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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Thoughts on: Athena, Alethea, Artemis and Juno for a girl

69 replies

sanserif · 16/08/2011 13:42

So we want to go with an Ancient Greek or Roman (pref Greek) name since DH is 1/2 Greek and his name's Greek and our son has an Ancient Greek name. We've got a boy's name, I think, but am struggling to settle on a girl's name with less than a month to go!

Thoughts? Does Alethea just sound like you have a lisp and are trying to say Alicia? Is Artemis too hippy-dippy (goddess of the hunt/wilderness)? DH thinks Athena is too common.

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MissHonkover · 17/08/2011 19:42

Antigone?

harbingerofdoom · 17/08/2011 19:41

Have you thought of Althea rather than Alethea. It is still a classical name and I think means good and wholesome/healer.

RhinestoneCowgirl · 17/08/2011 19:34

I like Juno particularly, nearly got called Ismene myself.

CountBapula · 17/08/2011 19:29

How about Daphne? I love it and she comes off very well in the myth, I think.

TruthSweet · 17/08/2011 19:10

I should say I don't mind in the slightest that other people don't like Alethea, it's horses for courses. Grin

LynetteScavo · 17/08/2011 19:07

Juno and Artemis are fabulous!

TruthSweet · 17/08/2011 19:06

I actually have an Alethea, who's sometimes called Thea and yes, occasionally people do think she's called Alicia (if they aren't really paying attention to you) but then again I get called Kirsty, Vicky, Lucretia (wtf Confused) and I'm a Verity so I don't think it's confinded to non-English/unusual names.

I find stressing the Ah-lee- thea helps.

minipie · 17/08/2011 12:26

Ooh, Athene is lovely. Much better than Athena, which has too many poster shop connotations for my generation.

Agree with Saffron that the myths would put me off certain names - Persephone being one of them.

SaffronCake · 17/08/2011 12:19

Does Alethea just sound like you have a lisp and are trying to say Alicia? Yes, that was the first thing I thought when I read it in the title.
Is Artemis too hippy-dippy (goddess of the hunt/wilderness)? Not unless Diana is, they were more or less identical Goddesses but in different societies. What put me off using it for my daughters was the phrase "hard to miss" in a London accent sounds just like Artemis. Not so brilliant when my daughters are likely to be over 6 feet tall as adults.
DH thinks Athena is too common. I'm not sure it is common, unless it's common in Greece. I've only ever met one Athina (with an i), who was a Greek doctor working in London so I certainly wouldn't say common was my first thought. Like Artemis the spelling is uncomplicated, which is in its favour.
Juno This is good. I find it hard to categorise why, it just IS good. I like it.
Aurora went wrong for me with Disney's Sleeping Beauty. The whole Disney princess thing really isn't for us.
Persephone This is possibly one of the most beautiful sounding names ever coined, and one of the darkest, most unpleasant myths. Persphone was what we would now think of as mythology's Jaycee Lee Dugard. She was kidnapped for at least half the year to be the "wife" of the Satan-like underworld God. Unlike Duggard she grew bitter and vengeful, later doing a fair bit of killing herself. The name is totally off limits for me, no amount of spin I could ever dream of would make that an alright thing to call my daughter.

RnB · 17/08/2011 11:39

We clearly have very similar taste in names as my boys have Latin names and my daughter is Artemis! Plus Juno was a favourite but DP didnt like it...(have told him another DD will be Juno whether he likes it or not Wink)

Artemis is a gorgeous name - go for it.

Interested to know what your son's name is?

randomimposter · 17/08/2011 11:08

Was at school with an Athene. Always thought it was lovely.

FebreezeYourJeans · 17/08/2011 10:21

Artemis is glorious and I have harbour a secret longing to have another girl and call her Juno.

Original poster
sanserif · 17/08/2011 10:13

Persephone's not bad actually. Missy is a frightening nickname.

OP posts:
InstantAtom · 17/08/2011 08:27

Calliope too similar to callipers.

EskimoPie · 17/08/2011 08:03

Ooops - Persephone!

EskimoPie · 17/08/2011 08:02

Persphone?

MightyAphrodite · 17/08/2011 07:53

Kalliroi, shortened to Iro?

vadasultenfuss · 16/08/2011 22:07

Aphrodite?

I love greek names!

MrsvWoolf · 16/08/2011 21:57

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TallulahBlue · 16/08/2011 20:54

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Original poster
sanserif · 16/08/2011 20:05

Yes, I think I'm liking Alethea less. I like that all the others are real (ok, not real) figures whereas Alethea just means truth. I think maybe Juno seems like the 'strongest' b/c it ends in an O which is traditionally more a boy's name ending and Artemis maybe also sounds a bit androgynous because it doesn't end in a vowel. That doesn't bother me though.

I like Io but an acquaintance's little girl has that name, so would be difficult. Also like Calliope and Andromeda but maybe both a bit of a mouthful. Aurora's not bad too.

OP posts:
tammytoby · 16/08/2011 18:34

I really like Artemis and Athena.

MightyAphrodite · 16/08/2011 18:20

DD2 is an Alkisti (a Greek version of Alceste, I suppose) and a lot of English relatives call her Alice, which is Aliki in Greek. I like Alkioni too.

Empusa · 16/08/2011 18:11

I love these!

Trying to persuade DH on Persephone atm :)

minipie · 16/08/2011 18:10

Artemis and Juno are my favourites from your OP.

How about Ariadne, Phoebe, Thea, Dione, Selene/Selena, Maia, Thalia, Helena?