Bewitching Witch Names for Halloween

Witch names come to mind as Halloween grows nearer!

Fictional witches have worn so many fantastic names. Some, like Elphaba, fascinate – but seem like a stretch as a child’s given name.

This list focuses on witch names perfectly wearable for a real girl, magical powers not required.

Read on for some of the most bewitching witch names ever worn by those who ride broomsticks.

Witch Names: Borrowed from Books

Diana – Have you read A Discovery of Witches?  Diana is a super-smart witch who has been trying very hard to deny that such things exist.  Until she falls in love with a vampire.  And embarks on a bunch of other adventures.  The third book in the trilogy came out in 2014, and a movie adaptation is rumored.

Esme, Esmerelda – We usually think of Esme as the vampire matriarch of Twilight. But Terry Pratchett’s Discworld gives us a bewitching Esme, also known as Granny.

Hermione – The Harry Potter heroine has a great name – a stand-out Greek antique that clearly belongs on this list of witch names.  Miss Granger inspired two posts about names with similar qualities: The Hermiones: Part I and The Hermiones: Part II.

Fleur, Ginevra, Lavender, Lily, Luna, Minerva, Molly – There are whole posts filled with great names of Hermione’s fellow witches from the Harry Potter world.  These are a few that come to mind.

Mildred – Miss Granger’s polar opposite, Mildred is the bottom of the class at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches in The Worst Witch books.  Despite her frequent misadventures and clumsiness with a spell or two, Mildred is brave, kind – and generally manages to save the day.

Agatha, Clarice, Drusilla, Ethel, Enid, Fenella, Maud, Sybil – More characters from The Worst Witch world.

Rowan – Queen of vampire literature Anne Rice also penned a highly successful series about a family of witches, stretching back generations.  In The Witching Hour, Rowan Mayfair has grown up far away from her extended family in New Orleans, a brilliant surgeon who knows nothing about her family’s unusual past – or her destiny.

Antha, Deborah, Emaleth, Jeanne Louise, Marie Claudette, Mary Beth, Stella, Suzanne – More witch names from the Mayfair family.  Some are considered villains, and others are relatively minor characters. But they make for a fascinating family tree.

Serafina – Ages before Seraphina Affleck, Finnish witch queen Serafina appeared in Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass.

Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie – The trio headlined John Updike’s 1984 novel The Witches of Eastwick.

Witch Names: Classic Television

Samantha – Back in the 1960s, Samantha masqueraded as an ordinary housewife, despite her status as a witch. The sitcom established the name as a go-to favorite.

Tabitha – Bewitched’s cast expanded by one when Samantha and Darrin welcomed daughter Tabitha – also a witch. Grandma Endora tricked the couple into choosing the name.

Clara, Serena – These two Bewitched characters wore some of the best witch names on the series.

Witch Names: More Recently Seen

Alex – Her full name is Alexandra Margarita Russo, but Selena Gomez usually answers to the boyish Alex on Wizards of Waverly Place. The Disney Channel series prefers to call the Russos – male and female – wizards, but it still fits with witch names.

Antonia, Marnie – Do you watch True Blood? Season 4 takes the mild-mannered Marnie, a practicing witch, and mixes her up with the spirit of a sixteenth century witch named Antonia. Powerful Antonia is seeking vengeance on all vampires. As a given name, Antonia ranks as a lovely, literary, and underused classic.

Freya, Ingrid, Joanna, and Wendy – Lifetime’s Witches of East End ended abruptly mid-cliffhanger. But the names of the Beauchamp family women definitely merit a place on this list – sisters Joanna and Wendy, and next generation witches Freya and Ingrid.

Hettie, Mona, Cressie – short for Crescentmoon – The Worst Witch inspired a television show that was so successful it lasted into the college years. Then along came The New Worst Witch, featuring Mildred’s cousin, Henrietta – called Hettie. Cresentmoon is one of the few character names that feels indulgently over-the-top, but in the era of Sadie, might be wearable.

Isobel – Smallville’s girl next door Lana Lang grows up over the series’ run, and suffers some pretty unbelievable trials. During one of them, a seventeenth century French witch possesses her. The witch answers to Isobel.

Phoebe, Prue, Piper, Paige – The three Halliwell sisters from Charmed, plus half-sister Paige, battled mystical baddies and generally saved the world over eight seasons.

Sabrina – A young Melissa Joan Hart played The Teenage Witch on television, though the character originated in the Archie comics.

Willow – Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s brainy BFF started out as a research assistant. As the series progressed, Willow learned witchcraft and joined the good fight in a whole other way.

Witch Names: Borrowed from Movies

Blair – The menace in The Blair Witch Project is named Elly, but I think Blair belongs on this list.

Bonnie, Nancy, Sarah, and Rochelle – This quartet comes from 1996 high school movie/witch flick The Craft.

Eglantine – Eglantine comes from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the enduring Disney flick.  This story comes from an earlier book. But we remember Angela Landsbury as Eglantine, so that’s why it appears here.

Evanora – The Wizard of Oz started as a series of novels by L. Frank Baum. Evanora first appeared in Oz the Great and Powerful.  The smoosh name seems very in step with current trends.

Gillian, Sally, Frances, Bridget (Jet), Kylie, Antonia – In 1998’s Practical Magic, a heartbroken witch cast a spell preventing her descendants fro a happily ever after.

Gwen, Marnie, Sophie, Sage, Sapphire, Aneesa, Aggie – Halloweentown debuted on the Disney Channel, packed with amazing witch names, back in 1998. Three sequels – and more great names – followed.

Jennifer – In 1942, Veronica Lake played Jennifer, a seventeenth century witch arrived in mid-century America in I Married a Witch.

Louise – In 1989’s Teen Witch, Louise turns sixteen – and discovers that she has serious magical powers.

Mary, Sarah, Winifred – The Sanderson sisters of Hocus Pocus wore these three names.

Witch Names: Borrowed from Elsewhere

Morgan – A witch name taken straight from Arthurian legend.

Wendy – The friendly witch, friend of equally un-threatening ghost Casper, came out of the comic strip.

Would you consider any of these names for a daughter?  Are there other names that should be on this list?  And am I wrong about Elphaba being less-than-wearable?

This post was published on October 18, 2013. It was revised and republished on October 28, 2016.