Alternative to Hero

Girl Names
1

Hi there! Me and my partner are expecting a baby girl later this year. I’ve kept a name list for several years, but since I fell pregnant… I’ve become absolutely fixated on the name Hero. Yep yep, I know it’s an acquired taste that some will never like. I love the romantic notions associated with it, that it has both a history in mythology and Shakespearean connotations, that it is at once classical but feels distinctly modern.

Alas, my partner has vetoed it. I am devastated (and still kind of hoping I can work on him over the next 6 months…).

Her middle name will be ‘Stefania’ which is a compromise we have come to (to honour his late sister Stephanie). This is not a name I would have chosen otherwise.

So, the question is… any Hero alternatives that you could suggest? Nothing I’ve come up with so far inspires me quite so much.

2

Maybe a name from Greek mythology or Shakespeare would work?

Artemis
Ajuna (uh-joo-nuh or uh-yoo-nuh; in Greenlandic mythology, Ajuna was the name of a woman who flees from her pursuer and becomes the sun)
Andromeda
Antigone
Calanthe (kuh-LAN-thee)
Calliope (ka-LYE-oh-pee)
Ophelia
Pandora
Thisbe

maybe you could get your partner to agree on Hero for a second middle? that way you each get one middle? ____ Hero Stefania or ____ Stefania Hero would be awesome!

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3

Thanks for these thoughtful options! You have excellent insight - I’ve been toying with [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] particularly for quite a while, and I love [name_f]Antigone[/name_f] and [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] particularly.

I love the idea of sneaking [name_u]Hero[/name_u] in there somewhere if I can, even as a middle name, but unfortunately her surname will be my partner’s which is a longwinded Eastern European name ending with an ‘a’ sound, so I want to keep it to a pretty strict first and middle.

4

i’m glad to have helped!

maybe Hero could be used as a middle for another kid in the future, if you decide to have one?

good luck on your naming journey!

1 Like
5

How about
[name_u]Eden[/name_u]
[name_u]Nyx[/name_u]
[name_f]Juno[/name_f]
[name_f]Hera[/name_f]
[name_f]Regina[/name_f]
[name_u]Arden[/name_u]
[name_f]Celeste[/name_f]
[name_f]Estelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Stella[/name_f]
[name_f]Zara[/name_f]
[name_f]Xena[/name_f]
[name_u]Lyric[/name_u]
[name_f]Faye[/name_f]
[name_u]Rebel[/name_u]
[name_f]Reverie[/name_f]
[name_f]Daphne[/name_f]
[name_f]Nimue[/name_f]
[name_f]Niamh[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f]
Esmerée

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6

Honor or Valor maybe? Haven?

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7

[name_f]Hera[/name_f] is a good (though maybe obvious?) alternative, or even [name_m]Hiro[/name_m] which is Japanese & has various meanings

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8

These are great ideas, it didn’t even occur to me to explore virtue names. [name_u]Haven[/name_u] especially is quite lovely.

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9

Thank you for taking the time to share these. I now have my eye on [name_f]Hera[/name_f] in particular!

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10

This is actually a really sensible suggestion. I’ve actually flirted with it and not been 100% sure, but I love the meaning and it really is almost identical to [name_u]Hero[/name_u]. I am going to run it past my partner. Unfortunately, one of the reasons he dislikes [name_u]Hero[/name_u] is because it sounds too much like [name_m]Hiro[/name_m], and he thinks that would be culturally insensitive (weird argument from him!).

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11

Clio!!! I think this would feel familiar enough to be workable for your partner, also has a similar vibe to Hero, being the name of one of the muses in Greek mythology, and it still features the -o ending. And Clio Stefania sounds lovely as a combo.

Some other ideas:
Odette Stefania
Xanthe Stefania
Juno Stefania
Artemis Stefania
Bronte Stefania
Guinevere Stefania
Heloise Stefania
Echo Stefania
Yvaine Stefania
Thessaly Stefania
Freja Stefania
Anemone Stefania
Lorelei Stefania
Esme Stefania
Dido Stefania
Calliope Stefania
Thais Stefania
Vero/ Véro Stefania
Enid Stefania
Magdalen Stefania
Hecate Stefania
Feo Stefania
Lux Stefania
Eres Stefania
Callisto Stefania
Eulalie Stefania
Isolde Stefania
Zora Stefania
Antoine Stefania
Morrigan Stefania

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12

[name_f]Hera[/name_f], [name_u]Honor[/name_u] and [name_u]Haven[/name_u] are great suggestions.

I was going to suggest [name_f]Juno[/name_f] [name_f]Stefania[/name_f] and [name_u]Echo[/name_u] [name_f]Stefania[/name_f] as alternatives to [name_u]Hero[/name_u], but I can see they’ve already been suggested too! You can’t really go wrong with any of these names though. I love this category of girls names and they’re particularly fun with [name_f]Stefania[/name_f] in the middle!

