Meliora

mel-ee-OR-ah; mel-YOHR-ah
Latin, Cornish
"better; honey"

Meliora Origin and Meaning

The name Meliora is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "better; honey".

Unusual and lush Roman name adopted, improbably, by the Puritans.

The Cornish version, pronounced mel-YOHR-ah, has been in use since the 13th century.

Meliora Popularity

Meliora in Pop Culture

  • Mellyoracharacter in Victoria Holt's novel "The Legend of the Seventh Virgin" set in Cornwall, counterpart to the heroine, Kerensa. ("I called her Melly to myself, just to rob her of a little dignity. Mellyora! It sounded so pretty when people said it. I have never heard that Mellyora meant anything.")
  • Mellioraheroine,victim ("Damp not the fires thou hast rais'd with seeming Coiness! I know thou art mine...By Heaven, cry'd he: I will this Night be Master of my Wishes, no Matter what to Morrow may bring forth!") in Eliza Haywood's novel "Love in Excess; or, The Fatal Enquiry" (1719,20)
  • MelioraMotto for the University of Rochester, translated as "ever better"