Artemis?/ other Classical names

[AbieH]

So I'm kind of a Classics geek and I really want something recognizably Classical for my baby. I'm wondering if Artemis is a step too far for a girl? Other girl ideas: Dido, Persephone, Helia, Livia, Hebe, Selene?
For a boy: Cosmo, Rufus, Felix, Philo?
Tell me honestly, am I setting my kid up for a childhood of bullying and a lifetime of prejudice? DH has told me that I am completely free to choose a name and he will not interfere, which to be honest is not very helpful... Help me? What do you think of these names, and can you think of any others? Thanks xx

Thank you everyone! Yes, definitely have to think about the back story for the characters I would be naming my kid after- there's no point going Classical if you ignore that- so definitely no Elektra, Antigone etc!
Some great suggestions and I'm reassured to think that most people on this thread wouldn't judge me for going with Artemis for a girl!
So I think for girls I've narrowed it down (not very much) to:

Artemis- undeterred by some of you, I still love this!
Cleo- okay, somebody mentioned Clio further up as the muse of History. Her name was actually spelled Kleio which I don't really like- I much prefer the spelling Cleo as in Cleopatra- BUT would never call a daughter Cleopatra for its connotations, so Cleo on its own is the one that's made the shortlist. Thanks Shardlake!
Persephone- the nn Percy was mentioned which I don't really like, I quite like the nn Sephy, as in the Noughts and Crosses series..- what do you think of that?
Calliope- very nice, the muse of epic poetry- would nn Callie, but it is one that she would eternally have to spell...
Penelope- I like, and the character Penelope was certainly a fine example of moral goodness, fidelity etc- but I'm saving this one in case DH decides he doesn't want an overtly Classical name after all and puts his foot down against (eg) Artemis... I like the nn Poppy for this.

Boys:

Felix is my favourite I think. I love the lucky/happy connotations and I can't see anybody objecting to this at the school gates!
I also quite like Callum- forgot to mention this in my OP but it is definitely high up in the shortlist- I like the links to greek kalos, meaning beautiful, but I know that's not what immediately comes to mind for most people!

Thank you everybody, I will be making a new thread with this post for everybody to help me narrow it down further! Xx

hi

i cant prounce some of the names lol
but i think cosmo is a brill name x

I'm re reading Clea by Lawrence Durrell at the moment...Now that is a beautiful name, but I don't know if it's strictly classical.

To lower the tone a bit, the cool breakdown train in Chuggington is called Callie.....

I know teenagers called Ariadne and Phaedra and they don't seem to have any problems - they sort of carry it off being naturally elegant and slender with long swinging hair!

I love Penelope, I think it's elegant, I've taught the Odyssey to Freshers a few times and she's an amazing character, too. I also have a cousin Penelope who's a very artistic and beautiful Pen/Penny, and rocks it. I love "Camilla" for similar reasons, though she doesn't get a happy ending in the Iliad she is pretty awesome. And I have a cousin Camilla, too - but her brothers christened her 'Topsy' (from the Topsy and Tim books, I think!) and she's never, ever called Camilla... so I suppose we can do all the naming we want, but we might not end up deciding what our DC are called!

Please do think about context when naming your children - medusa, antigone, clytaemnestra, electra, medea.. oh dear gods no!

Furthermore, it is a pain spelling your name always and forever, but the popularity in names waxes and wanes. Remember there's a scene in Harry Potter and the goblet of fire where Hermione is teaching Viktor Krum how to pronounce her name and it's in there because Joanne Rowling had heard lots of people didn't know how to pronounce Hermione! Now after the films I'm sure LOTS of people know how to pronounce it and it's probably much more popular.

Interesting - I recently heard a baby called Artemis and I thought how dreadful, far too unusual and here it is lauded on MN. Fashion of names is unpredictable.

I wanted unusual, classical and they both turned out to become in top 50 names I think - or near it 10 years later.

