Names Categorized "death deities"

Achlys f Greek Mythology
Means "mist, darkness" in Greek. According to a poem by Hesiod, she was one of the figures portrayed on the shield of Herakles. She is described as a wraithlike woman personifying death and sorrow.

Angerona f Roman Mythology
Possibly from Latin angor "strangulation, torment" or angustus "narrow, constricted". Angerona was the Roman goddess of the winter solstice, death, and silence.

Angra Mainyu m Persian Mythology
Means "evil spirit", from Avestan 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀 (angra) meaning "evil, destructive" and 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 (mainiiu) meaning "spirit, mind". In Zoroastrianism Angra Mainyu was the god of darkness, death and destruction, the enemy of Ahura Mazda.

Anubis m Egyptian Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Ἄνουβις (Anoubis), the Greek form of Egyptian jnpw (reconstructed as Anapa and other forms), which coincided with a word meaning "royal child, prince". However, it might alternatively be derived from the root jnp meaning "to decay". Anubis was the Egyptian god who led the dead to the underworld. He was often depicted as a man with the head of a jackal. The Greeks equated him with their god Hermes.

Atropos f Greek Mythology
Means "inevitable, inflexible" in Greek, derived from the negative prefix ἀ (a) combined with τρόπος (tropos) meaning "direction, manner, fashion". Atropos was one of the three Fates or Μοῖραι (Moirai) in Greek mythology. When her sister Lachesis decided that a person's life was at an end, Atropos would choose the manner of death and cut the person's life thread.

Awilix f Mayan Mythology
Meaning uncertain, possibly from a place name Awilizapan, or possibly from a Q'eqchi' Maya word meaning "swallow (bird)". This was the name of the K'iche' Maya goddess of the moon, night and death.

Charon m Greek Mythology
Possibly means "fierce brightness" in Greek. In Greek mythology Charon was the operator of the ferry that brought the newly dead over the River Acheron into Hades.

Clotho f Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Klotho.

Ereshkigal f Sumerian Mythology
Means "lady of the great earth", from Sumerian 𒊩𒌆 (ereš) meaning "lady, queen" combined with 𒆠 (ki) meaning "earth" and 𒃲 (gal) meaning "great, big". In Sumerian mythology she was the goddess of death and the underworld.

Freya f Norse Mythology, English (Modern), German
From Old Norse Freyja meaning "lady". This is the name of a goddess associated with love, beauty, war and death in Norse mythology. She claims half of the heroes who are slain in battle and brings them to her realm of Fólkvangr. Along with her brother Freyr and father Njord, she is one of the Vanir (as opposed to the Æsir). Some scholars connect her with the goddess Frigg.... [more]

Freyja f Icelandic, Norse Mythology
Icelandic and Old Norse form of Freya.

Hades m Greek Mythology
From Greek Ἅιδης (Haides), derived from ἀϊδής (aides) meaning "unseen". In Greek mythology Hades was the dark god of the underworld, a place that also came to be called Hades. His brothers were Zeus and Poseidon and his wife was Persephone, whom he had abducted.

Hecate f Greek Mythology (Latinized)
From the Greek Ἑκάτη (Hekate), possibly derived from ἑκάς (hekas) meaning "far off". In Greek mythology Hecate was a goddess associated with witchcraft, crossroads, tombs, demons and the underworld.

Hel f Norse Mythology
In Norse mythology this was the name of the daughter of Loki. She got her name from the underworld, also called Hel, where she ruled, which meant "to conceal, to cover" in Old Norse (related to the English word hell).

Klotho f Greek Mythology
Means "spinner" in Greek. In Greek mythology Klotho was one of the three Fates or Μοῖραι (Moirai). She was responsible for spinning the thread of life.

Lachesis f Greek Mythology
Means "apportioner" in Greek. She was one of the three Fates or Μοῖραι (Moirai) in Greek mythology. She was responsible for deciding how long each person had to live.

Libitina f Roman Mythology
Meaning uncertain, possibly from Etruscan lupu "dead". Libitina was the Roman goddess of funerals, corpses and death.

Louhi f Finnish Mythology
Variant of Loviatar. In Finnish mythology Louhi was another name of the death goddess Loviatar. She appears in the Finnish epic the Kalevala as a witch ruling the northern area known as Pohjola. She is the primary antagonist to the hero Väinämöinen.

Loviatar f Finnish Mythology
Meaning unknown. In Finnish mythology Loviatar, also known as Louhi, was a goddess of death and plague.

