God Names from Myth and Legend

Quirinal

Latin

"of Quirinus"

The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, and the site of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who lives in the Quirinal Palace. It was named for the Roman god Quirinus,…

Quirinus

Roman mythology name

Quirinus is the Roman god of thunder and lightning, believed by some to be the Sabine god of war. While this is an intriguing and distinctive classic name, it also might provoke some middle school…

Perkūnas

Lithuanian

"oak tree, fir tree"

Perkūnas was the Baltic god of thunder, one of the most important deities of Baltic mythology. His name is derived from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning "oak tree" or "fir tree", which he also…

Shango

African, Yoruba, mythology name

More substantial than it sounds: Shango was the god of thunder and legendary ancestor of the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

Parthenios

Greek mythology name

Parthenios, the name of a Greek river god, is draped in a toga.

Tane

Maori, Tahitian

"man, male"

In Maori mythology Tāne (also called Tāne Mahuta) was the god of forests and birds, son of the sky god Rangi and the earth goddess Papa. Tāne was the one who pushed his powerful parents apart to…

Orpheus

Greek mythology name

"the darkness of the night"

Name of the legendary ancient Greek poet and musician — whose music was so beautiful it made trees dance and rivers stop to listen — would provide a child with a challenging but indelible identity.

Thoth

Egyptian, Greek

"like the ibis"

An Egyptian mythology name, Thoth was a god of the moon, science, art, judgement, writing, magic and science, among others. The Egyptian form of his name is theorised to have been Djehuti, but he is…

Triton

Greek mythology name

The Greek god Triton was the messenger of the sea and the son of sea god Neptune. He is usually represented as a merman, the the head and upper body of a human and the lower body of a sea creature.…

Uku

Estonian deity

God of the sky, weather, thunder, and the harvest in Estonian mythology. His names in Finnish mythology include Ukko, Äijä, and Äijö.

Olimpio

Greek

"pertaining to the Mount Olympus of Greek mythology"

One way to reference mythology without naming your son after a god.

Yarilo

Serbian, Croatian, and Russian deity

God of rebirth worshipped in Central and Eastern Europe. Yarilo represented the sacred youthful life-force and was associated with spring and agricultural fertility.

Velnias

Lithuanian deity

God of the underworld in Lithuanian mythology, known as "the phantom of the dead". He is a one-eyed, prophetic trickster capable of raising whirlwinds and leading the host of the dead through the…

Volos

Proto-Slavic deity

God of cattle, earth, and the underworld worshipped in Slavic areas. He is considered the opponent of the thunder god Perun, and is imagined as a dragon-like figure — resembling a cross between a…

Oisin

Irish

"little deer"

Oisin is one of the most popular Irish baby names in its native land, though largely unknown in the US. The original Oisin was the mythological son of Finn McCool and Sadb, the goddess who was…

Oengus

Irish mythology name, variation of Angus

"one choice"

Oengus is the old Irish form of the name most commonly found in the modern world as Angus, typically Scottish. In Irish mythology, Oengus is the god of youth, love, and poetry.

Nereus

Greek mythology name

"water"

The name of the father of the sea nymphs -- or one of its shorter forms such as Nereo or Nerio -- would be somewhat easier for a child to carry than Neptune. The name Nereus is largely forgotten but…

Bennu

Egyptian mythology

"to rise in brilliance, to shine"

Gentle sounding but with a bright and powerful meaning, Bennu is a name associated with both mythology and astronomy. Originally an ancient Egyptian deity, Bennu is associated with the sun, creation,…

Nebo

Babylonian mythology name

Sounds like a name from an old science fiction movie -- but this god of letters invented writing, and so might interest parents who are writers or professors.

Narvi

Norse Mythology

A variant spelling of Narfi. The Narvi spelling also belongs to a moon of Saturn and a dwarf in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.