Recently discovered this site and am very glad I did! My husband and I are expecting a baby girl in [name]August[/name]. She will join our older daughter, [name]Clio[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name] [name]Ruth[/name]. My husband and I are both self-proclaimed nerds (I’m getting my doctorate in medieval literature, my husband is a historian…) and love names that come from mythology, history and literature. [name]Clio[/name] is named for the Greek muse of history, [name]Emmeline[/name] Pankhurst (suffragette and a personal hero of mine) and my husband’s grandmother, [name]Ruth[/name]. Each name carries significance and a lot of love. Naming #2 is proving to be a daunting task. We’d like to follow the same formula (mythological+historical+familial) but haven’t found the perfect names yet. Below I’ve listed short lists of names we’re considering in the mythological/historical categories (we’ll do family later).
What are we forgetting? What do you like? What would you pair with [name]Clio[/name]?
I think that [name]Iris[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] is great. It’s also really powerful if you thing about the myth / history behind it! I like [name]Persephone[/name] but I don’t think that it is usable as a first name. [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Persephone[/name] is cool , but that’s breaking with your pattern.[name]Ariadne[/name] is pretty but she will probably have to correct everyone one all time , with spelling and pronounciation. Still , [name]Ariadne[/name] [name]Joan[/name] is pretty.
[name]Welcome[/name] to Nameberry! I really love [name]Ariadne[/name] and [name]Iris[/name] from your Mythological category, [name]Catherine[/name], [name]Clara[/name], and [name]Eleanor[/name] from your Historical. I love the idea of [name]Ariadne[/name] [name]Catherine[/name], [name]Ariadne[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Ariadne[/name] [name]Clara[/name], [name]Iris[/name] [name]Catherine[/name], and [name]Iris[/name] [name]Clara[/name]. I’m most partial to [name]Ariadne[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name], though, as [name]Arianne[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Kate[/name] is my second favorite girls’ name. I think [name]Clio[/name] and [name]Ariadne[/name] would be perfect together!
I don’t have a huge handle on Greek mythology names… it’s just not something that’s ever particularly interested me, but it seems to be all the rage, lately, and there are a lot of pretty names. Have you considered:
[name]Echo[/name]
[name]Athena[/name]
[name]Persephone[/name]
[name]Phoebe[/name] (I think this is Greek mythological… I’ve also heard it was Biblical, I don’t know that much about it but I do think it is rather perfect!)
[name]Daphne[/name] (love this! I think [name]Clio[/name] and [name]Daphne[/name] would be really cute)
[name]Maia[/name]
[name]Gaia[/name]
[name]Thalia[/name]
[name]Calliope[/name]
[name]Io[/name]
I really like the idea of [name]Ariadne[/name] [name]Harriet[/name] or [name]Maia[/name] [name]Harriet[/name]… or [name]Ariadne[/name] [name]Amelia[/name]…
Historical References (particularly to powerful ladies):
I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Ariadne[/name]. There’s also [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Helen[/name]/[name]Helena[/name] (I prefer [name]Helena[/name]), [name]Lita[/name]/[name]Leda[/name], [name]Diana[/name], [name]Selene[/name], [name]Harmony[/name]/[name]Harmonia[/name], [name]Minerva[/name]
[name]Elizabeth[/name] (the queen)
[name]Victoria[/name] (same)
[name]Anne[/name] ([name]Anne[/name] Boleyn) or [name]Anna[/name] (as she was called by some–there’s an opera named after her using that name)
[name]Lucrezia[/name] (Borgia, who was actually awesome as I’m sure you know :D))
[name]Lucretia[/name] (the Greek matron)
If you went really adventurous, [name]Artemisia[/name] for both the goddess and the pre-feminist painter
[name]Susanna[/name] (of [name]Susanna[/name] and the Elders)
[name]Isabella[/name] (of [name]Ferdinand[/name] and [name]Isabella[/name])
[name]Marie[/name]/[name]Maria[/name] (for so many, but particularly…)
[name]Therese[/name]/[name]Therese[/name] of [name]Marie[/name] [name]Therese[/name]/[name]Maria[/name] [name]Theresa[/name]
[name]Jeanne[/name] (if you went with an alternative to [name]Joan[/name] and also [name]Jeanne[/name]-[name]Antoinette[/name] Poisson, Madame de Pompadour)
[name]Simonetta[/name] ([name]Simonetta[/name] Vespucci, famed beauty and muse of Botticelli)
[name]Giulia[/name] (Farnese) (Also [name]Julia[/name], as in [name]Caesar[/name]'s daughter)
[name]Octavia[/name] ([name]Caesar[/name] [name]Augustus[/name]'s influential sister and [name]Mark[/name] [name]Antony[/name]'s last wife)
[name]Livia[/name] ([name]Caesar[/name] [name]Augustus[/name]'s remarkable wife)
[name]Charlotte[/name] ([name]Bronte[/name])
[name]Genevieve[/name] ([name]Clark[/name])
[name]Lucy[/name] ([name]Burns[/name])
[name]Inez[/name] (Milholland)
[name]Iris[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Clio[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name] would make a super cute sibset! I also like the suggestion of [name]Daphne[/name] with [name]Clio[/name].
