I’m wondering why people love and name their children after Greek mythology names when 90% of the names are tied to characters heavily involved in negative things, such as rape, incest, murder, kidnapping, hell, adultery, etc…
I’m Greek and have never understood why some people find mythological names usable on anything, even pets. I’m making this post after seeing someone name their child [name_m]Zeus[/name_m]. [name_m]Zeus[/name_m] was a horrible person, just like most other myth idols.
I think it’s fine to love the sound of a name, but I think most people who actually use these names have no clue how dark and disturbing these characters and stories really are, and then just say “oh I love Greek culture and aesthetic”
Let me tell you, these gods and goddesses are not something people should be named after.
I also feel like it is racist to say you love our culture but then not even know anything about the stories that these idols come from.
Everytime I see an animal or person named after a character, I legit cringe! If people really thought my culture was beautiful, they’d do their homework before using such cringe names as an homage to Greek mythology.
Rant ended.
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I think it’s a delicate balance because you’d be hard-pressed to find a “common” name that doesn’t have some sort of negative connotation as well, historical or modern.
But I agree that one should do some research on the legacy of the thing/person/whatever you’re naming a child after. Especially in America (as an American), things like the Greek Pantheon are too often romanticized without actually knowing the material (I took a Myths and Epics class so we read a lot of them) but many Americans still think Romeo and Juliet is supposed to be romantic too. Too many don’t read or do their research, sadly. I’m sorry it’s been so frustrating for you!
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The same goes for many Biblical names, or names from Norse mythology, just to name two examples.
We have used [name_m]Endymion[/name_m] for one of our sons. I’m well aware of what the story is, as both my husband and I love Greek mythology. But it’s much more about the deeper meaning of the mythology, as goes for all mythologies and religious texts. They’re beautifully written, meaningful texts. I don’t see the problem in naming your child after a dark story either, if you got something out of it or it has meaning to you.
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it’s less about mythology and more about the name a lot of greek mythology names have amazing sounds.
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I definitely agree that people should do their research before picking any name, but especially names from outside of their culture. I usually assume people have good reasons for picking names associated with certain figures, or there are other meanings or connections behind their decision.
I am a big fan of names from Greek mythology (mostly fem names), but I enjoy mythology in general and like to think I’m well aware of the myths and figures associated with the names I actually want to use. I always weigh up the positives and negatives that are inevitably present. There are negative associations to many myths, but I’m also interested in the reasons for that looking at the provenance of the myths we have, which versions persisted and why, as well as how and why they’re seen as negative. It’s all so interesting and there’s so much nuance!
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I’m also Greek, and I perfectly understand it 
Greek myths are fun stories. The idea that we can connect to people who lived millennia ago through stories is something beautiful. And I find it odd that you’d find these names unusable or too connected to the myths, considering that if you’re Greek you probably know people in your daily life named Athena, Ares, Herakles, Aphrodite, etcetera. We don’t always use those names to honour the character from the myths – but to honour the fact that we have an incredibly rich tradition & culture and those stories are an important part of our past, and still relevant in our culture & tradition today. And even if someone does name their child inspired by a character, it doesn’t have to be every aspect of them. Remember, making Greek myth was a collaborative effort. Different regions of Greece have different stories, different authors wrote the gods in different ways. These characters were malleable. You can use Athena with the intention of wanting your child to be wise, because her being a goddess of wisdom was her core characteristic that remained unchanged regardless of the rendition of the myth. But we’ve been using these names for so long that I don’t think anyone would meet a Greek Aphrodite and assume her parents wanted to honour the character - these names are just names to us.
It’s also worth pointing out that a lot of the moral issues surrounding these myths are simply because they were created thousands of years ago, when we as a society had different moral standards. I don’t think there are many stories that were written so long ago where all the characters only did perfectly moral things 
You can appreciate the characters and stories and their intentions while acknowledging that aspects of them are unpleasant, due to the context of when they were created.
That said, I absolutely agree that when people use the names of our gods & important mythological figures they should have at least a basic understanding of the character & stories associated with them, and I do find it disrespectful when there is no research done, almost like it’s commodifying our culture for a vague aesthetic. That I do have a problem with. But if a foreigner does do some research and has decent knowledge of the character, I don’t see why they shouldn’t be allowed to decide if they want to use that name or not.
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While I definitely agree on the importance of research when it comes to names outside of your own culture, I also strongly believe that many people put wayyy too much importance on names’ “negative” associations. Taking two other types of names (biblical and theatrical) as examples, I absolutely fail to see why naming your child [name_f]Mary[/name_f] or [name_f]Viola[/name_f] would somehow be a more legitimate choice than naming them [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] or [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f].
Names can be many different things for different people. A mother naming her little girl [name_f]Aphrodite[/name_f] is more likely to be doing so with the mythological character’s association with love and beauty in mind rather than the same goddess’ adulterous affairs. Stories are multi-layered and Greek myths in particular often cast the same deities in many different roles depending on the exact tale and context.