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13

Hello

Firstly what a shame [name_u]Hero[/name_u] has been vetoed because it is so gorgeous (I too love both the mythological and literary references).

I agree with previous posters that [name_u]Echo[/name_u], [name_f]Cleo[/name_f] and [name_f]Juno[/name_f] feel really similar to me.

A few other options:
[name_f]Io[/name_f]
[name_f]Dido[/name_f]
[name_f]Lethe[/name_f]
[name_f]Ariadne[/name_f]
[name_f]Ngaio[/name_f]
[name_f]Ianthe[/name_f]
[name_u]Brio[/name_u]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]

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14

Hero is a very cool name, but I can see your husband’s point, too.

Not to fear, there are lots of great suggestions here. I particularly like Clio/Cleo for the Greek muse reference and it flows really well with Stefania, which is gorgeous!

If I could add a few more:

Iro
Glory
Lilo or Lilou
Hebe
Halo
Noble
Xantho
Claude
Imogen
Ariel
Dion
Isidore
Phebe
Cymbeline
Blythe
Brave
Tru/True/Truly
Honore
Verona

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15

I also thought you might be able to do a name where you could use [name_u]Hero[/name_u] as a nickname?

[name_f]Hannelore[/name_f]
Hannah-Rose
Hattie-Roux
Haley-Ruth
Heidi-Roe/Rowe
Helen-Royce
[name_f]Hermione[/name_f]
[name_f]Heroica[/name_f]
[name_f]Asterope[/name_f]
[name_f]Derowen[/name_f]

There’s also [name_f]Bertille[/name_f] or [name_f]Valda[/name_f] which mean “heroine.”

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16

[name_f]Athena[/name_f]
[name_f]Juno[/name_f]
[name_u]Indigo[/name_u]
[name_u]Echo[/name_u]
[name_f]Astrid[/name_f]
[name_f]Isolde[/name_f]

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17

[name_u]Hero[/name_u] is gorgeous so it’s a shame you can’t use it

[name_f]Cleo[/name_f]
[name_f]Juno[/name_f]
[name_u]Winter[/name_u]
[name_u]Caro[/name_u]
[name_f]Naia[/name_f]
[name_u]Rue[/name_u]
[name_f]Cressida[/name_f]
[name_f]Leandra[/name_f]
[name_f]Elara[/name_f]
[name_f]Isabeau[/name_f]
[name_f]Merrily[/name_f]
[name_f]Neva[/name_f]

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18

I know the disappointment of having your favorite name vetoed! Happened to me with both my kids, but happily they ended up with names I have no regrets about (and ditto for their dad!).

[name_f]Juno[/name_f]
[name_f]Clio[/name_f]
[name_f]Hera[/name_f]
These have all been suggested but came straight to mind when I read your post.
So did [name_f]Io[/name_f], which I think is very cool, but might be a hard sell to someone who had already vetoed [name_u]Hero[/name_u]. Maybe as a nickname to [name_f]Iona[/name_f]?

I have a real soft spot for “o” ending names for girls. [name_f]Juno[/name_f] and [name_f]Clio[/name_f] are my two favorites, but [name_f]Margot[/name_f] is also great (or [name_f]Margo[/name_f] if you want to go minimalist, or [name_f]Margaux[/name_f] if you want to go decidedly anti-minimalist French!).

Speaking of [name_u]French[/name_u], this was my first choice girls’ name (vetoed, alas!): [name_u]Léonie[/name_u], with [name_m]Leo[/name_m] as a nickname!

More from the Greek mythology side:
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Daphne[/name_f]
[name_f]Leda[/name_f]

Also quite different, but has a similar spirit and some shared sounds: [name_u]Romy[/name_u]

Lastly, for the [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m] side, these are some that are a bit more rare than say, [name_f]Juliet[/name_f], or [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f]:

[name_f]Nerissa[/name_f]
[name_f]Cordelia[/name_f] (Cora for short?)
[name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] (as suggested above)

Good luck! I think [name_f]Stefania[/name_f] makes a beautiful middle name and I’m sure it will mean so much to your husband and his family.

I’m very curious to hear what new ideas you have, because [name_u]Hero[/name_u] is so pretty!

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19

I just had one more out-of-the-box idea: [name_m]Vero[/name_m].

In [name_f]France[/name_f] [name_f]Véro[/name_f] is commonly used as short for [name_f]Véronique[/name_f], maybe it could be “anglicized” to [name_m]Vero[/name_m] (as a nickname for [name_f]Veronica[/name_f] or as a spin-off of Vera).

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20

Yes I totally suggested this one too! I really love Vero and feel like while it’s a diminutive, it could easily stand on it’s own as a full name (honestly though Veronique is so pretty too!)

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