect word for bumblebee, which is what J.K. Rowling said she had in mind. |
| Severus | Latin for “stern” or “severe.” It fits. |
| Alastor | Greek for “avenging spirit.” |
| Malachi | Hebrew for “my messenger.” |
| Ambrose | Greek for “immortal,” and a name tied to Merlin in some legends. |
| Prospero | Shakespeare’s sorcerer in The Tempest; Latin for “fortunate.” |
| Balthazar | Babylonian in origin, roughly “Baal protect the king.” |
| Morpheus | Greek god of dreams. |
| Silas | Short form of Silvanus, “of the woods.” |
| Lucian | From the Latin for “light.” |
More Male Witch Names
| Alaric | Bram | Cassius | Dorian |
| Edric | Fenris | Gawain | Hadrian |
| Ignatius | Jasper | Kieran | Lazarus |
| Mortimer | Orion | Phineas | Quentin |
| Ronan | Sebastian | Thorne | Ulric |
| Victor | Wyatt | Xander | Zephyr |
| Barnaby | Crispin | Desmond | Emrys |
| Fabian | Gideon | Ivo | Leofric |
| Osric | Tobias |
Cute Witch Names
Not every witch is brooding in a tower. Some of them bake. Cute witch names tend to borrow from gardens, kitchens and small woodland creatures, and they’re short enough to shout across a field. They work beautifully for kids’ costumes, cozy fantasy characters and, let’s be real, pets.
Cute Witch Names With Meanings
| Name | Why It Works |
| Clover | Lucky charm energy; a four-leaf clover is a classic sign of good fortune. |
| Tansy | A yellow flower and old folk-remedy herb. |
| Marigold | Golden flower long tied to cottage gardens. |
| Juniper | Evergreen shrub whose berries turn up in old folk remedies. |
| Poppy | Bright red flower, cheerful and short. |
| Pippa | Short form of Philippa, “lover of horses.” |
| Hazel | The hazel tree, tied to wisdom in Celtic lore. |
| Fern | Woodland plant, soft and quiet. |
| Daisy | From “day’s eye,” because the flower opens with the sun. |
| Petal | Exactly what it sounds like. |
| Nutmeg | A kitchen spice and a kitchen-witch favorite. |
| Teasel | Spiky wildflower, prickly but pretty. |
More Cute Witch Names
| Bitsy | Button | Cricket | Dottie |
| Fizz | Ginger | Honey | Ivy |
| Jinx | Kit | Lolly | Mimsy |
| Nettie | Olive | Pebble | Quill |
| Rosie | Sparrow | Tilly | Wren |
| Biscuit | Cinnamon | Dimple | Figgy |
| Gigi | Lulu | Muffin | Pumpkin |
| Sugarplum | Teacup |
Good Witch Names
A good witch name should feel like a lit window on a cold night. Think warmth, light, healing, the kind of virtues your grandmother might have named someone after. Some of these come straight from pop culture’s kindest spellcasters. Others are old virtue names like Mercy and Verity that have a quiet magic of their own.
Good Witch Names With Meanings
| Name | Meaning / Origin |
| Glinda | The Good Witch of Oz; an invented name from L. Frank Baum. |
| Hermione | Greek name tied to Hermes the messenger; the brightest witch of her age. |
| Willow | Tree associated with healing and flexibility (and Willow Rosenberg of Buffy). |
| Prue | Short for Prudence, “good judgment”; Charmed’s eldest Halliwell sister. |
| Piper | English for “flute player”; Charmed’s middle sister. |
| Phoebe | Greek for “bright,” and another Charmed sister. |
| Aurora | Roman goddess of the dawn. |
| Alma | Latin for “nourishing.” |
| Gaia | Greek personification of the Earth. |
| Hestia | Greek goddess of the hearth and home. |
| Ostara | Spring goddess whose name modern pagans use for the spring equinox festival. |
| Theodora | Greek for “gift of God.” |
More Good Witch Names
| Amity | Celeste | Clementine | Dawn |
| Faith | Felicity | Grace | Halcyon |
| Hope | Isadora | Joy | Lux |
| Mercy | Noelle | Serenity | Verity |
| Constance | Eirlys | Gwyneth | Honor |
| Liberty | Patience | Sophia | Temperance |
| Unity | Charity |
Evil Witch Names
Now for the fun part. Evil witch names work when they sound beautiful and slightly wrong: a soft first syllable, then something that bites. Half the villains below have names you’d happily give a baby until you remember what she did to the prince. That contrast is the whole trick.
