Greek Girl Names

Peggy

Diminutive of Margaret, Greek

"pearl"

Just when we had written off Peggy as the eternal perky, pug-nosed prom-queen she projected from the 1920s into the fifties, along came Mad Men , with intriguing mid-century characters with names…

Medea

Greek

"middle"

Mythological princess who killed her kids. Eternal no-no.

Medora

Greek

"mother's gift"

Medora is a Greek name much less common here than, say, Melanie or Melissa. It has some literary references, including as the beautiful and passionate heroine of Lord Byron's poem The Corsair, and in…

Melania

Spanish and Greek variation of Melanie

"black"

The current wife of Donald Trump, Slovenian model Melania Knauss, brought this pretty version to the fore. Saint Melania was an heiress who freed thousands of enslaved people.

Melantha

Greek

"dark flower"

The th sound both softens and complicates this Melanie relative.

Melora

Greek

"golden apple"

Euphonic hybrid of the sounds of Melissa and Laura. Melora Hardin is an actress who was featured on The Office.

Mahail

Mahail is an uncommon feminine name with multiple potential origins. It may be a variant spelling of Mihail, the Slavic and Romanian form of Michael, meaning 'who is like God?' Alternatively, it…

Mahaila

Mahaila is a feminine name that appears to be a variant spelling of Michaela or Mikayla, which derive from the Hebrew name Michael, meaning 'who is like God?' This alternative spelling incorporates…

Muse

Greek mythology name

Remember, the Muse is passive: someone else's inspiration.

Myrtle

Greek botanical name

Long in our category of so-far-out-it-will-always-be-out category, once seen as a gum-cracking 1940's telephone operator, we think it's time to reassess Myrtle, and look at is as a nature name, a…

Zenaida

Greek

"the life of Zeus; dedicated to Zeus"

A powerful name with an intriguing air of antiquity, Zenaida has the freshness of Zephyr and Azalea too. Meaning "life of Zeus" or "dedicated to Zeus", it was notably borne by the first-century…

Nani

Nani is a multicultural feminine name with origins spanning several traditions. In Hawaiian, it means 'beautiful' or 'glory,' while it can also be a shortened form of names like Danielle or Natalie…

Neoma

Greek or Hebrew

"new moon; pleasantness"

An obscure yet on-trend name with two wonderful meanings associated with it. Neoma is one of the freshest celestial girl names with moon-related meanings, rarer than Luna or Phoebe but with the same…

Narcissa

Greek

"daffodil"

This Greek flower and mythological choice doesn't make it into the pantheon of possibilities because of its association with narcissism. But narcissa is December's flower of the month, so Narcissa…

Narda

Greek botanical name; Latin

"fragrant"

Too close to Nada.

Nemea

Greek place-name

The name of a famous valley in ancient Greece, with ties to the historic Nemean Games.

Neola

Greek

"the young one"

Has an arty, creative image.

Nerida

Greek; Aboriginial

"sea nymph, mermaid; red waterlily"

This is one of the more unusual examples of a group of Greek names connected to the sea, which makes sense for a nation of coastline and islands. The Nereids or water nymphs were the daughters of sea…

Nerine

Greek mythology name

A new brand of eyedrop.

Nerissa

Greek

"from the sea"

An offbeat possible replacement for the overused Melissa and Marisa, Nerissa was used by Shakespeare for Portia's witty confidante in The Merchant of Venice . Queen Elizabeth has a cousin named…