Guilty Greek pleasures.....

[NameChangedNoImagination]

Any names stand out to you here? Any usable ones?

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures

If only I were brave enough.

I love
Nike
Nemesis
Demeter
Khaos
Hemera
Nyx
Thalassa
Mnemosyne
Themis
Asteria
Harmonia
Hedone
Haimarmene
Philophrosyne
Techne
Hecate
Macaria
Amphitrite
Psamathe
Tethys
Chione
Hera
Hemera
Electra
Pandaisia
Circe
Cephisso
Psyche
Atalanta
Danae
Hermione
Ismene
Medea
Niobe
Pandora
Phaedra

Attis
Typhon
Asterius
Asterion
Nessus
Castor
Ajax
Icarus
Pandion
Aegyptus
Nestor

Pandaisia! Daisey for short.

I like Athene/Athena.

I like Hera, but would struggle to name my daughter after a wife who was endlessly cheated on by her hubby! Some of the names have connotations that might make you steer clear. Lots of lovely hames on your list..

My DD is Hebe...daughter of Hera and Zeus.

mammm Nemesis is so terribly unusable in every way, I know it just sounds so pretty

@RumerGodden Hebe is lovely. And yes unfortunately nearly all of them killed their children, shagged their brother, were murdered for adultery, or other such cheerful things 😁 Ancient Greeks such a morbid bunch

I'm Greek and there's a few there we considered. And a few more I would never give to my child for various reasons - none to do with incest/murder/etc. All Greek names that aren't Christian have a bit of that about them.

@PBobs I’m really curious which names mentioned here are actually commonly used in Greece? Any which are definitely not?

We have a baby Leo, to me he is Leonidas!

We know the cutest little Ajax and my DH was gutted that we can't have it also.

I love Phaedra but think of Peaches Geldof when it's mentioned

@TuppenceTwo and anyone else interested I've gone through with some notes on each of these. In Greek they are not always the same as they are in English. To be honest, they sound more beautiful in Greek than in English. They're more musical or poetic in Greek - the sounds are softer I think. For example, do you pronounce the H in Hebe? In Greek she is pronounced like Evie. I wonder that with a lot of the names below. Loads with H at the beginning where we wouldn't have an H. Not a criticism. I just wondered.

Anyway, I've made some notes.

Nike - Not a name you'd use. It means win/victory and we use it all the time as a word so a bit of a weird one. It is a nickname but for longer names like Nikoletta.
Nemesis - Nope. For obvious reasons.
Demeter - Yep - this one gets used a lot as Dimitra.
Khaos - Nope. It's Greek for Chaos and where we get Chaos from in English.
Hemera - Nope. Means day. She was the goddess of daytime so we call daytime "imera" here.
Nyx - Nope. It's the origin of the word for night time in Greek and she was the goddess of the dark. Not one we would use.
Thalassa - Nope. Means sea.
Mnemosyne - Nope. Origin of the word for memory - she was the goddess of memory.
Themis - Only heard it as a nickname for a boy/man. For example short for Themistokles.
Asteria - Nope. Means stars.
Harmonia - Nope. Means harmony.
Hedone - Nope. Origin of the English word hedonism. Use your imagination.
Haimarmene - Nope.
Philophrosyne - Yes - I'm pretty sure you'd find people with this name but they would go by the nickname which is Froso.
Techne - Nope. Means arts/crafts.
Hecate - Nope. Don't know why. We're not put off by their character in Ancient Greece - only if they stood for something weird or negative. Like Nyx. It doesn't sound very pleasant to the ear in Greek though so maybe that's why.
Macaria - Nope. Again - it's to do with death. So like Nyx we wouldn't use it. Although Athanasia is a name we use which comes from "athanatos" which means cheater of death or everliving.
Amphitrite - Maybe. I've never met one but more likely to be used on this list.
Psamathe - Nope. Not a great sounding name in Greek. Means sand of the sea which is a bit odd.

Tethys - Nope. Sounds like another word (spelt differently) which as an oversimplification means "you do").
Chione - Nope. Means snow.
Hera - Yep. This is used. Although not often.
Hemera - Repeat of above.
Electra - Yep. This is used. We don't worry about the Elektra Complex - I hadn't even heard of it until I read it on here. Great name.
Pandaisia - Nope. Means feast or banquet.
Circe - Nope. We use this as you would use harpie in English. Not a nice thing to be called.
Cephisso - Nope. Actually a northern suburb of Athens is named after her. Would sound odd as a name.
Psyche - Nope. Although I suspect you may find one or two. Means soul - but in a deeper way than we would use soul in English. It's a spiritual soul.
Atalanta - Nope. Not sure why. She was pretty cool. You may find one or two if you looked but I've never met one.
Danae - Yes. This is used. I went to school with one.
Hermione - Another name pronounced totally differently in English to Greek. Beautiful in Greek - I'd never use it in English as I don't like it in English. It took my a while to work out who she was when I watched the films as I pronounced the word in Greek when reading. Some people have this name but I have never met one.
Ismene - Yep. This is used.
Medea - Nope. I think because she was a bit of a rotter at times? We don't usually mind but people do mind more with girls' names than boys.
Niobe - Yep. Pronounced Niove.
Pandora - Yep. Not often though.
Phaedra - Yep.

Attis - Nope. Sounds a bit off to the ear in Greek.
Typhon - Nope. Scary, huge, terrifying beast. Ugh.
Asterius - Nope. Means star/starry. Loads of different characters/people with this in their name throughout the ages.
Asterion - Same as above.
Nessus - Nope. Not sure why. We use the name Nassos which is unrelated - but never met a Nessus.
Castor - As in the engine oil? Nope.
Ajax - Yes although not common. I love it. It was on our shortlist but English DH can't get past the fact that there's a window cleaner called Ajax.
Icarus - Nope. Not something you would want to call your child. He was a bit of a muppet wasn't he?

Pandion - Nope. He was a king - several kings actually - but it means "all gods". Bit of a heavy name. No pressure.
Aegyptus - Nope. King of Egypt and in modern Greek means Egyptian.
Nestor - Yep. Was on our shortlist. Another name I really like.

I love Electra and Pandora, already on my list! Came across the name Nyx today and also like that!!

That is fascinating pbobs, thank you.

I have a general rule of thumb with names. If I had to ask how to pronounce or spell it, I wouldn't use it.

Some of those names are lovely. Others (Nike? Seriously?) less so.

That’s so interesting PBobs, thank you!!

I know an Atalanta, Hermione - surely Harry Potter has made this well known- Ismene and Athena.

I'm clearly the only one whose mind went straight to the gutter when they read the thread title.

I love the name Hebe. I have an Iris who was the goddess of the rainbow.