Names that Mean Plague

I’ve always been drawn to names with an edge — the ones that don’t just sound pretty but actually carry weight. Plague-themed names sit in that space between history and myth, between something that once terrified entire civilizations and something a parent (or a writer, or a gamer) can now turn into a name full of character.

A quick honest note before we dive in — very few languages have a single word that translates directly and only as “plague.” So this list blends real, literal etymology with names tied to pestilence, disease, destruction, and death-gods across cultures. I’ve kept every meaning short so you can scan the list fast and find the one that fits.

Boy Names That Mean Plague

• Mortimer – still, dead water
• Azrael – angel of death
• Corvin – raven, death omen
• Nero – black, dark
• Malachi – messenger of judgment
• Damien – to tame, subdue
• Kael – slender, but used for dark characters
• Osiris – Egyptian god of death, afterlife
• Thane – warrior tied to fate
• Reaper – one who harvests, death figure
• Mordecai – warrior, bitterness
• Corbin – raven
• Vesper – evening, dusk, decline
• Silas – of the forest, wild
• Cain – marked, cursed
• Draven – hunter, dark
• Ambrose – immortal, deathless
• Grim – fierce, stern
• Kieran – dark, black-haired
• Ronan – little seal, oath, fate
• Loki – trickster of chaos
• Perish – archaic, to die
• Wraith – ghost, restless spirit
• Nyx – son of night (used as boy name in fiction)
• Set – Egyptian god of chaos, storms
• Fenris – devouring wolf of myth
• Hades – Greek god of the underworld
• Marek – warlike, related to war-plagues
• Sorin – sun, but used in gothic fiction for shadow figures

Girl Names That Mean Plague

• Morrigan – phantom queen, war and death
• Nyx – goddess of night
• Persephone – goddess of the underworld
• Lilith – night creature, demoness
• Hecate – goddess of magic and crossroads
• Kali – the black one, destruction
• Scylla – monster of the strait
• Medusa – guardian, cursed one
• Vesper – evening star, decline
• Ravena – raven, death omen
• Ember – dying fire, ash
• Selene – moon, pale light of night
• Ashen – pale, grey, lifeless
• Corvina – raven-like
• Nemesis – righteous anger, retribution
• Mortisia – of death (fiction-inspired)
• Ligeia – shrill-voiced, sorrow
• Bellona – goddess of war and ruin
• Wren – small bird, associated with omens
• Isolde – ice ruler, fair one who suffers
• Rue – regret, bitter herb
• Freya – lady, sometimes linked to war-death
• Cressida – gold, sorrowful love
• Tisiphone – avenger of murder
• Alecto – the unceasing, fury
• Erishkigal – Mesopotamian queen of the underworld
• Sable – black
• Ophelia – help, but tied to tragic death
• Marlowe – driftwood, remains

Unisex Names That Mean Plague

• Ash – remains of fire
• Raven – dark bird, omen
• Sage – wise, but linked to plague-era herbal cures
• Blaine – thin, yellow (linked to sickness pallor)
• Storm – chaos, upheaval
• Wren – bird of ill omen
• Phoenix – rising from ash and ruin
• Rook – dark bird, chess piece of war
• Sorrow – archaic virtue name
• Reign – rule, dominance, plague of power
• Onyx – black stone
• Shade – shadow, ghost
• Vale – valley, also “farewell”
• Winter – season of death and stillness
• Grey – ashen, faded
• Echo – nymph who faded to nothing
• Corbin – raven
• Ridley – reed clearing, used in dark fiction
• Fane – temple, also archaic for “glad” (ironic use)
• Kestrel – bird of prey
• Talon – claw, predator
• Briar – thorn, danger
• Slate – grey stone, coldness
• Marlowe – remains of the marsh
• Wilder – untamed, feral
• Ren – lotus, also “plague” in some fictional naming trends
• Kai – sea, used widely in dark fantasy
• Vesper – decline of day

Last Names That Mean Plague

• Sickman – old English occupational/descriptive surname
• Blackwell – dark, deathly well
• Corbett – little raven
• Crowe – raven surname
• Ravenscroft – raven’s field
• Wormwood – bitter, poisonous plant
• Ashworth – place of ashes
• Graves – burial ground
• Bane – poison, ruin
• Sickle – harvest tool, death symbol
• Plaguet – old French-rooted surname (rare)
• Mortlake – lake of death
• Blackthorn – dark, thorny plant
• Direwolf – fictional but widely used surname
• Sorrows – archaic surname
• Wraithe – variant of wraith
• Deathridge – dark compound surname
• Grimshaw – grim, dark wood
• Ferrers – blacksmith, iron (tools of war and plague)
• Hollow – empty, hollowed-out
• Kane – tribute, warrior
• Voss – fox, cunning survivor
• Ruinard – of ruin
• Ashford – ford near ashes
• Corvinus – raven-descended
• Malory – ill-fated
• Thorne – sharp, painful
• Winterbourne – winter stream, coldness
• Pestell – linked phonetically to “pestilence”

