deep, dark secret

A piece of information that is extremely private and confidential, usually implied to be embarrassing, incriminating, or shameful. I've carried my fear of clowns as a deep, dark secret for many years now. Many saw her as a perfect candidate, but no one could have known she had a deep, dark secret from her past.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Manuel	mah-NWEL (Spanish), man-oo-EL (Portuguese), MAHN-oo-el (German)	Spanish, Portuguese, German, English, Italian, French, Romanian, Late Greek (Latinized)
Armida	-	Italian, Spanish
Ciriaco	chee-ree-AH-ko (Italian), thee-ree-AH-ko (Spanish), see-ree-AH-ko (Latin American Spanish)	Italian, Spanish
Rehav'am	-	Biblical Hebrew
Pons	-	French (Rare)
Ilia	eel-YAH (Russian)	Georgian, Russian, Bulgarian, Old Church Slavic