Category: mythological baby names
A Spring Flowering of Greek Names
Angel Thomas, best-known to the Nameberry community as Dantea, is an expert on Greek names. Today she brings us an authoritative look at Greek names that relate to the spring season.
Spring is the time of year for gentle rains and soft winds, the greening of leaves and the growing of flowers. The animals are all awakening and the season of rebirth starts. It’s probably the most romanticized season. Historically, Spring has been known as the time for having babies, for birth and fertility and in recent studies, Spring and mid-Summer have statistically had more births. If you’re looking for a name that represents the springtime and all its lovely flowers and greenery, I have a list of generally underused Greek names just for you.
Goddesses of the Spring
Persephone – Persephone is pronounced per-SEF-oh nee and she’s the queen of the underworld, wife of Hades and goddess of spring growth. While Persephone generally has a bad rep, it’s really a very lovely name. She’s the reason we have flowers and green things during the Spring and Summer. Though her name has been attributed to having a negative meaning, it’s really an unknown as the words for ‘dark blue’ and the word for ‘sound’ both appear in her name.
Space Names: The Men on the Moon
Exactly forty-three years ago, on July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 spaceflight landed the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the moon, with Armstrong being the first to step onto the lunar surface six hours later, famously describing the event as “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This effectively ended the space race with Russia and fulfilled a goal set by John F. Kennedy in 1961.
To commemorate this historic event, here are some space names directly and indirectly related to the Apollo mission, later space missions, and to the moon itself.
Apollo Mission
Apollo— The Apollo program was named after the Greek god of light, music and the sun by NASA manager Abe Silverstein, who said he chose it “like I’d name my baby,” after perusing a mythology book and seeing an image of Apollo riding his chariot across the sun.
Ancient Names: Beyond Jupiter and Mars
We’re all familiar with the ancient Greek and Roman pantheons of mythological deities, from Adonis and Athena to Zeus, but there a number of other ancient names from other cultures with their own pantheons of intriguing god and goddesses. We’ve delved into the some of the most intriguing mythologies—Egyptian, Phoenician, Norse, Celtic, Indian, African, et al– and discovered some striking ancient names for the intrepid baby namer.
GIRLS
ÁINE (AWN-ya)– Irish Celtic goddess of love, summer, wealth and fertility
AINO (EYE-no) – A Finnish mythological water sprite
ALA—African (Nigerian) creator goddess and earth mother
ANAHITA – A Persian mythological goddess of river and water
ANCASTA – A Celtic goddess worshipped in Roman Britain
ANNIKKI (accent on the first syllable) – A forest goddess in Finnish mythology
ANU – Irish Celtic goddess of fertility, magic, moon, air and prosperity
ASTARTE – Ancient Phoenician goddess of love, fertility, motherhood and war (morphed into Greek mythology as Aphrodite)
ASTRILD – Norse goddess of love
ATLA—Norse water goddess
BELISAMA – A Celtic goddess of light and fire
BRANWEN –Irish Celtic goddess of love, beauty, sexuality and the sea
BRIGHID (pronounced breed) — Irish goddess of fertility and creativity, martial arts and healing
DAMARA – Celtic fertility goddess worshipped in Britain, associated with the month of May
DANU – Irish Celtic mother of the deities , goddess of rivers, water, magic, prosperity and wisdom
ELAINE – A Welsh Celtic maiden moon goddess
ELLI—Norse goddess of old age who managed to defeat Thor in wrestling
FREYA – Norse goddess of love, beauty, war, magic and wisdom; the most beautiful of the goddesses
INANNA – A Sumerian goddess of the earth, sky and love—and also war
ISIS – an Egyptian goddess, known as mistress of charms or enchantments
KALMA – Finnish goddess of death and decay (maybe skip this one)
KALI – Hindu goddess of power (and—oops—destruction)
LAKSHMI—Hindu goddess of beauty and prosperity, purity, chastity and generosity
LEZA — African goddess of protection and divination
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