Evil Witch Names With Meanings
| Name | Meaning / Origin |
| Maleficent | Disney’s Sleeping Beauty villain; built on a Latin root meaning “evil-doing.” |
| Ursula | Latin for “little she-bear,” and the sea witch of The Little Mermaid. |
| Bellatrix | Latin for “female warrior”; Bellatrix Lestrange of Harry Potter. |
| Mombi | Wicked witch in L. Frank Baum’s The Marvelous Land of Oz. |
| Grimhilde | The name Disney materials give the Evil Queen in Snow White. |
| Dolores | From the Latin for “sorrows”; Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter. |
| Sycorax | Caliban’s witch mother in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. |
| Lamia | Greek myth monster queen who turned on other people’s children. |
| Hel | Norse ruler of the realm of the dead. |
| Morgause | Arthurian queen and sorceress, mother of Gawain and, in some versions, Mordred. |
| Carabosse | The wicked fairy in versions of Sleeping Beauty, including the ballet. |
| Gothel | Mother Gothel, who locks Rapunzel in the tower in the Grimm tale. |
More Evil Witch Names
| Bane | Crow | Drusilla | Dread |
| Eris | Fury | Hex | Lucrezia |
| Malice | Morwenna | Nox | Onyx |
| Scarlet | Serpentina | Thorn | Umbra |
| Vex | Vesper | Wraith | Grisel |
| Acrasia | Ravenna | Nemesis | Zelena |
| Bellona | Tisiphone | Ananke | Mortiana |
Unique Witch Names
If you’ve scrolled past Luna and Willow on five other lists and felt nothing, this section’s for you. These are the rarer picks: old Irish and Welsh names, half-forgotten Greek ones, and a few that sound invented but aren’t. Say them out loud before you decide. A Evil Witch Names Female that looks great on the page and feels awkward in the mouth won’t survive long.
Unique Witch Names With Meanings
| Name | Meaning / Origin |
| Thessaly | Region of Greece that ancient writers called the home of witches. |
| Sorcha | Irish for “brightness.” |
| Zenobia | Greek for “life of Zeus,” and the name of a third-century queen of Palmyra. |
| Hesper | Greek for “evening star.” |
| Alcyone | Greek for kingfisher, and one of the Pleiades. |
| Ianthe | Greek for “violet flower.” |
| Perpetua | Latin for “everlasting.” |
| Tamsin | Cornish form of Thomasina, meaning “twin.” |
| Rue | A bitter herb, and also a word for regret. |
| Elspeth | Scottish form of Elizabeth. |
| Mab | Queen of the fairies in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. |
| Wisteria | Climbing vine with heavy purple flowers that looks enchanted in bloom. |
More Unique Witch Names
| Anwen | Briseis | Cosima | Dagny |
| Elowen | Fenella | Galatea | Ismay |
| Junia | Kestrel | Merrin | Nerissa |
| Oonagh | Pomona | Rosmerta | Saoirse |
| Tamora | Ygraine | Zinnia | Lorelei |
| Aislinn | Bronwyn | Calanthe | Damaris |
| Eulalia | Henrietta | Ottoline | Philomena |
Nature and Elemental Witch Names
Some witches draw their power from a place. The names below are sorted by element (green, sea, fire, snow and moon) so you can match a character to her landscape. A few quick meanings: Thalassa is simply the Greek word for sea, Skadi is the Norse goddess of winter, Asteria is a Titan goddess of stars, and Vesta kept Rome’s sacred hearth fire burning.