[name]Clio[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name] and [name]Daphne[/name] [name]Florence[/name] maybe?
Briseis, [name]Ariadne[/name], and [name]Iris[/name] are easily my favorites. I think all go very well with [name]Clio[/name] and wouldn’t be too difficult to wear, although Briseis has significant pronunciation problems. In order, I like [name]Iris[/name] first because it’s so simple and sweet with [name]Clio[/name]. [name]Ariadne[/name] would be a close second- it’s among my personal favorite names, but it’s a little bit tricky for people to spell and pronounce and seems a bit long next to [name]Clio[/name]. Briseis would be my third choice: it’s a great name, but you’d have to be VERY patient with pronunciation confusion. That said, I think any of those three would be great choices.
I really like [name]Pandora[/name], but I’m not sure it’s entirely wearable. It’s more closely tied to the myth than any of the other names, and I think jokes about boxes would get kind of annoying. [name]Persephone[/name] and [name]Andromeda[/name] are ridiculously clunky next to the short and sweet [name]Clio[/name], and I think they cross the line from interesting to over the top. [name]Persephone[/name] gets some love on nameberry, but I think it’s undeserved and the name wouldn’t work well in real life. Plus, neither has an easy nickname, and sometimes a 4-syllable clunker of a name is just too long. I like all of your historical names, and I think any one of them would make a good middle.
[name]Iris[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] [name]Joan[/name] or Iris Joan Catherine would be a lovely sibling name for [name]Clio[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name] [name]Ruth[/name]. I also think the pp’s suggestions of [name]Daphne[/name] and [name]Phoebe[/name] would be wonderful too. What about [name]Freya[/name], [name]Maia[/name], [name]Isis[/name], [name]Flora[/name], [name]Esme[/name], [name]Zoe[/name], [name]Eliza[/name], [name]Greta[/name], [name]Frida[/name], [name]Linnea[/name], [name]Luna[/name], [name]Leda[/name], [name]Thalia[/name], [name]Diana[/name] or [name]Sybil[/name]? Some of these names aren’t Greek but they “fit” with [name]Clio[/name].
[name]Welcome[/name] to NB My favourite mythological name is [name]Minerva[/name]! [name]Minerva[/name] [name]Clara[/name] maybe? [name]Iris[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] is great, I like that one a lot. Good luck:)
I adore your theme! If you want to continue with the muses, you could go [name]Thalia[/name]/[name]Thaleia[/name] or [name]Calliope[/name] (really the only other usable ones besides your [name]Clio[/name]), although if you have any other kids, you might not want to be stuck in that category. [name]Clio[/name] and [name]Callie[/name] is a cute combo though!
Mythological:
[name]Artemis[/name]
[name]Atalanta[/name]
[name]Cassandra[/name]
[name]Echo[/name]
[name]Daphne[/name]
[name]Hero[/name] (double bonus for being a Shakespearean name as well!)
Megaera
[name]Nike[/name] (I prefer the Greek pronunciation “nee-kay” though everyone will automatically go “nye-key”)
[name]Selene[/name]
Historical Names:
[[name]Marie[/name]] [name]Antoinette[/name]
[name]Anastasia[/name] [Romanov]
[name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name] (I think [name]Austen[/name] is a really cute boy name for girls)
[name]Grace[/name] [[name]Kelly[/name]]
[name]Annie[/name] [[name]Oakley[/name]]
[name]Abigail[/name] [[name]Adams[/name]]
[name]Mary[/name] [[name]Queen[/name] of Scots]
[name]Marilyn[/name] [[name]Monroe[/name]]
I also really love yours of [name]Catherine[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name] (though I automatically go with [name]Aquitaine[/name] rather than [name]Roosevelt[/name])
Favorites with [name]Clio[/name] are [name]Thalia[/name], [name]Maia[/name], [name]Iris[/name], [name]Selene[/name], [name]Artemis[/name], [name]Phoebe[/name], and [name]Freya[/name]
I think [name]Clio[/name] and [name]Ariadne[/name] would be perfect together!