Ariadne

The only Ariadne I know said it like ari-add-knee

Phaedra was Ariadne's mythological sister. I think it would make for a beautiful and distinctive sibset.

British Navy? My dad's was Andromeda.

Maybe its cause im stupid but, even with it sounded out, i cant pronounce it

For me, it's not that it sounded like arachne, the spelling just made me think of Arachnid/Arachne. I actually had to look up how the scientific name for spider was spelled to recall how it was spelled after I saw this name lol dyslexic issues

I have no idea why but there is something about this name I just can't stand. No real reason why. Just don't like it.

This is my name and it's not pronounced that way at all. The "D" is silent...like Ariadne..Short A...pronounced Ari-Yann...my mom's boss is Greek and even she don't pronounce the D upon seeing my name without correction...I've had my name pronounced ari -add- nee,Adriana,Adrian...mostly Adriane...I go by Arie

Thanks. :)

This one's very pretty!

You should mention something about the constellation in the main text. It's where I first heard this name as a child. :)

i actually think Astrid and Ariadne make cute sister names. They both start with A, otherwise not really similar.

I think it depends on your accent. "air" seems equally correct.

So, is nameberry's first syllable "air" wrong then? Should be ar as in car, not air?

This is my sister's name. We pronounce it " ah-ree-ADD-nee " ... We call her Ari, pronounced " AH-ree"
People have incorrectly called her Adriane her whole life, and she corrects them. We've joked that they must be dyslexic.

Oh I love your name Theodora, do you get that shortened to Theo or Dora?

It's pronounced like that if you're speaking Greek.Many people here do not speak Greek.It's like with Gertrude-do most people pronounce it the authentic German way?

I'm trying to get this. With your explanation it's almost impossible to say in English for me. As an example, it is extremely difficult for me to go from "e", said like the beginning of era, to "a", said like father. Further, for me, my era and air sound identical except that era has an on the end. Unfortunately so does my "th" in thistle and the ( see other reply to you).

Okay so what I end with is: R-E (Era/AIr)-AHTH-NEE or ah-ree-E (era/air)-ahth-nee.

How's that? I'm trying to help so many seem to love the name, but are butchering the pronunciation. Which is a shame.

So you're saying it's pronounced ar-ay-ATHE-nee or ar-ee-ATHE-nay? And the "TH" is voiced (like "the" as opposed to "thistle")?

Beautiful, beautiful name! It's light and elegant, but bold too with that -adne ending - it's amazing what a difference the d makes! Ariane is a lovely name but has none of the spunk and substance of the gorgeous original.

I would name a daughter this in a heartbeat - the only problem is my equal love for Astrid, which is a bit too close for a sibling. Decisions, decisions...

This is Ellen Page's character in Inception.

Love all the comments here, especially the ones about how the name should be pronounced. ... But I'm being unfair to everyone, to you it's just an exotic foreign name. I don't know if this is going to help at all, but the name is pronounced AREATHNE (with “E" as in “era" and “TH” as in “the". Oh, and “A" is a clear sound, maybe as in “father"? It's got nothing to do with “air", come on, people). And it's written Αριάδνη. If anyone is giving their daughter this lovely name, they might just as well know how to write it.

I have trouble pronouncing this name. It looks like a typo of Ariane. I like the sound of a name, but since I can't say very well myself, it seems pretty unusable.

If I pronounce this name as air-ee-ahd-nee it sounds like I'm saying hairy hard knee with a West Country accent.

Ariadne was the name of a spunky & sweet character in The Luck of Daphne Tolliver. The mom in Daphne's family named all the kids from Bulfinch's Mythology, so all of the kids had names like Apollo, Diana, etc. I've always heard Ariadne pronounced as Aa-ree-ADD-nee; I like Are-ee-AHD-nee as well but not pronounced w/the first syllable as Air. Ari's a great nn, too.

I thought Invented the name because I heard it in my dream.

Love it! Was dad's ship in the navy, he pronounces it Ari ADD nay but he is northern :) nn addy I think, Ari sounds like Harry in a cockney accent :P

I love it- and the nicknames Ari, Aria, and Addie (mostly Ari though). This is a huge huge huge guilty pleasure name for me. I'm not sure I'd have the guts to use it for a real-life baby daughter, but it's gorgeous!

She's the little girl who nobody can help but calling Ari, and when she grows up and people wonder about her full name she gets to say "Ariadne", and everyone is ooing and awwing at how beautiful it is

The Greeks don't have a syllable "air". Aristotle is pronounced ar-stotle not air-istotle

its Air-ee-ADD-nee. You have been saying it correctly. Congrats!

People may think it's Adriane

lovely meaning, very melodic but also quite bold

I misread it as Adriane.

Oh ok!

I pronounce it ar-ee-AD- nee. AR as in car, EE as in Bee, AD as in bad, NEE as in bee.

Is it supposed to be pronounced like Air-ee-odd-nee? I've been pronouncing it like Air-ee-add-nee..

When I learned about its origin and heard the pronunciation, I fell in love. I do not hear any resemblance to Arachne whatsoever.

When I first saw this name a couple years ago I thought it was a mispelling of Adriana. And yeah it reminds me of Arachne, in which who wants their name to conjure up images of spiders?

if it sounds like arachne you are pronouncing it wrong! With a nickname like Ari (ARE-ee) who wouldn't love it?

There is no end to all of Ariadne's loveliness.

It does sound a bit like Arachne...

There are hardly any similarities between the two.

looks like arachnid..