Black Hole Name Generator

Names for singularities, voids and devouring stars

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Name the black hole at the center of your sci-fi setting, RPG star map or short story: real-style catalog designations, mythological devourers like Charybdis and Rahu, Latin coinages like Vorago and Tenebris, and ominous English names like The Widow's Eye.

About black hole names

Real black holes have two kinds of names. Most carry catalog designations that record where they were found and how: Cygnus X-1 is the first X-ray source in Cygnus, Sagittarius A* is the radio source at the galactic center (the asterisk marks it as exciting), M87* sits in the 87th Messier object, and TON 618 comes from the Tonantzintla survey. A handful have been given proper names, like Powehi, the Hawaiian name for 'embellished dark source of unending creation' chosen for the first imaged black hole, or Gargantua, the fictional giant in Interstellar.

Fiction leans on the second kind, and the list below gives you plenty: mythological swallowers of light such as Charybdis, Rahu (who eats the sun in eclipses), Apophis, Ammit and Fenrir; underworld places like Tartarus, Irkalla, Xibalba and Niflheim; Latin and Greek coinages such as Vorago, Devoratrix, Tenebris and Skotos; physicist tributes like Schwarzschild and Kerr; and plain ominous English, from The Widow's Eye and Gravewell to Drinker of Stars. There are also invented designations in the survey style, from XBH-7 Orpheus to Carina Maw.

Pick the register that fits your setting. A hard-science story wants a designation with a nickname the crew uses; a space opera or RPG can get away with a mythic name and nothing else.

How to choose black hole names

  • Decide who named it. Astronomers produce designations (Cygnus X-1, Sgr A*), spacers and colonists produce nicknames (The Drain, Widow's Eye), and priests or poets produce myth names (Charybdis, Rahu). Mixing a formal designation with a nickname makes a setting feel lived in.
  • Borrow from myths about swallowing and darkness rather than generic evil: Rahu eats the sun, Ammit devours hearts, Charybdis drinks the sea, Nidhogg gnaws roots. Those fit the physics better than a random demon name.
  • Latin and Greek coinages (Vorago, Skotos, Nox Ultima) sound scientific without being real catalog numbers, which is useful when you want a name a character can say easily.
  • For a supermassive black hole at a galaxy's core, use a grand single name; for a small stellar-mass hole drifting through a system, a short designation with a number reads more realistic.
  • Avoid names that already belong to famous real objects unless you are writing about them; Gargantua and Powehi in particular are strongly tied to Interstellar and the M87 image.

Frequently asked questions

Do real black holes have names?

Mostly they have catalog designations based on the constellation or survey they were found in, such as Cygnus X-1, V404 Cygni, GRS 1915+105 and TON 618. A few have proper names: Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way, M87* in the Virgo cluster, and Powehi, the Hawaiian name given to M87* after the 2019 Event Horizon Telescope image.

What is a good name for a black hole in a sci-fi story?

It depends on who in your story named it. Scientists would use a designation like XBH-7 or Carina Maw; crews and colonists would use a blunt nickname like The Drain, The Widow's Eye or Gravewell; an older culture might use a devourer from myth such as Charybdis, Rahu or Fenrir. Interstellar used Gargantua, a giant from Rabelais, which is a good model for a single memorable name.

Can I use these names for a game or D&D campaign?

Yes. The mythological and invented names work for any space-faring RPG, Starfinder or Traveller system, or a fantasy cosmology with a devouring void. The designation-style names are especially useful for star maps where you need dozens of labels that look like they came from the same survey.

Why do black hole names often sound like mouths or throats?

Because that is how they behave: matter spirals into an accretion disk and crosses the event horizon without coming back, so words like maw, gullet, throat, sink and drain are natural metaphors, and so are mythic swallowers like Charybdis, Ammit and Jormungand. Most of the English names in this list use one of those images.

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All 500 black hole names

This is the complete list the generator above draws its random batches from, sorted A to Z and grouped by first letter.

