Phaedra / Faedra

[Panoramarama]

Hello,

Another ancient Greek name thread! Really appreciated your opinions on Ariadne. What do you think of Phaedra / Faedra? Again I'm not too fussed about which spelling but more about how is perceived in the UK. I figure she could be Faye as a nickname if a UK equivalent is needed.

Thanks!

Great name!
FWIW I prefer the Phaedra spelling.

I wouldn't because of the myth, personally. But it's usually spelled Phaedra in English.

Fedra perhaps?

Great classic name. Definitely spelled Phaedra!

You don't spell Phoebe as Feebee!

Phaedra, definitely, but she wasn’t very nice...........

Fedra is Peruvian. It's not a little spelling to the sound.

Literal*

Phaedra is a lovely name (but only spelt this way!)

Phaedra is the correct spelling. Not that keen, don't like the way it sounds or looks. And Faye would be a terrible nickname!

Pretty name, but I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole because of the myth.

I love the name because I know the Greek version. However, there is an illegal stimulant sold on the black market in the US & Sth America called Efedra, which is often referred to in American tv shows like NCIS. Wouldn’t want to travel there and have to explain your name constantly. (Especially at Customs!)

Do you know the myth of Phaedra and Hippolytus OP? It’s not a name I would give to my daughter.

I know a Phaedra and the name suits her.

It's also the name of one of Peaches Geldof's sons.

I’m American and am familiar with the name Phaedra. The medicine Ephedra didn’t even cross my mind!

Phaedra. But her story is pretty awful - it's a famous tragic play by Racine.

Myths aside why do people want to give such unusual names to their children who will then have to go through their entire lives having to spell out their names and correct the wrong spellings for ever? I wouldnt thank my family for that.

Even without the bad associations from the myth (it's also a famous tragic play by Euripides), people will struggle pronouncing and spelling that, which would put me off. Sorry, not keen.

People who din’t know the story will go “Sorry-didn’t quite catch that” people who do know the story will go-in their heads “What were her parents thinking!!!!!”

Re the unusual names question above, my daughter will be half Greek, so they're not unusual names for our family. It's good to get a sense check though on how they sound to people with no connection to Greece though. Thanks everyone.

Whilst we are at it, what do you make of

Danae and Nepheli?

Worried Danae would be mistaken for Dani, which I'm not keen on at all.

I have an unusual name that I've had to correct and pronounce and spell and explain my whole life. It honestly hasn't bothered me. I think that people sometimes overstate the problems of an unusual name, or perhaps it comes down to personality. I feel as though people remember me and my name more easily because it's unique.

The Sarah Kane play definitely rules this one out for me I’m afraid

I think you're right about it being a matter of personality, Kescilly, and your parents were lucky you turned out to be the right kind of person to have an unusual name. The trouble is that parents can never know this at the point of giving a child a name. I would have hated it. I'm not a super patient person at the best of times, and constantly having to say 'No, Kassandra with a K, yes I know it's usually a C, no my parents didn't name me after Only Fools and Horses, yes, I know about the character in Greek mythology and fortunately I'm nothing like her' etc etc would have driven me to despair.

PS I'm not called Cassandra or Kassandra or anything like them, fortunately. My parents gave me a name that most of the women on both sides of my family have had as a first or second name for umpteen generations. It's not a great name but it's never troubled me.

I prefer Phaedra