When it comes to names for vampire women, there are fewer well-known ones to choose from than there are for male vampires.
This may be because male vampires are more represented in popular culture, or because, when they do appear in literature or film, they get more airtime than their female counterparts, bigger roles in the stories they’re in.
Dracula has been adapted more times than Carmilla, despite Carmilla’s earlier release.
Buffy’s male lead vamps got way more screen time and dedicated storylines than the show’s female vamps on the show.
Spike was upgraded to a main character. Angel got his own shown.
Darla and Drusilla were little more a lot of the time than arm and eye candy.
But, even with their lesser airplay, a handful of female vampire names have managed to make their marks on popular culture, becoming household names and sending a shiver of fear and desire up the collective spine.
Famous Female Vampire Names
There are some names for female vamps that are synonymous with lore and gore.
Lilith
Adam’s first wife, according to some Jewish (and other) religious traditions, Lilith is often credited as the first vampire. (Including in my own book, The Innocents, and on True Blood.)
Carmilla
Possibly the second most famous female vampire after Lilith. Carmilla appeared in literature a quarter century before Dracula.
It helps her notoriety that her name, like Dracula’s, is also the title of the novella she appears in.
Carmilla Name Meaning
Carmilla was almost certainly a Latinized form of Carmel, which means “garden” in Hebrew.
Mircalla
In Carmilla, it is revealed Carmilla’s original name was Mircalla (an anagram).
And the name sounds equally suited to a mystical, dreamlike seductress.
Selene
Not quite as recognizable as Lilith or Carmilla, Selene, the main protagonist of the Underworld movie franchise, was loosely based on a Marvel character of the same name.
Marvel’s Selene character drained people’s life essence to achieve immortality.
Basically, a kind of bloodless vampire.
In mythology, Selene was a goddess of the moon, also very vampire appropriate.
Erzsébet
She’s been called Countess Dracula.
Though, her real name was Elizabeth Báthory, or Báthory Erzsébet in her native Hungarian.
Guinness World Records has declared her the most prolific female murderer in history.
It is believed she killed hundreds of young women and girls.
While the more gruesome and macabre rumors about her didn’t appear until years after her death – she bathed in her victims’ blood – she has still been connected to blood baths and vampire lore for centuries.
Oddly enough, Erzsébet has quite a holy meaning, translating roughly as “consecreated to God” or “mercy of God.”
Vampire Queen Names
Despite their advantage in both strength and power, not all female vampires are honored as queens.
But many a gothic tale, from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles to Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mysteries have included a queen-like character in one form or another.
Here are some of the names that have served the queens of vampire lore.
Akasha (Queen of Vampires, Queen of the Damned)
The queen of vampires in Anne Rice’s aptly titled The Queen of the Damned is named Akasha. Though, many vampires refer to her as the Great Mother.
Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Queen of Vampires, True Blood)
The queen of vampires in Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mysteries, and its TV counterpart, True Blood, is named Sophie-Anne Leclerq.
Marceline
The vampire queen of Adventure Time is Marceline.
Though, she’s a reluctant vampire queen and really more of a rock goddess.
Lilith
When Lilith appears in a vampire story, she is often placed in a queen-like position. She may be the most utilized (and mythologically-backed) vampire queen of all.
Other Female Vampire Names
Haydn
In my book, The Innocents, I chose the name Haydn for my main female vamp for its strong sound and significant meaning – “heathen” in German translation.
It’s a bit spot-on and a bit ironic when the character’s back story is revealed.
What else should a good vampire name be if not both revealing and slight out of context?
Auris
My second most important female vampire character in The Innocents I named Auris, because I liked the mystical sound and the meaning “gold” worked well for a blonde vamp.
Darla (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel)
Darla, one of the main female vampire characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, was named by The Master, the ancient vampire who sired her.
Apparently, The Master also enjoyed a twist.
She might be darling to him, but she wasn’t to anyone else.
Drusilla & Harmony (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel)
The other two main female vamps from the Buffy/Angel-verse kept their birth names (as far as we know) after they were sired.
Pam, Tara, Kate, Mary Louise, and Nora
Keeping one’s birth name (if one can remember it) is apparently par for the course for most vampires.
These characters from True Blood/Southern Vampire Mysteries, Wynonna Earp, and The Vampire Diaries are all just known by their original human names.
Vampirella
It’s a little on the nose, but that’s part of this comic book superheroine’s charm.
And in most of her (several) origin stories, she is also the daughter of Lilith, bringing us full circle.
Vampire Girl Names
Disturbing though the thought might be, vampire children do happen. At least, they happen in story.
Although less prevalent than adult vamps (for good reason), a few little vampires have made their marks on popular culture, most of them jumping from literature into film.
Claudia
The girl sired as a child will never grow into a woman, no matter how many years she lives or how fully her mind develops.
That’s what young-in-body Claudia realizes, and what serves as her curse, in Interview with the Vampire.
Anna
Anna Sackville-Bagg is the sister half of the brother and sister vampire duo at the forefront of the book series (and adapted film) The Little Vampire.
Though the series was originally written in German, the name Anna was retained for the English film version.
Eli
Not quite a girl vampire name, Eli is the name of the vampire protagonist in Let the Right One In (both the book and the film ).
For much of the book and movie, Eli presents as a girl.
It’s not that simple, but, for most of the story, Let the Right One In pairs the name Eli with “girl vampire.”
Best Female Vampire Names
When it comes to naming vampire women, there seem to be very few best practices.
Some names have meanings highly compatible with vampire lore – Selene references the moon, Akasha is tied to the cosmos or earliest element of creation.
Some names are just human names kept – Pam, Anna, Kate, Tara.
If you are looking to name a vampire, here are some names we think capture that dark, mystical element that have yet to be used in a major literary or media property.
Morana
It’s the name of a vampire in Castlevania, so it’s not entirely unused.
But it’s still a primo choice, simply due to its meaning:
Morana is one variation of the name of a pagan goddess of death and rebirth.
It’s hard to get much more vampiric than that.
Other variations of the name Morana include:
- Morena
- Marena
- Mara
- Mora
- Marzanna
Claret
A slang term for blood.
While it’s been used in a few properties, they are lesser-known , and this name is absolutely poised to be a very famous sexy lady vampire’s name.
Other blood-referencing names include:
- Blóðughadda (Norse; the one with bloody hair)
- Eztli (Nahuatl; blood)
- Gwyar (Welsh; flow; old translation: blood)
- Qi or Ki (Chinese: Chi or life force)
Xquic
According to legend, Xquic was the daughter of a lord of the Mayan underworld, Xibalba. Her name translates as something roughly like “Blood Maiden.”
Other mythological figures associated with blood, death, or evil include:
- Ragana (Baltic) – guide to other worlds; cast from lore as a witch during the emergence of Christianity
- Giltinė (Baltic) – a moon goddess and goddess of death; and, though it isn’t pronounced the same, in its written form it looks so much like guillotine
- Māra (Latvian) – collects spirits upon death
Other forms of Māra include:
- Mārša
- Māršava
- Mare
- Marah
Blood and danger. Darkness and night. Vampires are a haunting breed.
But they don’t necessarily need haunting names to make their legends come to life.
Most vampire ladies actually have quite normal names, but whether they are called Haydn or Vampirella or Pam or Kate, you still wouldn’t want to meet one in a back alley on a dark, moonless night.