Electra

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

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The name Electra is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "shining, bright". Electra and is often added to lists like Unique Girl Names: Unusual and Rare and discussed in our forums with posts like "Quintuplet Game-GIRLS".

From the experts:

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, Elletra, for her now grown daughter.

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

Lists containing Electra:

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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.

Ellectra, Alectra, Oectra, Ellektra, Elektra

Electra's International Variations

Elettra (Italian)

Electra in Blog Posts

Electra in the Forums

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.