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Gender: Female Meaning of Electra: "shining, bright" Origin of Electra: Greek

Electra Origin and Meaning

The name Electra is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "shining, bright".

Though the tragedies of the Greeks and Eugene O'Neill that used this name are filled with incest and murder, Electra is still a brilliant choice. Isabella Rossellini chose the gentler Italian verson, Elettra, for her now grown daughter.

16 names similar to Electra

These 16 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Electra. If you didn't find an alternative name that you like better than Electra, try our name generator. It allows you to go beyond the similarities of a name, which can provide a lot of inspiration!

Find other names based on Electra using our baby name generator.

Lists containing Electra

Electra in Blog Posts

Popularity

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Famous People Named Electra

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Electra Havemeyer Webb, American antiques collector; daughter of Henry Osborne Havemeyer and Louisine Elder
Electra Webb, daughter of Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Collins Doren, American suffragist and library scientist
Electra Niarchos (b. 1995), daughter of Greek shipping heir Philip Niarchos and Victoria Guinness
Carmen Electra, American actress
Anna Michaela Ebba Electra von Hausswolff, Swedish singer, pianist, organist and songwriter.

Pop Culture References for the name Electra

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Electra, princess of Argos in Greek mythology, who plotted to kill her mother Clytemnestra as revenge for the murder of her father Agamemnon
Electra Complex, female equivalent of an Oedipal Complex
"Mourning Becomes Electra," play cycle by Eugene O'Neill
"Electra Heart," album by Marina and the Diamonds, inspired by her alter ego Electra
Electra, kitten in musical "Cats"
Electra the Electric Train, character in musical "Starlight Express"
Electra, Cathy's dog from the comic strip "Cathy"
Electra, protagonist of the movie Love by Gaspar Noe.

Nicknames & Variations for Electra

Ellectra, Alectra, Oectra, Ellektra, Elektra

Electra's International Variations

Elettra (Italian)

Comments

EW314 Says:

2016-01-29T12:56:00

Close family members recently gave this as a middle name to their daughter. I was surprised, but I actually quite like it - at least in theory. The Italian variant, Elettra, is prettier though IMO.

The problem for me is the associations behind the name: the Electra Complex is the opposite of the Oedipus Complex, defined as "a girl's psychosexual competition with her mother for possession of her father"... Not great. I also think of Carmen Electra, and therefore skimpy swimsuits and fake boobs. Also not ideal.

Lola Says:

2015-12-11T02:06:43

Ellie as a nickname would be so cute!
Electra is pretty out there though....

Jinxgirl Says:

2015-06-18T14:31:00

It's an interesting name but I couldn't possibly look at an Electra and think of anything but the comic character

Jinxgirl Says:

2015-06-18T14:30:41

There are graphic novels about Elektra.

EryGasai Says:

2014-07-19T00:14:22

A beautiful, strong name. Definitely underrated.
I'd love to read a book with a main character named "Electra".