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!

It’s ruddy awful. You’d genuinely want to introduce yourself as this? If not why inflict it?

I don't think it's awful and I wouldn't mind introducing myself with that name, but I appreciate that not everyone has the same tastes! It may not make our shortlist but I can think of far worse.

Thanks for the feedback here everyone it's really useful, good and bad.

I love Phaedra as a name. I have a name no one can spell and many thinks is male (its unisex) I have still given 3 of my children a name that either is hard to spell or has a a sound where more commonly an e is used.. and the last has a C/K name

None of them care

Ariadne is sweet - what was the feedback you got?

Penelope
Persephone
Hermione
Diana
Artemis
Athena

All a bit better known?

The only Phaedra I've heard of is the one from The Real Housewives of Atlanta. She was fired for spreading malicious lies if I remember correctly

It's a lovely name in itself. It's a pity it's so easy to look stuff up sometimes. Her story is quite unpleasant. It's a very odd choice for a boy too.

Definitely prefer Ariadne, based on feedback and general usability in the UK.

Its funny how in Greece, the characters from the myths aren't really associated with the names, so people don't cringe at their use if the story is awful, I've found.

How names are pronounced differs too, so Persephone in Greek is 'percy-PHO-nee' which seems less pretty. Same for Hermione and Penelope. Athena is pretty, it's on the list (also pronounced differently in Greece Vs UK but could live with that.)

What do you think of Danae?

I really really like Danae! Much prettier than Phaedra.

I like Danae too, but people might not pronounce it correctly. And they may think it's some sort of Game of Thrones spinoff from Daenerys.

I couldn't get past the myth either. I would imagine the myths aren't thought about so much in Greece because the names are more common. People don't think about Helen of Troy when they hear 'Helen' because it's such a common name in English, but Phaedra is unusual so it makes you recall the story.

How are you pronouncing it to get the nickname 'Faye'? I would think most people would pronounce it Ph-eye-dra in English. This may be different from the Greek version!