Green Witch and Forest Witch Names
| Alder | Bryony | Elm | Heather |
| Holly | Laurel | Linden | Moss |
| Nettle | Oakley | Sorrel | Thistle |
Sea Witch and Water Witch Names
| Amphitrite | Coral | Isla | Marisol |
| Naida | Nerine | Pearl | Sirena |
| Tethys | Thalassa | Undine | Brine |
Fire Witch Names
| Ashe | Cinder | Ember | Flint |
| Ignis | Kindle | Phoenix | Pyra |
| Ruby | Sienna | Spark | Vesta |
Snow Witch and Winter Witch Names
| Alba | Blanche | Crystal | Flurry |
| Frost | Glacia | Neve | Skadi |
| Tundra | Winter | Yuki | Sleet |
Moon and Star Witch Names
| Artemis | Asteria | Astra | Celestia |
| Cynthia | Diana | Estelle | Lunara |
| Mani | Nova | Stella | Vega |
Witch Names with Meanings: Words That Actually Mean Witch
Here’s a small twist. These aren’t names that merely sound witchy. They’re words that mean “witch” in other languages and older forms of English. Plenty make surprisingly good names, especially Strega, Noita and Wicce. Others work better as titles or middle names. Either way, they give your character a built-in hint of where she comes from.
| Word / Name | Language and Meaning |
| Bruja | Spanish for witch. |
| Strega | Italian for witch. |
| Hexe | German for witch, and the source of the English word “hex.” |
| Wicce | Old English for a female witch; the ancestor of the modern word. |
| Vedma | Russian for witch (from ведьма). |
| Bruxa | Portuguese for witch. |
| Majo | Japanese for witch (魔女). |
| Völva | Old Norse for a seeress or sorceress who practiced prophecy. |
| Noita | Finnish for witch. |
| Sorcière | French for sorceress or witch. |
| Czarownica | Polish for witch. |
| Hagazussa | Old High German word linked to the roots of both “hag” and “Hexe.” |
Famous Witch Names from Books, Movies and TV
Sometimes the best witch name is one readers already love. Don’t copy these outright. Use them like a mood board, and notice what each author did: short and punchy, old-fashioned and warm, or heavy with myth. Then borrow the approach instead of the Funny Detective Names .
Witch Names from Movies and Books
| Name | Where She’s From |
| Yennefer | The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski, and the Netflix adaptation. |
| Granny Weatherwax | Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. |
| Nanny Ogg | Discworld; a bawdy, cheerful witch and Granny Weatherwax’s friend. |
| Sophie Hatter | Howl’s Moving Castle, the Diana Wynne Jones novel and the 2004 Studio Ghibli film. |
| Kiki | Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), about a young witch who flies on a broom. |
| Tiffany Aching | Discworld; a young witch who protects her home with a frying pan. |
| Serafina Pekkala | The witch queen in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. |
| Mildred Hubble | The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy. |
| Baba Yaga | Slavic folklore; a witch whose hut stands on chicken legs. |
| Winifred Sanderson | Leader of the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus (1993). |
| Madame Mim | The purple-haired sorceress in Disney’s The Sword in the Stone (1963). |
| Eglantine Price | Apprentice witch in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). |
| Nancy Downs | The magnetic, dangerous witch in The Craft (1996). |
Witch Names from TV Shows
| Name | Show |
| Sabrina Spellman | Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. |
| Hilda Spellman | Sabrina’s warm, slightly scatterbrained aunt. |
| Zelda Spellman | Sabrina’s stricter aunt. |
| Samantha Stephens | Bewitched (1964 to 1972). |
| Tabitha Stephens | Samantha’s daughter in Bewitched. |
| Wanda Maximoff | The Scarlet Witch, central to WandaVision (2021). |
| Bonnie Bennett | A powerful witch in The Vampire Diaries. |
Funny Witch Names
Every coven needs a comedian. Puns are a long-running witch tradition, and these are the ones that made us groan in the best way. They’re great for Halloween costumes, party games and group chats.