Unique Names That Mean Plague

• Pestis – Latin root word for plague itself
• Loimos – Greek word for plague/pestilence
• Nosos – Greek for disease
• Seuche – German word for epidemic, used as a stylized name
• Morbus – Latin for disease
• Contagia – stylized from “contagion”
• Miasma – ancient term for disease-carrying air
• Blight – decay, disease of crops
• Scourge – whip, cause of suffering
• Malaise – general sickness
• Affliction – used rarely as a stylized name
• Pandemia – stylized from “pandemic”
• Ruin – total destruction
• Vex – to trouble or plague
• Torment – deep suffering
• Cinder – burnt remains
• Famine – hunger, one of the four horsemen
• Ailment – general sickness, stylized
• Malefic – causing harm
• Doomsworth – invented dark surname-style name
• Rot – decay
• Wither – to shrivel, decline
• Fester – to decay, worsen
• Grimspell – invented gothic name
• Curse – direct affliction word
• Hexley – tied to “hex,” a curse
• Nocturne – of the night, decline
• Ravage – to destroy violently
• Contagion – direct disease-spread word

Japanese Names That Mean Plague

• Yamai (病) – illness, disease
• Ekibyō (疫病) – epidemic, plague (used stylistically)
• Shi (死) – death
• Akuma (悪魔) – demon
• Yūrei (幽霊) – ghost, restless spirit
• Kage (影) – shadow
• Kuro (黒) – black
• Ankoku (暗黒) – darkness
• Metsubō (滅亡) – ruin, downfall
• Saiga (災禍) – calamity, disaster
• Wazawai (災い) – misfortune, disaster
• Yamiko – child of darkness (stylized)
• Tsumi (罪) – sin, guilt
• Higai (被害) – damage, harm
• Kegare (穢れ) – impurity, defilement
• Onryō (怨霊) – vengeful spirit
• Jigoku (地獄) – hell
• Shinigami (死神) – god of death
• Byōki (病気) – sickness
• Rasetsu (羅刹) – demon of destruction
• Meifu (冥府) – the underworld
• Kuroyami – black darkness (stylized)
• Sakebi – scream, cry of anguish
• Horobi (滅び) – ruin, extinction
• Kurayami (暗闇) – total darkness
• Akui (悪意) – malice
• Fukushū (復讐) – vengeance
• Doku (毒) – poison
• Yamikawa – river of darkness (stylized surname)

Urdu Names That Mean Plague

• Waba (وبا) – epidemic, plague
• Ta’oon (طاعون) – the direct Urdu/Arabic word for plague
• Bimari (بیماری) – illness, sickness
• Azaab (عذاب) – torment, punishment
• Maut (موت) – death
• Fana (فنا) – annihilation, mortality
• Zawaal (زوال) – decline, downfall
• Barbaad (برباد) – ruined, destroyed
• Tabahi (تباہی) – destruction
• Musibat (مصیبت) – calamity, hardship
• Aafat (آفت) – disaster, calamity
• Qahar (قہر) – wrath, fury
• Zeher (زہر) – poison
• Gham (غم) – sorrow
• Nakami (ناکامی) – failure, ruin
• Halaakat (ہلاکت) – destruction, death
• Sitam (ستم) – cruelty, oppression
• Kharabi (خرابی) – ruin, spoilage
• Wehshat (وحشت) – terror, dread
• Fitna (فتنہ) – chaos, discord
• Zulmat (ظلمت) – darkness
• Ranj (رنج) – grief
• Karb (کرب) – anguish
• Aazar (آزار) – pain, torment
• Aseeb (آسیب) – evil spirit, haunting
• Nazoolat (نزول) – descent of calamity
• Waqt-e-Aafat – “time of disaster” (compound, stylized)
• Shar (شر) – evil, harm
• Balaa (بلا) – calamity, misfortune

