Panther Name Generator

Generate panther names for a black leopard, black jaguar or Florida panther: dark and night names like Onyx, Umbra and Nyx, words for panther in Swahili, Maya, Hindi, Arabic and Cherokee, place names from panther country, and famous panthers from Bagheera to Sir Purr.

About panther names

A panther is not one species. The black panther of the Jungle Book is a melanistic leopard in Asia and Africa or a melanistic jaguar in the Americas, while the Florida panther is a cougar and a Carolina or Pitt Panther is a mascot. Good panther names lean into the animal everyone pictures anyway: a black, silent, night-time hunter. That is why the most popular names are dark-coat words (Onyx, Obsidian, Ebony, Sable, Jet, Ink) and night words (Midnight, Nyx, Nox, Umbra, Nocturne, Vesper), followed by stealth words like Shadow, Phantom, Whisper and Prowler.

Language is the next layer. Chui is leopard in Swahili and Usiku is night; Balam is jaguar in Yucatec Maya and Ek Balam means black jaguar; Fahd is Arabic for panther; Tendua is leopard in Hindi and Kaala means black; Tlvdatsi is the Cherokee word for the cougar; Coowahchobee is the Seminole name for the Florida panther. Place names from real panther country also work well: Kabini and Nagarhole for India's famous black leopards, Laikipia for Kenya's, the Pantanal for jaguars, and Everglade, Cypress and Okeechobee for Florida.

The list rounds off with famous panthers and black cats, Bagheera, Sabor, Panthro, Salem, Luna and Sir Purr, plus a sprinkling of royal and mythic names such as Bast, Sekhmet, Hecate and Morrigan for a cat that clearly rules the jungle.

How to choose panther names

• Decide which panther you mean. A melanistic jaguar suits Maya and Spanish names (Balam, Sombra, Xibalba), a melanistic leopard suits Swahili or Hindi (Chui, Kaala, Kabini), and a Florida panther suits Seminole and Everglades names (Coowahchobee, Cypress, Okeechobee).
• Two syllables carry best when you call a real animal: Onyx, Nyx, Salem, Kali, Zuri and Bandit are shoutable, while Tezcatlipoca is a name for a character in a story.
• Avoid stacking two dark words. Shadow or Midnight alone sounds like a name; Midnight Shadow sounds like a perfume. If you want two parts, pair a dark word with a place or title, as in Lady Nyx or Madame Minuit.
• For a female panther, night goddesses and Arabic or Hindi night names give elegance without cliché: Nyx, Selene, Hecate, Layla, Nisha, Ratri, Zillah.
• For a mascot or team panther, pick something you can chant and print on a shirt: Pounce, Prowler, Sir Purr and Stanley C. Panther are the real-world models.

Frequently asked questions

What are good names for a black panther?

The classics are coat and night names: Onyx, Obsidian, Ebony, Sable, Jet, Midnight, Shadow, Nyx, Nox, Umbra, Nocturne and Eclipse. For something less common try Chui (leopard in Swahili), Ek Balam (black jaguar in Maya), Fahd (panther in Arabic), Kaala (black in Hindi), Kurohyo (black leopard in Japanese) or Saya, the famous black leopard of Kabini.

What is the panther's name in The Jungle Book?

Bagheera, the black panther who buys Mowgli from the wolves with a freshly killed bull and mentors him. In the Russian animated version Bagira is female. Other famous fictional panthers include Sabor (the leopard in Disney's Tarzan), Panthro from ThunderCats, Sir Purr of the Carolina Panthers and the Pink Panther.

What are good female panther names?

Night and darkness goddesses work well: Nyx, Hecate, Selene, Morrigan, Bast, Sekhmet, Kali. So do names meaning night or dark in other languages, such as Layla, Nisha, Ratri, Zillah, Melaina, Ciara and Leila, and soft coat words like Velvet, Sable and Satin.

Is a panther the same as a leopard or jaguar?

Black panther is a colour form, not a species: in Asia and Africa it is a melanistic leopard, in the Americas a melanistic jaguar. In Florida and much of the southern United States, panther means the cougar (Puma concolor). All three are in this list's naming sources, from Swahili and Hindi to Maya, Spanish and Seminole.

Related generators

All 500 panther names