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Baby names

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

Original poster

Hecate for a baby girl?

153 replies

BuddingBaker · 11/01/2020 10:43

Hecate (pronounced hek-ah-tee). In Greek mythology Hecate was a goddess associated with witchcraft, crossroads, tombs, demons and the underworld.

Bit of an unusual name but my partner really likes it and I think it sounds nice. What do you think?

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LucaFritz · 11/01/2020 16:24

I love hecate for a girl reminds me of hecate hardbroom in worst witch when i was growing up

Original poster
BuddingBaker · 11/01/2020 16:21

Some great suggestions so far!

We were actually going to name our first Artemis until my partners brother gave his dog that name, heheh.

Melisandre is lovely but there's far too many children named after GoT characters already, heheh.

OP posts:
ooooohbetty · 11/01/2020 16:21

You'd be giving her a lifetime of spelling it out and having to correct the way people pronounce it. Don't be so harsh just because you want to be different.

Charlottejbt · 11/01/2020 16:19

@Babybel90 Hera Beese sounds like "here are bees" so probably not.

There's nothing "eye-rolly" about Greek names. The usual conservative rule is that names must be Biblical, classical or royal.

I like your suggestion of Artemis though.

FiddlesticksAkimbo · 11/01/2020 16:19

I think as your surname is so short sounding I'd have a long first name

Arabella
Anabelle
Cassandra
Melisandre (not reallygrin)

Clytemnestra? A good strong woman.

MaryPopppins · 11/01/2020 16:18

OP - "what about this name?"

Literally the whole world - "no. Don't do it"

OP - "you're wrong"

Why ask in the first place. Classic MN.

LaurieFairyCake · 11/01/2020 16:16

Genevieve is good with Bees

LaurieFairyCake · 11/01/2020 16:16

I think as your surname is so short sounding I'd have a long first name

Arabella
Anabelle
Cassandra
Melisandre (not reallyGrin)

Babybel90 · 11/01/2020 16:14

If you want something Greek sounding but still pronounceable how about:

Artemis
Hera
Alexandrina
Cressida
Delia

I mean they’re all a bit eye-rolly but that’s because they sound a bit pretentious if you’re not actually Greek.

LaurieFairyCake · 11/01/2020 16:14

I don't mind Hecate but added to Beese is irredeemably stupid and sounds like a cats name

It's not a human name

FiddlesticksAkimbo · 11/01/2020 16:13

Yes but the OP not an Ancient Greek nor a Wiccan. She would be naming her child after a deity she doesn't believe in because she just quite likes the name. Which seems at best odd and at worst offensive.

Grin

I greatly doubt that many of the the parents of any aging Martins were devotees of the Roman god of war. The culturally-appropriating oppressors.

FiddlesticksAkimbo · 11/01/2020 16:08

Brother: Beelzebub.

NhangeCame · 11/01/2020 16:07

'Yes but the OP not an Ancient Greek nor a Wiccan. She would be naming her child after a deity she doesn't believe in because she just quite likes the name. Which seems at best odd and at worst offensive.'

Sure. I just found the suggestion that someone wouldn't call their child Jesus ridiculous and ill-informed when really a lot of people do call their child Jesus.

Luckystar777 · 11/01/2020 16:05

Call her Kate.

Charlottejbt · 11/01/2020 16:03

Inspired by a previous poster, Diana Hecate is very nice!

Original poster
BuddingBaker · 11/01/2020 16:02

Thank you to those who have suggested alternatives (I do quite like Sophia) and to those who haven't but don't like Hecate, are there any alternatives you would suggest?

Personally I think it's quite a beautiful name, if somewhat unusual, but that's personal taste I suppose.

OP posts:
WillingSpringTime · 11/01/2020 15:56

I have no idea about the Shakespeare links but just from looking at it, I had no idea how to pronounce it. At a guess I would have gone for He-Kate.
Agree you could always shorten it to Kitty as a NN but just ask yourself, would she be embarrassed with her full name any time it had to be said out in public or written on a form or job application? Would she get fed up of relentlessly telling people how it is spelt and pronounced? I have what I consider a fairly normal surname that is said the way it is spelt but nobody ever says it or spells it right and I get so fed up of telling people that I have actually resorted to giving people my maiden name as it is just easier.

Personally, I would go for something like Althea. It is along the same lines but softer and easier to say than Hecate.

MonsterKidz · 11/01/2020 15:40

Please don’t OP.

It’s a very harsh sounding name for your little precious newborn girl! And a truly appalling name for an older child/teen she won’t thank you for it.

I’d pronouce it Heck-Ate. It doesn’t go with the surname.

Sorry, please find another.

pascalstriangle · 11/01/2020 15:33

I heard someone shouting of an 'Aria' the other day. My instinct was to roll my eyes (metaphorically) and think FFS, how embarrassing. It was an involuntary reaction on my part, and that's what your daughter will face day in, day out.

pascalstriangle · 11/01/2020 15:31

She will be mocked mercilessly throughout schoola nd will probably be deeply embarrassed by her name as a teenager/adult. Why would you do that to a child?

It's not a beautiful name either. Greeks call their daughters after Godesses, so that is not unusual. However, Diana, Athena and Daphne are a lot smoother and more beautiful than Hecate, which is lingually hard sounding.

Babybel90 · 11/01/2020 15:30

Choose it if you want but know this, if you do everyone you know will be rolling their eyes and laughing at you behind your back, they’ll tell you they like it and it’s a lovely name to your face.

Please remember this is a person you’re naming, not a dog, they will have to live with this name, they might turn out to be outgoing and confident and pull it off, or they might turn out to be painfully shy and self conscious and not want to have to explain to people how their name is pronounced all the time.

user1480880826 · 11/01/2020 15:14

Bad name. She’ll spend the rest of her life having to explain it to people.

ClappyFlappy · 11/01/2020 15:07

Gods sake, that’s bloody awful. Why would you do that to a child?

Mabbers · 11/01/2020 15:06

I like it. I like how it sounds in my mouth. I might have to get a kitten now, damn you.

christmasstress · 11/01/2020 15:04

Ha @99bb I know EXACTLY what you mean there! That was a good episode!