Marama f & m Maori, Polynesian Mythology
Means "moon" in Maori. This is the name of a moon god (or goddess) in Maori mythology.

Melinoe f Greek Mythology
Possibly from Greek μήλινος (melinos) meaning "quince-coloured, yellow", a derivative of μῆλον (melon) meaning "fruit, apple". According to Greek mythology she was a chthonic nymph or goddess, often described as a daughter of Persephone and Zeus.

Mictlantecuhtli m Aztec and Toltec Mythology
Means "lord of Mictlan" in Nahuatl. In Aztec mythology he was the skeletal ruler of Mictlan, the realm of the dead, with his wife Mictecacihuatl.

Morana f Slavic Mythology, Croatian
From Old Slavic morŭ meaning "death, plague". In Slavic mythology this was the name of a goddess associated with winter and death.

Morrígan f Irish Mythology
Means either "demon queen" or "great queen", derived from Old Irish mor "demon, evil spirit" or mór "great, big" combined with rígain "queen". In Irish mythology Morrígan (called also The Morrígan) was a goddess of war and death who often took the form of a crow.

Mot m Semitic Mythology
Means "death" in Ugaritic. This was the name of the Ugaritic god of death and the lord of the netherworld. He was a son of the supreme god El.

Naenia f Roman Mythology
Means "incantation, dirge" in Latin. This was the name of the Roman goddess of funerals.

Nephthys f Egyptian Mythology (Hellenized)
Greek form of Egyptian nbt-ḥwt (reconstructed as Nebet-Hut) meaning "lady of the house", derived from nbt "lady" and ḥwt "house". This was the name of an Egyptian goddess associated with the air, death and mourning. She was wife of the desert god Seth.

Nijolė f Lithuanian
Meaning unknown. This was possibly the name of a Lithuanian goddess of the underworld (according to the Polish-Lithuanian historian Teodor Narbutt).

Odin m Norse Mythology, English (Modern)
Anglicized form of Old Norse Óðinn, which was derived from óðr meaning "inspiration, rage, frenzy". It ultimately developed from Proto-Germanic *Wōdanaz. The name appears as Woden in Anglo-Saxon sources (for example, as the founder of several royal lineages in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) and in forms such as Wuotan, Wotan or Wodan in continental Europe, though he is best known from Norse sources.... [more]

Osiris m Egyptian Mythology (Hellenized)
Greek form of the Egyptian wsjr (reconstructed as Asar, Usir and other forms), which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to wsr "mighty" or jrt "eye". In Egyptian mythology Osiris was the god of fertility, agriculture, and the dead and served as the judge of the underworld. In one tale he was slain by his brother Seth, but restored to life by his wife Isis in order to conceive their son Horus, who would go on to avenge his father.

Persefoni f Greek
Modern Greek transcription of Persephone.

Persephone f Greek Mythology
Meaning unknown, probably of Pre-Greek origin, but perhaps related to Greek πέρθω (pertho) meaning "to destroy" and φόνος (phonos) meaning "murder". In Greek myth she was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. She was abducted to the underworld by Hades, but was eventually allowed to return to the surface for part of the year. The result of her comings and goings is the changing of the seasons. With her mother she was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites practiced at the city of Eleusis near Athens.

Pluto m Greek Mythology (Latinized), Roman Mythology
Latinized form of Greek Πλούτων (Plouton), derived from πλοῦτος (ploutos) meaning "wealth". This was an alternate name of Hades, the god of the underworld. This is also the name of a dwarf planet (formerly designated the ninth planet) in the solar system.

Rashn m Persian Mythology
Modern Persian form of Avestan 𐬭𐬀𐬱𐬥𐬎 (Rashnu) meaning "just, straight". In Zoroastrianism this was the name of a Yazata who judged the souls of the dead.

Samael m Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Means "venom of God" in Hebrew. This is the name of an archangel in Jewish tradition, described as a destructive angel of death.

Thanatos m Greek Mythology
Means "death" in Greek. This was the name of the Greek god of death who resided with Hades in the underworld.

Xolotl m Aztec and Toltec Mythology
Meaning uncertain, of Nahuatl origin, possibly meaning "servant" or "cornstalk". In Aztec mythology Xolotl was a monstrous dog-headed god who guided the dead to Mictlan. He was also associated with lightning, fire and the evening star. He was the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl.

Yama 1 m Hinduism
Means "twin" in Sanskrit. This is the name of the Hindu god of death. According to the Vedas he was the first mortal being, or in other words, the first person to die. This name is related to Persian Jam.