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Gender: Female Pronunciation: ee-AN-thee; eye-AN-thee Meaning of Ianthe: "purple flower" Origin of Ianthe: Greek

Ianthe Origin and Meaning

The name Ianthe is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "purple flower".

Like Violet, Lavender and Lilac, Ianthe is a purple flower name. Chosen by the poet Shelley for his daughter, Ianthe has a poetic, romantic, almost ethereal quality. In the ancient myth, she was the daughter of Oceanus, supreme ruler of the sea, and also a Cretan woman so beautiful that when she died the Gods made purple flowers grow around her grave.

Iantha is also used.

Ianthe was a favorite of the pastoral poets of the seventeenth century and then again in the early nineteenth. She appears in the works of Shelley, Barbara Pym and Georgette Heyer. Writer Richard Brautigan named his daughter Ianthe.

16 names similar to Ianthe

These 16 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Ianthe. If you didn't find an alternative name that you like better than Ianthe, 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 Ianthe using our baby name generator.

Lists containing Ianthe

Ianthe in Blog Posts

Popularity

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Famous People Named Ianthe

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Ianthe Elizabeth Brautigan, American writer
Ianthe Eliza Shelley (1813-1876), daughter of the poet Shelley and his first wife Harriet Westbrook

Pop Culture References for the name Ianthe

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Ianthe Thomson, character in Rosamond Lehmann's "The Ballad and the Source" (1944)
Miss Ianthe Broome is a charming, refined young woman in a Barbara Pym novel.
Ianthe, character in John Polidori's "The Vampyre" (1819)
Ianthe (Demon Spawn), character in Sarah J. Maas's series "A Court of Thorns and Roses" (A Court of Mist and Fury)
Ianthe Violet Sin Ohne, character in Sherin Subhan's YA series on Wattpad "The Von Meer Academy"

Nicknames & Variations for Ianthe

Iantha, Janthia, Ianthina

Comments

Rachel_raised by mermaids Says:

2019-09-08T20:38:06

My absolute favorite girls' name. :)

Scarlett_mcm Says:

2017-08-05T02:29:21

I'm sorry I can only think if the evil character from a court of thorns and roses.

EW314 Says:

2016-02-13T20:42:01

Ianthe is gorgeous! I also probably slightly prefer Ione, but Ianthe is so stunning too. I say "eye-AN-thee" as well, but "ee-AN-thee" is a legitimate pronunciation too. Xanthe is another beautiful Greek option with a similar sound, though the X makes it a little bit spunkier IMO. But then the meaning isn't as pretty as Ianthe's.

eveyalecia Says:

2015-07-30T07:15:06

You are correct-- I had Ione open in another tab. I did mean eye-an-thee. Thanks!

Tina_and_Bert Says:

2015-07-29T22:04:50

I think you must've posted on the wrong name--there's most definitely a -th- in there. Perhaps you meant eye-an-thee?

eveyalecia Says:

2015-07-29T21:22:14

This is actually pronounced eye-oh-nee.*

*Edit: Correction-- I meant to say that this is pronounced eye-an-thee. (see below)
:)

Bobcat108 Says:

2015-07-21T02:46:45

I like this quite a bit, but IRL would probably use Ione instead. But for a book character... : )

Guest Says:

2014-08-07T20:06:26

I hated this name when I first saw but it hit me like a ton a bricks yesterday--I'm in love with it! I would easily use it for middle.