Funny Witch Names and the Jokes Behind Them
| Name | The Joke |
| Broomhilda | After Broom-Hilda, the comic strip witch who first appeared in 1970. |
| Bea Witched | Bewitched, with an extra helping of pun. |
| Polly Potion | Polly and potion, because it rhymes. |
| Wanda Wand | A wand-wielding Wanda. |
| Sal E. Mander | Salamander, a classic ingredient-adjacent critter. |
| Ivy Poisonberry | A nod to Poison Ivy, with berries. |
| Abby Cadabra | Abracadabra, ready for introductions. |
| Witchita | Wichita with a witch’s twist. |
| Cauldron Dion | Celine Dion, but she sings over a brew. |
| Hexy Appeal | Sex appeal, enchantingly misspelled. |
| Isaac Newt | Isaac Newton meets eye of newt. |
| Tabitha Toadstool | Tabitha plus something you’d find under a tree. |
| Wendy Warts | Wendy plus the classic witch feature. |
| Stevie Wicks | A nod to Stevie Nicks, long America’s favorite rock-and-roll witch. |
| Hagatha Christie | Agatha Christie, but a mystery every time she stirs. |
| Brew Springsteen | Bruce Springsteen, born to brew. |
Funny Witch Titles and Nicknames
| Auntie Hex | Countess Cackle | Dame Drizzle | Granny Gloom |
| Lady Nightshade | Madam Mischief | Mama Mugwort | Miss Mayhem |
| Mother Moonshine | Sister Cinder | Widow Wormwood | Lady Hemlock |
Witch Last Names
A first name only does half the job. The surname is where you add atmosphere, or history. Hawthorne comes with a great piece of Salem trivia: the novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne added the “w” to his family Outlaw Names , reportedly to distance himself from his ancestor John Hathorne, a judge in the 1692 trials. Some of the names below are real surnames with dark stories. Others are just good-sounding fiction.
Witch Last Names with Meanings
| Surname | Meaning / Context |
| Hawthorne | Nathaniel Hawthorne’s spelling; his ancestor John Hathorne was a Salem judge. |
| Proctor | John Proctor, hanged in Salem on August 19, 1692, and the hero of The Crucible. |
| Nightshade | The plant family that includes belladonna. |
| Merriweather | From Old English meaning “pleasant weather”; also the name of a fairy in Sleeping Beauty. |
| Blackthorn | A thorny shrub wrapped in folklore, long used for walking sticks. |
| Ravenscroft | Old English place name, roughly “the raven’s small field.” |
| Holloway | From Old English, meaning “sunken road.” |
| Underhill | Means “below the hill”; Frodo uses it as an alias in The Lord of the Rings. |
More Witch Last Names
| Ashcroft | Blackwood | Crane | Darkmoor |
| Fairweather | Graves | Ironwood | Moonwood |
| Nightingale | Redfern | Stormfield | Thornwood |
| Whitlock | Wolfe | Wyndham | Blackmoor |
How to Create Your Own Witch Name
Still haven’t found the one? Good. Some of the best witch names are built, not found. Here are five ways to make your own, from a quick formula to a little storytelling.
1. The Three-Part Formula (Your Witch Name Generator)
This is the closest thing to a witch name generator you can run in your head. Pick one word from each column below: a mood, a plant, a stone and a title. Then combine any three. Silver Yarrow of the Marsh sounds like a healer who lives by the water. Crimson Garnet the Unbound sounds like someone you shouldn’t cross. Use all four columns and you’ve got 1,296 combinations before you even start improvising.
| Mood | Plant | Stone | Title |
| Midnight | Rowan | Obsidian | of the Marsh |
| Silver | Yarrow | Moonstone | the Quiet |
| Crimson | Nettle | Garnet | the Unbound |
| Wild | Mugwort | Jet | the Wanderer |
| Gentle | Sage | Amethyst | of the Orchard |
| Ashen | Hemlock | Onyx | the Patient |
2. Pet Name Plus Street Name
It’s a classic party game, and it works more often than it should. Take your first pet’s name and the street you grew up on. A cat named Biscuit on Maple Lane becomes Biscuit Maple. Results vary wildly, but every so often you get something great: a dog named Shadow on Hollis Road becomes Shadow Hollis, which could headline a gothic novel.
3. Borrow from Older Words
Take a word you like and translate it. Old English gave us mōna for moon, and Welsh has lleuad. Latin offers umbra for shadow. Some work as they are (Umbra is already a name). Others need a nudge. Nobody’s going to pronounce lleuad correctly on the first try, so soften it, or keep it as a secret middle name.
4. Use an Old Title
Puritan New England had a title most people have forgotten: Goody, short for Goodwife. Accused women in Salem were often recorded that way, like Goody Proctor or Goody Good. England had its own versions, from Old Demdike of the Pendle trials to Mother Shipton, the Yorkshire prophetess of legend. Stick one in front of a surname you like and you’ve got instant age. Goody Hawthorne. Mother Nettle. Old Ash. Don’t they sound like they’ve been there forever?