Chinese Names That Mean Plague

• Wēnyì (瘟疫) – the direct Chinese word for plague
• Sǐwáng (死亡) – death
• Hēiyǐng (黑影) – dark shadow
• Zāinàn (灾难) – disaster, calamity
• Mièwáng (灭亡) – ruin, extinction
• Àn (暗) – dark
• Guǐ (鬼) – ghost, spirit
• Dú (毒) – poison
• Cánkù (残酷) – cruelty
• Kǒngbù (恐怖) – terror
• Huǐmiè (毁灭) – destruction
• Bēishāng (悲伤) – sorrow
• Yīnhún (阴魂) – wandering spirit
• Xuè (血) – blood
• Fùchóu (复仇) – revenge
• Wúqíng (无情) – ruthless
• Bēijù (悲剧) – tragedy
• Shīhún (失魂) – lost soul
• Kūwěi (枯萎) – withering
• Cánpò (残破) – broken, ruined
• Àndào (暗道) – dark path
• Wúmíng (无名) – nameless (fitting a plague victim’s fate)
• Hēiàn (黑暗) – darkness
• Yīnsēn (阴森) – eerie, gloomy
• Xiōngshì (凶事) – ominous event
• Zāihuò (灾祸) – misfortune, disaster
• Fényàn (焚烟) – smoke of burning, purification
• Wángmìng (亡命) – life on the run from death
• Mòrì (末日) – doomsday

Egyptian Names That Mean Plague

• Sekhmet – goddess of plague, war, and healing
• Set (Seth) – god of chaos and storms
• Ammit – devourer of the dead
• Apep – serpent of chaos and destruction
• Nekhbet – linked with protection from plague
• Osiris – god of death and the afterlife
• Anubis – god of mummification, death rites
• Bastet – protector goddess, also linked to disease control
• Sopdu – god sometimes tied to plague and war
• Serqet – goddess associated with poison and healing
• Nephthys – goddess of mourning and the dead
• Ma’at – balance, invoked against chaos and plague
• Wadjet – protector, also tied to venom and cure
• Duamutef – funerary god, guardian of organs
• Qebehsenuef – funerary deity of the dead
• Isfet – concept of chaos, disorder, evil
• Renenutet – goddess sometimes tied to harvest failure
• Heka – god of magic, used to ward off plague
• Sobek – crocodile god, feared destroyer
• Tawaret – protector against death in childbirth
• Neith – goddess of war and fate
• Khepri – renewal, though invoked against decay
• Meretseger – “she who loves silence,” guards the dead
• Amunet – hidden one, primeval chaos
• Kek – god of primordial darkness
• Nun – the chaotic waters before creation
• Thoth – god who recorded plague years
• Horus – avenger, sometimes tied to battling chaos
• Hathor – in her “Sekhmet” rage-form, spreads plague

French Names That Mean Plague

• Peste (la peste) – the direct French word for plague
• Fléau – scourge, calamity
• Mort – death
• Noir – black, dark
• Ombre – shadow
• Malheur – misfortune
• Ruine – ruin
• Ténèbres – darkness
• Douleur – pain, suffering
• Désastre – disaster
• Corbeau – raven
• Chagrin – sorrow, grief
• Poison – poison (same in English)
• Cendre – ash
• Souffrance – suffering
• Vengeance – vengeance
• Angoisse – anguish
• Décès – death, decease
• Sinistre – sinister, disaster
• Détresse – distress
• Épidémie – epidemic
• Contagion – contagion
• Malédiction – curse
• Deuil – mourning
• Lugubre – gloomy, mournful
• Effroi – dread, terror
• Agonie – agony
• Fatalité – fatality, doom
• Crépuscule – twilight, decline

Greek Names That Mean Plague

• Loimos – the Greek word for plague/pestilence
• Nosos – disease
• Thanatos – death personified
• Apollo – god who sent plague as punishment in myth
• Hades – ruler of the underworld
• Nemesis – righteous vengeance
• Eris – goddess of discord and chaos
• Moros – god of doom
• Ker – spirit of violent death
• Achlys – personification of misery
• Lethe – forgetfulness, river of the dead
• Erebus – primordial darkness
• Nyx – goddess of night
• Styx – river separating the living and dead
• Phobos – fear personified
• Deimos – dread personified
• Oizys – goddess of misery, woe
• Limos – goddess of famine
• Algos – god of pain
• Ponos – god of hardship
• Ate – goddess of ruin and folly
• Keres – spirits of violent death
• Melinoe – goddess of ghosts and nightmares
• Hecate – goddess of magic, crossroads, night
• Persephone – queen of the underworld
• Charon – ferryman of the dead
• Cerberus – guardian of the underworld
• Tartarus – the deepest pit of suffering
• Chaos – the primordial void

Italian Names That Mean Plague

• Peste – the Italian word for plague
• Morte – death
• Nero – black
• Ombra – shadow
• Rovina – ruin
• Sventura – misfortune
• Tenebra – darkness
• Angoscia – anguish
• Dolore – pain, sorrow
• Corvo – raven
• Vendetta – vengeance
• Cenere – ash
• Maledizione – curse
• Lutto – mourning
• Disastro – disaster
• Contagio – contagion
• Sofferenza – suffering
• Terrore – terror
• Distruzione – destruction
• Fato – fate, doom
• Crepuscolo – twilight
• Spavento – fright, dread
• Malattia – illness
• Veleno – poison
• Cupo – gloomy, dark
• Funesto – deadly, ominous
• Sinistro – sinister
• Straziante – agonizing
• Agonia – agony

