Laertes

lay-AIR-tees

Ancient Greek

"gatherer of the people"

Laertes Origin and Meaning

The name Laertes is a boy's name meaning "gatherer of the people".

An Ancient Greek name with a huge dose of literary credibility. Laertes was the father of Odysseus in Greek mythology, who therefore pops up in Homer's The Odyssey.

Laertes is even more familiar to English speakers as a central character in Shakespeare's Hamlet, the impetuous son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia who ends up (spoiler alert!) killing Hamlet with a poisoned sword.

Laertes is almost never used as a baby name today, but we think it has lots of potential. Variant Leart is slightly more popular -- it was given to 6 boys in 2016 -- and some may find it more approachable.

20 Names Similar to Laertes

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Laertes.

• Sher
• Ashor
• Eythor
• Leart
• Laert
• Berjouhi
• Lyre
• Tishka
• Takaani
• Devraj
• Ezykiel
• Siraj
• Xoan
• Sahir
• Bashir
• Samar
• Heulfryn
• Theory
• Pryor
• Pasha

Laertes in Pop Culture

• Laertes character in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" ('He is justly serv'd. It is a poison temper'd by himself'. Act 62.)
• Laertes father of Odysseus in Greek mythology