Plain text, one name per line.

A: 48 names

  • Abaddon
  • Abell Abyss
  • Absorbia
  • Abyss
  • Abyssal Vesper
  • Abyssus
  • Abyzou
  • Abyzou's Eye
  • Abzu
  • Accretia
  • Accretion Crown
  • Acheron
  • Achlys
  • Aeon
  • Aeternum
  • Ahriman
  • Ammit
  • Ammit's Scale
  • Ananke
  • Ancient of Nights
  • Andromeda Drain
  • Angra Mainyu
  • Anguta
  • Annihilation
  • Annwn
  • Anomaly 7
  • Anomaly Kappa
  • Anomaly Sable
  • Anvil Void
  • Anzu
  • Aornos
  • Apep
  • Apep's Coil
  • Aphanes
  • Apollyon
  • Apophis
  • Apsu
  • Aquarius Sink Nine
  • Aquila Throat
  • Arawn
  • Asag
  • Ashen Gyre
  • Ashfall
  • Autophage
  • Avernus
  • Azathoth
  • Azi Dahaka
  • Azrael

B: 14 names

  • Balor
  • Balor's Eye
  • Baphomet
  • Barathrum
  • Bathyskotos
  • Behemoth
  • Behemoth Core
  • Belial
  • Blackwater
  • Blackwell
  • Blazar
  • Blazar Eye
  • Blinkless Eye
  • Broken Lantern

C: 32 names

  • Caligo
  • Camazotz
  • Camazotz Deep
  • Campe
  • Candlesnuffer
  • Carcosa
  • Carina Maw
  • Cassiopeia Throat
  • Catalog Zero
  • Cauchy Horizon
  • Cavea
  • Cenotaph
  • Chandra
  • Chandra's Mouth
  • Charnel
  • Charybdis
  • Charybdis Major
  • Chasma
  • Chernobog
  • Cinderfall
  • Cipactli
  • Cipactli's Jaw
  • Coalmaw
  • Cocytus
  • Cold Furnace
  • Collapsar
  • Collapsar Zero
  • Corona Borealis Deep
  • Cradle of Nothing
  • Crom Cruach
  • Crown of Nothing
  • Cygnus X-1

D: 23 names

  • Dagon
  • Dark Star
  • Darkwater
  • Dead Star
  • Deep Field Hole
  • Deep Field Object Thirteen
  • Deepwell
  • Deglutio
  • Demeter's Grief
  • Devorans
  • Devoratrix
  • Devourer
  • Devourer of Hours
  • Dirge
  • Dis
  • Dolorus
  • Donn
  • Door of Nothing
  • Dorado Chasm
  • Drinker of Stars
  • Drowned Sun
  • Duat
  • Dusk Engine

E: 24 names

  • Eater of Dawns
  • Echidna
  • Eclipse
  • Edax Rerum
  • Einstein Ring Core
  • Ekkor
  • Elder Dark
  • Ember's End
  • Empusa
  • Empusa's Lantern
  • Entropy
  • Erebus
  • Erebus Prime
  • Ereshkigal
  • Ereshkigal's Throne
  • Ergosphere
  • Eridanus Deep Seven
  • Eschaton
  • Eurydice Deep
  • Everhunger
  • Extremis
  • Eye of Harmony
  • Eye of Oorth
  • Eyesocket

F: 11 names

  • Fafnir's Bed
  • Fauces
  • Fenrir
  • Fenrir's Gape
  • Fenrir's Jaw
  • Ferryman's Mouth
  • Finis
  • First Dark
  • Foundling Dark
  • Foundry Deep
  • Frozen Star

G: 21 names

  • Ganzir
  • Gargantua
  • Garm
  • Gate of Teeth
  • Gehenna
  • Gello
  • Ghuul
  • Ginnungagap
  • Gjoll
  • Glutton's Throat
  • Gotterdammerung
  • Gravastar
  • Grave of Suns
  • Gravewell
  • Gravity's Throat
  • Grimhollow
  • GRS 1915+105
  • Gugalanna
  • Gula Magna
  • Gurges
  • GX 339 Lament