Latin Names That Mean Plague

• Pestis – the Latin word for plague itself
• Mors – death
• Contagium – contagion
• Morbus – disease
• Ruina – ruin, collapse
• Tenebrae – darkness
• Dolor – pain, grief
• Furor – rage, fury
• Malum – evil, harm
• Cinis – ash
• Corvus – raven
• Fatum – fate, doom
• Vindicta – vengeance
• Umbra – shadow
• Exitium – destruction, ruin
• Calamitas – calamity
• Pernicies – ruin, destruction
• Lues – plague, pestilence (alternate Latin term)
• Clades – disaster, defeat
• Vastatio – devastation
• Terror – terror
• Nex – violent death
• Maleficium – curse, harm
• Vulnus – wound
• Aegritudo – sickness
• Interitus – ruin, death
• Sepulcrum – tomb
• Funus – funeral, death
• Miseria – misery

Roman Names That Mean Plague

• Mortius – of death (Latinized name style)
• Ferox – fierce, savage
• Vespasianus – linked historically to plague-era Rome
• Nero – infamous, dark-associated emperor name
• Caligo – mist, darkness
• Atrox – terrible, fierce
• Lucifer – light-bringer, later linked to fallen darkness
• Discordia – Roman goddess of strife
• Bellona – Roman goddess of war and destruction
• Libitina – Roman goddess of death and funerals
• Orcus – Roman god of the underworld
• Dis Pater – Roman ruler of the dead
• Fauna – used ironically, tied to wild plague-spread
• Pluto – Roman-adopted god of the underworld
• Furiae – Roman furies, spirits of vengeance
• Invidia – Roman personification of envy
• Fames – Roman personification of hunger
• Metus – Roman personification of fear
• Angerona – goddess who relieved anguish
• Averruncus – god invoked to avert disaster
• Robigus – god prayed to against blight and crop plague
• Mefitis – goddess of poisonous gases and plague
• Febris – Roman goddess of fever
• Vejovis – anti-Jupiter, god of vengeance
• Lemures – restless spirits of the dead
• Larvae – malevolent ghosts in Roman belief
• Manes – spirits of the dead
• Vae – Latin exclamation of woe
• Exitiosus – destructive, ruinous

Mythological Names Tied to Plague (Bonus Heading)

• Nergal – Mesopotamian god of plague and the underworld
• Erra – Babylonian god of war and pestilence
• Namtar – Sumerian god of death and disease
• Resheph – Canaanite god of plague and war
• Marseille’s Saint Roch – patron saint invoked against plague
• Yersinia – bacterial namesake behind the Black Death
• Camus’s “La Peste” – literary reference, symbolic of collective suffering
• Pestilence – one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
• Death – the final Horseman
• War – Horseman tied to famine and plague-spread
• Famine – Horseman of hunger and ruin
• Typhon – monstrous Greek force of chaos
• Baba Yaga – Slavic figure tied to death and the wild
• Morrigan – Celtic war and death goddess
• Hel – Norse ruler of the realm of the dead

Names That Mean Plague in Symbolism & Nature

• Locust – symbol of biblical plague
• Nightshade – poisonous plant
• Hemlock – poison plant, historic death symbol
• Wolfsbane – poisonous, plague-era folklore plant
• Rat – historic plague-carrier symbol
• Flea – actual plague-transmitting insect
• Crow – death omen bird
• Vulture – scavenger, death symbol
• Bat – disease-carrier symbol in folklore
• Blackbird – old folklore omen of sickness

FAQs

Is there an actual name that means “plague” in English?

No single common English first name translates directly to “plague” — most English options borrow meaning from death, ruin, or disease instead.

What is the direct word for “plague” in Latin?

The Latin word is “pestis,” which is also the root of the English word “pestilence.”

Are plague-themed names common as real baby names?

They’re rare as literal translations but popular in a symbolic, gothic, or fantasy-inspired sense — used in fiction, gaming, and character naming.

What does “waba” mean in Urdu?

“Waba” (وبا) is the Urdu word for epidemic or plague, and “ta’oon” (طاعون) is the more specific term historically used for the bubonic plague.

Which mythology has the most plague-related deities?

Mesopotamian and Egyptian mythology are especially rich in plague deities, including Nergal, Erra, Sekhmet, and Set.

Can these names be used for real babies?

Some — like Ashen, Wren, Sage, Kai, or Ronan — work fine as everyday names. Others are better suited to fiction, gaming characters, or creative writing.