I have always been a massive fan of the ‘story’ behind a name, and several of the names I love are characters from legends, myths etc. - any story I am fascinated by (although I am nowhere near actually needing these names yet…). Can anyone suggest beautiful names that feature in stories, plays or poems (not too recent) that would still be usable today? I love [name]Athena[/name], Areia, [name]Cassandra[/name], [name]Guinevere[/name], [name]Helena[/name], [name]Isolde[/name], [name]Viola[/name] etc. for girls, but for boys, I find, there aren’t as many I like… [name]Ajax[/name], [name]Cadmus[/name] and [name]Cato[/name] are a few. (I love these names despite the tragic fates of some of these namesakes…) Thank you!
From The Faerie Queene (poem by [name]Edmund[/name] [name]Spenser[/name]):
Acrasia, [name]Amoret[/name], Belphoebe, Cambina, Canacee, [name]Una[/name] & Artegal, Calidore, [name]Cambell[/name], [name]Marinell[/name], Scudamour, Timias, Triamond.
From [name]Orlando[/name] Furioso (poem by [name]Ludovico[/name] Ariosto)
Bradamante, [name]Angelica[/name], Marifisa & Astolfo, Brunello, [name]Roland[/name]/[name]Orlando[/name], [name]Rinaldo[/name], Rodomonte, [name]Ruggiero[/name]
I plan on using [name]Atlas[/name] and [name]Persephone[/name] on future children as well as [name]Guinevere[/name] for a middle name. I also have [name]Hermione[/name], [name]Antigone[/name], [name]Isadora[/name] w/a nickname [name]Isis[/name], [name]Calliope[/name], and [name]Ariadne[/name] on my list of likes.
Names from books by the Brontë sisters:
[name]Catherine[/name], Hindley and Hareton (Earnshaw), [name]Heathcliff[/name], [name]Isabella[/name] and [name]Edgar[/name] ([name]Linton[/name]), [name]Ellen[/name] “[name]Nelly[/name]” ([name]Dean[/name]); [name]Agnes[/name], [name]Mary[/name] and [name]Richard[/name] ([name]Grey[/name]), [name]Tom[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Ann[/name], [name]Fanny[/name] (Broomfield), [name]Rosalie[/name] and [name]Mathilda[/name] ([name]Murray[/name]); [name]Jane[/name] ([name]Eyre[/name]), [name]Sarah[/name], [name]John[/name], [name]Eliza[/name] and [name]Georgiana[/name] ([name]Reed[/name]), [name]Edward[/name] ([name]Fairfax[/name] [name]Rochester[/name]), [name]Bertha[/name] Antoinetta and [name]Richard[/name] ([name]Mason[/name]), [name]Adele[/name] (Varens); [name]Shirley[/name] (Keeldar), [name]Robert[/name] and [name]Louis[/name] ([name]Gerard[/name] [name]Moore[/name]), [name]Caroline[/name] (Helstone).
From the Greek mythology, I like:
- [name]Artemis[/name] (whose twin-brother’s name, [name]Apollo[/name], isn’t bad either), [name]Zeus[/name]'s (or according to the Arcadians, [name]Demeter[/name]'s) daughter and the [name]Goddess[/name] of wild animals, hunt, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls.
- [name]Helios[/name] (the brother of the lovely [name]Selene[/name], the moon, and [name]Eos[/name], the dawn), the ancient Greek, (apparently) incredibly handsome, personification of the [name]Sun[/name].
- [name]Gaia[/name], the [name]Goddess[/name] of [name]Earth[/name] and great mother of all.
- [name]Heracles[/name] (also sometimes known as [name]Hercules[/name], though that is way to [name]Roman[/name]), the (bastard) son of [name]Zeus[/name] and Alcmene (though [name]Zeus[/name] did try to make up for his little affair by naming his son after his wife, [name]Hera[/name]) and one of the greatest Greek heroes.
- [name]Athena[/name] (the sister of Porus), goddess of courage, wisdom, the arts, skills, strategy, law and justice among others, she was also the virgin patroness of Athens.
Other beautiful names: Aspasia (girl), [name]Odysseus[/name] (boy), [name]Perseus[/name] (boy), [name]Hera[/name] (girl), [name]Achilles[/name] (boy), Galene (girl) and [name]Theseus[/name] (boy).
The Norse mythology also has beautiful names like Gefion (girl), [name]Saga[/name] (girl), Magne (boy), [name]Njord[/name] (boy), [name]Eir[/name] (girl), Tjalfe (boy), Frej (boy) and Frigg (girl).
Thank you - all of these names are absolutely beautiful! I especially love [name]Eir[/name] - I have never heard it before.