H: 27 names

  • Hades
  • Hastur
  • Hati
  • Hawking Radiance
  • Hawking's Eye
  • Hecate
  • Hecate's Torch
  • Hel
  • Hel's Gate
  • Helheim
  • Hercules Chasm
  • Hiatus Mundi
  • Hine-nui-te-po
  • HLX-4 Ossuary
  • Hollow Crown
  • Hollow Hunger
  • Hollowpoint
  • Holmberg 15A
  • Horizon Zero
  • Hraesvelgr
  • Hubble's Shadow
  • Humbaba
  • Hungering Dark
  • Hvergelmir
  • Hydra
  • Hydra Throat
  • Hypernova Remnant

I: 6 names

  • Infinitum
  • Iris Null
  • Irkalla
  • Irkalla Gate
  • Itzpapalotl
  • Ixion

J: 3 names

  • Jet Lance
  • Jormungand's Coil
  • Jormungand's Gullet

K: 23 names

  • Kaalshar
  • Kali
  • Kali's Hour
  • Kalpa
  • Keeper of Lost Light
  • Kek
  • Kenon
  • Keres
  • Kerr
  • Kerr-12 Requiem
  • Kerr-9 Lamentation
  • Kerr-Newman
  • Ketu
  • Khaos
  • Kharon
  • Khthon
  • Kingu
  • Koschei
  • Kraken Point
  • Kraken's Navel
  • Kronos
  • Kur
  • Kurnugi

L: 17 names

  • Lacuna
  • Lacuna-3
  • Ladon
  • Lamashtu
  • Lamia
  • Lamia's Cradle
  • Lanternfall
  • Last Ember
  • Lethaeum
  • Lethe
  • Leviathan
  • Leviathan Deep
  • Librarian of Light
  • Lightsbane
  • Lilith
  • Loch Dubh
  • Lyra Vortex II

M: 28 names

  • M87*
  • Maelstrom
  • Magnetar's Kiss
  • Magnetar's Shadow
  • Managarm
  • Mara
  • Mastema
  • Maw of Vethis
  • Melanos
  • Melinoe
  • Messier Nought
  • Mhorgul
  • Microquasar
  • Mictlan
  • Mictlantecuhtli
  • Mimir's Well
  • Mormo
  • Mormo's Mouth
  • Moros
  • Morrigan
  • Morrigna
  • Morrow
  • Mot
  • Mot's Throat
  • Mourning Star
  • Mouth of Winter
  • Mushussu
  • Muspell

N: 26 names

  • Nadir
  • Namtar
  • Naraka
  • Nastrond
  • Nemesis
  • Nergal
  • Nergal's Lamp
  • NGC Nowhere
  • Nhaal
  • Nidhogg
  • Nidhogg's Gnaw
  • Niflheim
  • Nightfall
  • Nightmaw
  • Nightwell
  • Nihil
  • Nihilos
  • Nihilum
  • Ninth Dark
  • Noctivora
  • Nocturna
  • Nox Ultima
  • Nun
  • Nyarlathotep
  • Nyx
  • Nyx's Veil

O: 23 names

  • Object Gehenna-2
  • Object Nyx-3
  • Object Omega
  • Oblivion
  • Obscura
  • Obsidia
  • Oizys
  • Old One
  • Omega Point
  • Oorth
  • Oppenheimer-Snyder
  • Orcus
  • Orcus Gate
  • Orion's Wound
  • Orphan Star
  • Orphanmaker
  • Orpheus Object
  • Orrin's Hole
  • Os Noctis
  • Ossuary
  • Oubliette
  • Ouroboros
  • Ouroboros Knot

