User-created list
By lavenderwitch · Updated May 2023
Across 9 pages
of 9
Greek
"gold"
Cressida is a golden, mythological, and Shakespearean name, much better known in Britain than it is in the US. Given to just 11 American girls in a recent year — though still the highest number on…
Mesopotamian
"lady of heaven"
An ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war and justice, with a name that fits modern tastes. In recent years it has become a rare but steady fixture near the bottom of the charts, and feels full of…
English word name
"the time at which something is most powerful or successful; the point in the celestial sphere directly above an observer"
A tip-top word name—literally, Zenith means the top or apex. Zen makes a cute nickname.
English from Latin
"when the sun stands still"
Solstice graduated from word to official first name when author Lionel Shriver used it for a character in her novel Big Brother . But of course, there were people named Solstice before: 16 baby girls…
Short form of Ursula, Latin
"little female bear"
Ursa might be a good choice if you're looking for a bear name for your daughter but want to avoid the She Witch curse placed on Ursula by Disney's The Little Mermaid . Too bad, because Ursula is a…
French form of Apollonia, feminine variation of Apollo, Greek mythology name
"destroyer"
Apolline is a luscious French name chic in Paris -- it's a Top 100 name for baby girls in France -- and ripe for the plucking in the English-speaking world. Derived from the mythological name Apollo,…
Latin
"mist"
Could be the next Nova, now that celestial baby names are in the ascendent.
Place name and modern variation of Astraea, Asteria, Astra, or Setarah, Greek, Pesian
"star"
A bright and sparkly choice, likely inspired by a variety of Greek names that ultimately derive from the element aster meaning "star", or from the Persian Setarah, also meaning "star". It is also the…
"star of the sea"
Stella Maris ("star of the sea") is an historic title for the Virgin Mary, in use since at least the early medieval period. Although it actually arose from a scribal error in the etymology of the…
"cloudy"
An enchanting ancient Greek name belonging to the Greek goddess who was created from a cloud by Zeus and so became goddess of the clouds and mother of the centaurs. The name Nephele is not widely…
Greek mythology name
The mythological queen whose perpetual weeping for her slain children turned her into a stone has always cast a pall over this name. Still, when other names with less-than-savory associations --…
"giant, great one"
This name of the queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream has a delicate, lacy charm similar to Tatiana's, but that first syllable could cause embarrassing problems.
Slavic
Zorya is the name of the two star goddess in Slavic mythology, Zorya Utrennyaya and Zorya Vechernyaya, referring to the morning and evening stars, respectively. It's used as a name in Russia and…
"tender goddess"
In Greek mythology, Amalthea is the name of a goat (or, sometimes, a goat-keeping nymph) who nursed the infant Zeus and protected him from his murderous father, Cronus. Thanks to the goat’s…
"eagle"
An evocative ancient word that's used as a first name in the New Testament, among other places. It's also the name of an eagle-shaped constellation. That said, contemporary interest in the name…
Italian
"little fiery one"
Fiammetta, from the Italian word for flame, has both femininity and fire. Fiammetta could make a good alternative to more conventional Italian girls' names like Giovanna. Fiammetta has some romantic,…
"demi-god"
Despite the possibility of gender confusion, the Hero in Greek myth was a woman. Myleene Klass got that when she chose Hero for her daughter, and Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson used it as their…
Ancient place-name, feminine variation of Illyrius, Greek
Illyria can trace all its varied associations to the name of an ancient place in the western part of the Balkan peninsula, also called Illyricum. Its inhabitants, conquered by the Romans in 168 BC,…
Io may be one of the slightest names in the book, but there aren't many two-letter names with as much substance as this Greek mythological example. Io, a name used for the largest moon of Jupiter,…
Ancient Greek
"inescapable"
In Greek mythology, Adrastea (or Adrasteia) was a nymph who helped raise the infant Zeus. It was also sometimes used as an alternate name for several other goddesses, and is the name of one of the…