5. Let the Job Pick the Name
Decide what your witch actually does. A hedge witch who heals with herbs might be Bramble Nettle. A storm witch could go by Tempest Hale. Someone who talks to the dead might be Vesper Grey. Start with the skill, then hunt for the word that sounds like it. It’s the method we’d pick if we were stuck, because it turns name-hunting into storytelling, and stories are easier to write than labels.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best witch names?
The best witch names are the ones that fit the story you’re telling. For classic power, Morgana, Hecate and Circe are hard to beat, and they’ve survived thousands of years for a reason. For something warmer, try Hazel, Willow or Juniper. If you want a villain, Bellatrix and Maleficent practically announce trouble. There’s no single winner. Pick the one that sounds right out loud, then check that it isn’t already attached to a very famous character.
What are some cute witch names?
Cute witch names usually come from gardens, kitchens and tiny animals. Clover, Poppy, Tansy, Pippa, Marigold and Juniper all feel friendly and a bit whimsical. Short nicknames work well too: Bitsy, Button, Cricket and Fizz are easy to say and hard to dislike. If you’re naming a child’s costume or a cozy fantasy character, choose something with soft sounds and one or two syllables. It’ll sound sweet without being babyish.
What are good evil witch names?
Evil witch names work best when they sound elegant with a sharp edge. Maleficent, Ursula, Bellatrix, Mombi and Sycorax are the famous ones, and each has a literary or fairy-tale history. For something less recognizable, try Drusilla, Morwenna, Lucrezia or Tisiphone, named for one of the Furies of Greek myth. Hard consonants like K, X and T add menace, while soft vowels make the villain seem even more charming.
What are unique witch names?
Unique witch names tend to come from older or rarer sources. Thessaly, Sorcha, Ianthe, Perpetua and Tamsin are real names that almost nobody uses. Irish, Welsh and Cornish names are a rich place to look, and so is ancient Greek. A good test: if you’ve never met anyone with the name, but you can still pronounce it on first read, you’ve probably found something unique without making it unreadable.
How do I create my own witch name?
Try a simple three-part formula: a mood word, a plant or stone, and a title. Silver Yarrow of the Marsh and Crimson Garnet the Unbound both come straight out of that recipe. You can also combine a childhood pet’s name with the street you grew up on, or translate a favorite word into Latin or Welsh. The section above lays out five full methods, plus a ready-made table to mix and match.
What is the male version of a witch?
In modern English, “witch” can apply to anyone, and many practitioners use it that way. Historically, the Old English word for a male witch was wicca. “Warlock” is the more familiar male term, though it comes from a word meaning oath-breaker, and some witches find it insulting. “Wizard” and “sorcerer” are the usual fantasy alternatives. For names, anything from Merlin to Alaric to Silas works beautifully.
What name means witch?
Several words mean witch in other languages and work well as names. Strega is Italian, bruja is Spanish, Hexe is German and Noita is Finnish. Old English gave us wicce. There isn’t a common given name that means witch in the plain sense, but Sibyl comes from a Greek word for a prophetess, and Hecate belongs to the goddess of witchcraft herself.
Do real witches choose craft names?
Many do. In Wicca and other modern pagan paths, people often take a craft name, sometimes called a magical or spiritual name, that feels right for their practice. Some pick it on their own, others receive it during initiation, and plenty go without. There’s no rule. Common sources include plants, animals, deities and words from old languages, which are the same places this list draws from.
Conclusion
The perfect witch name is one that captures the character, mood, or personality you have in mind. A cute name may suit a playful Halloween character, a nature-inspired name may work beautifully for a wise forest witch, and a darker, more mysterious choice may be ideal for a fantasy villain. Names drawn from mythology, folklore, and history can also offer an additional layer of meaning, making your selection more interesting than a name chosen for its sound alone.
With more than 400 witch names to explore, you have plenty of inspiration for fictional characters, costumes, pets, stories, and other creative projects. Take your time comparing meanings and origins, experiment with different combinations, and choose a name that fits your vision. Whether you prefer something sweet, powerful, sinister, or unusual, the right witch name can give your creation a distinctive identity and a story worth remembering.