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Personally, I studied Ancient Greek in high school for 6 years and we always analyzed the texts as deep as possible.The conclusion that I got from that, is that most of these characters are symbols, and represent those symbols in their actions. [name_m]Zeus[/name_m] misuses his power and is volatile, but he is a [name_m]King[/name_m] and the god of the sky and the sky can be clear one minute and stormy the next. [name_m]Hades[/name_m] kidnaps [name_f]Persephone[/name_f], but he is the god of the death, and that is what death does. [name_m]Apollo[/name_m] chases after any woman that pretty much breathes in his direction, but he is the god of archery and follows where his arrows land.
What I’m trying to say is, when you look at these characters in the roles they are cast in, these myths turn into cautionary tales to some extent. I definitely think that these stories are rich with history, and that is why they are so multi-layered and why to this day people are still drawn to them.
Of course, parents should definitely take a proper look at the history of mythology names; names in Greek mythology have a lot of meaning packed into them and I believe it’s important to look at the context.
But at the end of day, I agree with what @Demoiselle said; names have different meaning for different people.
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@tallemaja It may sound odd that I feel this way, but at the same time, not everybody likes certain aspects of their culture, especially when growing up in a different country. Regardless of the names being a big part of things, I just do not find it rational for other cultures to use names that they know nothing about just for the aesthetics.
I also have never been the biggest fan of the storytelling as it includes aspects that I am 100% against and do not find that honorable is all.
I guess everybody has different feelings about their culture, like someone who is atheist but was forced to grow up Catholic.
I am Greek and love being Greek, but I still have my own negative feelings surrounding some of the Greek culture contents, and I’m sure that goes for a lot of people of any culture.
No culture is perfect. Even being Greek, there are a lot of Greek names I’d never use because of my own convictions and morals.
This rant post is just my own feelings about it
I think it’s a complex issue and not everybody interprets these names and stories in the same way. Also, these stories often have multiple versions and some depict the god or hero in a more sympathetic way than others. The ancient Greeks were not a unified culture and had diverse beliefs.
I would also like to point out that a lot of mythological names (whether they be Greek, Roman, Celtic etc) do have associations outside of mythology. For example, some are saint names, royal names, literary names, etc. Some are so common in the West that a lot of people probably don’t realise they were originally mythological names (Jason and Irene come to mind).
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Well, when you make a post about it, people are going to want to respond with their own thoughts You don’t have to care about Greek myths, but to say there’s no honour in our ancestors creating stories that were meaningful to them and passing them down across generations over thousands of years is just odd… but I’ll leave it at that, since it’s not name-related.
Either way, no, you absolutely don’t have to want to use names from Greek myth just because you have Greek ancestry! It’s perfectly fine that you personally can’t shake the negative associations. But I think it’s silly to suggest that these names should be considered unusable in general, especially since you’re not from Greece. Like I mentioned, many Greeks have these names, and to us they represent more than just their direct namesake. People (Greek and non-Greek) are allowed to find meaning & significance in these mythological figures and their stories regardless of negative associations, because of everything that I mentioned in my original post, in terms of the stories simply being a product of their time, as well as being varied and having different versions & interpretations, and being used as symbols. I don’t think it’s right to gatekeep what names are okay or not okay to use, again especially when you seem to misunderstand how these names are actually used in Greece.
But I agree with you that the names should not be used just for shallow aesthetic reasons, we’re definitely in agreement on that one!
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In many ways, I understand. As a Jewish American, I often cringe when I hear of people using Hebrew/Biblical names in ways that seem contrary to context and the culture of the names. Sometimes this seems as if it’s appropriation – like using [name_m]Cohen[/name_m] as a first name, for a very common example – and sometimes to me it’s just jarring, like using [name_m]Ezra[/name_m] or [name_m]Micah[/name_m] for a girl’s name when they were prophets, or using the names of extremely unsavory characters (like Cain) as a first name.
But we all name for personal reasons, in the end. As I’ve aged I’ve grown much more tolerant, and perhaps this has to do with my being a teacher still and getting used to all kinds of names in many different cultures. I still wouldn’t want a grandchild to be named [name_m]Odin[/name_m] or [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], but, when it comes to down to hard tacks, that wouldn’t be up to me anyway (lol).
Here in the Deep [name_m]South[/name_m] I often have African-American students with Greek and [name_m]Roman[/name_m] names. There are historical reasons for this, and many times the kids have no idea where their names come from. They are always thrilled to hear about their names’ histories, and it’s often an enjoyable and educational conversation.
I think this is an interesting topic in general… I have personally made the decision not to use names of gods/goddesses from mythology myself; as a Christian I feel like it is wrong of me to honor the name of a god I don’t believe in over one I do. Exceptions I might make are those with alternate associations (like Iris) or names with ties to Christian or biblical figures like Apollos or Jason.
That being said, I recognize that there are over 4,000 religions worldwide and it is insensitive and unkind of me to expect people to walk the same way I do when they don’t have the same convictions as I do… people make decisions based on a wide spectrum of factors and I know there’s so much about Greek mythology (or whatever other religion) that they really identify with. Sometimes it is also beyond me, but it’s impossible to know what people’s reasoning and thoughts are behind choosing a name, and most people will have at least some reason behind the choice, even if it’s just “we loved the sound”. And I respect their right to make a decision based on what moved them. But personally I agree with you, knowing just a little bit of the story of Persephone, especially, I cannot fathom why she is so well loved, but I think that’s one of the best things about our global society—our differences can add so much value to each other.
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