P: 20 names

  • Pale Gyre
  • Pale Horse Deep
  • Pazuzu
  • Penrose
  • Penumbra
  • Persephone Gate
  • Perseus Eye
  • Phagos
  • Phlegethon
  • Phoenix A
  • Phoenix Hollow
  • Photon Crown
  • Photon Sphere
  • Phthora
  • Pit 4U-7
  • Plouton
  • Powehi
  • Pralaya
  • Profundis
  • Pulsar's Widow

Q: 3 names

  • Quasar Nine
  • Quasar Throat
  • Quiet Hunger

R: 9 names

  • Ragnarok
  • Rahab
  • Rahab's Fall
  • Rahu
  • Rahu's Mouth
  • Ravener
  • Reissner
  • Relativistic Jet
  • Requiem

S: 37 names

  • Sable Maw
  • Sagittarius A*
  • Samael
  • Schwarzschild
  • Schwarzschild Deep
  • Scylla
  • Scylla's Twin
  • Sector Null
  • Sedna
  • Sepulcher
  • Serpens Coil
  • Sextans Widow
  • Seyfert Core
  • Sgr B Null
  • Shadowfall
  • Shadowmere
  • Sheol
  • Sigma Drain
  • Silent Throat
  • Silentium
  • Singularity Prime
  • Skaldir
  • Skoll
  • Skotos
  • SRC-11 Tantalus
  • Starbreaker
  • Stareater
  • Starless Throne
  • Stealer of Suns
  • Stillwater
  • Styx
  • Sunswallow
  • Surt's Forge
  • Surtr
  • Surtr's Coal
  • Survey Marker Black Nine
  • Swallower of Worlds

T: 57 names

  • Tantalus
  • Tarblack
  • Tartareus
  • Tartarus
  • Tartarus Minor
  • Tau Null
  • Tech Duinn
  • Tenebrae Majoris
  • Tenebrion
  • Tenebris
  • Terminus
  • Tezcatlipoca
  • Thanatos
  • The Black Lantern
  • The Blindspot
  • The Deep Well
  • The Drain
  • The Drowned Star
  • The Furnace Door
  • The Glutton
  • The Gullet
  • The Gyre
  • The Hollow Sun
  • The Hungry Dark
  • The Iris
  • The Last Eye
  • The Lens
  • The Lensmaker
  • The Lightless Crown
  • The Long Fall
  • The Low Door
  • The Maw
  • The Null
  • The Pupil
  • The Quiet
  • The Silent Well
  • The Sink
  • The Sleeper Below
  • The Smothered Star
  • The Starving Crown
  • The Swallow
  • The Swallowing Quiet
  • The Unblinking
  • The Unending
  • The Unseen
  • The Warp
  • The Widow's Eye
  • Thief of Days
  • Threnody
  • Throat of Heaven
  • Throat of Night
  • Tiamat
  • Tidal Jaw
  • Tir na Marbh
  • TON 618
  • Tuum
  • Typhon

U: 13 names

  • Uffern
  • Uldrath
  • Ulthane
  • Ultima
  • Umbra
  • Umbra Maxima
  • Umbral Pupil
  • Umbriel
  • Unlit Cathedral
  • Unlit Heart
  • Unmade Star
  • Unmaking
  • Urd's Well

V: 13 names

  • V404 Cygni
  • Vastitas
  • Vela Gyre
  • Veles
  • Velunda
  • Vethis
  • Vhass
  • Voragine
  • Vorago
  • Vorax
  • Vritra
  • Vritra's Coil
  • Vulpecula Maw

W: 9 names

  • Webb's Gap
  • Well of Nhaal
  • Well of Sorrows
  • Well of Unreturn
  • Whiro
  • Widow of Orion
  • Widow's Well
  • Widowmaker
  • Worldgrinder

X: 2 names

  • XBH-7 Orpheus
  • Xibalba

Y: 5 names

  • Yama
  • Yggdrasil's Root
  • Ymir
  • Yog-Sothoth
  • Yomi

Z: 6 names

  • Zagreus
  • Zhuul
  • Ziz Void
  • Ziz's Shadow
  • Zophos
  • ZX-118 Gullet