I have a classical name - it has been mentioned. I think nowadays they are more frequent. Mine is certainly better known thanks to a famous series of books and films. But please make sure it can be shortened to something fairly straightforward and simple. I grew into my name in my late 20's. I spent my childhood, not so much hating the name but hating the comments and the constant explanations and constant minpronounciations. "ooh where's that from", "what made your mum chose that (often from parents)", "ugh - it's ugly", "how do you spell that"? I dreamt of being a Jane, Helen, Sally, Susan, Heather, Julia, or Claire like most others in my class. It was only when I came to London that it stopped being a little less unusual. Hence our DC have names with one, non negotiable spelling. They also sparkle .

It didn't stop being unusual, it just felt less unusual when there were a few Cressida's, Arabella's, Drusilla's, Xanthe's and Araminta's about. None of the ones I know have given their daughters expecially unusual names.

Ahhh...I would quite like to have a dozen babies so I could use all of my favourites from this thread!

DD1 is Helena
DD2 is Felicity (ok, it is the feminised version of Felix, but classically inspired)
DD3 has a more modern name (Shakesperean apparently) but I think it still has a similar feel, Miranda. Mostly because in the OED there is 'Mirandous' which means miraculous.

I love all of the names on this thread. Good job we aren't having any more really as I couldn't choose.

Oenone!

I forgot about that, it is a beautiful name. That is def on the list for my fantasy baby.

I once had a date with a Gawain - what a pair we would have made

I like Aurelia too. And I have a 4 year old son called Felix, it's an awesome name with lovely meanings. We had a shortlist but it just suited him the best.

Calista for a girl ?

** means a girls thought to be most beautiful

tostaky we get a few different pronunciations of Aurelia (Aw Ree Lia, Aw Ray Lia, and Aw Rel Ia are the main ones, we say a combo of the last two) but we care not - we expected it tbh.

She mostly gets called a mad variety of nns based on the one her older brother first called her - Rella.

I love Felix for a boy and Camilla for a girl. Camilla is in fact my number one girl's name if I ever have a girl. Classic and underused!!

Have a DD Hermione (pre Harry Potter) known as 'mione, and a new baby in the family is Antigone, known as Tigga. Her parents relate to the Jean Anouilh play rather than the classical story; there's also a girl-group in the US called Antigone Rising - radical feminist. And I had a dog called Dido - see my name.

I know a Calliope and as far as I know people don't misspell it (occasionally an l is dropped), the only comment made to her is "oh, like in Grey's Anatomy?".

What about Charis?

It is my middlename and I love it! Glad it is not my first name in a way tho as I am always having to pronouce it for people who say CH A RIS.... but i think a lot of the names on this thread would need spelling for people. I would use it if I ever had a DD except our surname ends in SS... so too hissy!

My mum read classics at university....

So in our family we have an Alexander and a Julia Charis.

I LOVED Felix for DS2, but DH put his foot down.

ooh and my Greek hair dresser is called Apollo. He pulls it off!

Ther is a family by me with 2 boys and 2 girls all with unusual names, as i call them. One boy is Spiro. I always think of spirograph! A friend's baby is due soon (a girl) and she is thinking of Theodora. Haven't heard that one for a long time. It suits her surname though. One friend's girl is Flora - i like that one. Another one is called Aristotle. Now that is a good one. Aurelia seems popular at the moment as i know 2 quite locally. And this isn't a posh area either. Dd's school friends have some unusual names and some quite nice ones. Piers is popular for boys apparently and so is Will, not William. Double barreled surnames are "in" too by the looks of things. I used to work with a lady called Astra and thought it weird at the time. Just kept thinking of the car. One lady had a daughter Portia (not sure of spelling but said like Porsche) and one Mercedes. All cars! Oh and there is a Stella near us too but she is Greek!

I also love the classical names and we went for Hebe for DD too. Get a few funny looks when we first mention it but mostly people are positive.

I know girls called Athena and Xanthe - both nice in my opinion.