This is the largest theme in the catalogue by a wide margin, and it's easy to see why. Myth is where cultures put their most sonorous names, and it has been supplying dogs, cats and horses with them for centuries. A mythological name arrives with a story attached, which means you get an answer ready for the question everyone asks.
One piece of advice, covered at more length in the guide to origins and meanings: read a paragraph about the figure before you commit. A thunder god sits oddly on a nervous rabbit, and names drawn from living, actively practised religions deserve more thought than names from traditions nobody has practised for fifteen centuries.
What's in this theme
- Norse and Greek are the deepest seams, but the catalogue reaches well past them — Yoruba, Aztec, Hindu, Polynesian, Slavic and Celtic all carry real weight here.
- Most work for any animal. Filter by species in the name quiz if you want only the ones tagged for yours.
- Watch the syllable count. Persephone is glorious and it is four syllables you'll be shouting in a park.
60 names, with what they mean
A cross-section of the 1,746 names tagged Mythology & Legend. Every one of them, and 1,686 more, is filterable in the name quiz, where you can stack this theme with your animal, a personality and a syllable count.
AchillesGreekPerhaps "grief" (from Greek achos), name of the Trojan War hero
AnansiAkan"Spider"; West African/Caribbean trickster spider god (Akan/Ashanti)
AntigoneGreek"In place of a parent" or "worthy of one's parents"; tragic Theban princess
AphroditeGreekTraditionally "foam-born" (from aphros "foam"), but likely of pre-Greek origin; goddess of love
AriadneGreek"Most holy" or "utterly pure," daughter of King Minos
CassandraGreekUncertain; possibly "she who entangles men," Trojan prophetess
CerberusGreekMeaning unknown; possibly linked to "spotted" or "flesh-devouring," three-headed hound of Hades
CronusGreekUncertain; possibly linked by folk etymology to chronos "time"; Titan king overthrown by Zeus
CupidRomanFrom cupido "desire"; Roman god of love, son of Venus
DeianiraGreek"Man-destroyer"; wife of Heracles
DionysusGreekUncertain; possibly "son of Zeus" or "of Nysa"; Greek god of wine
EchidnaGreek"She-viper"; half-woman half-serpent mother of monsters in Greek myth
EosGreek"Dawn"; Greek goddess of the dawn
EurydiceGreek"Wide justice"; wife of Orpheus in Greek myth
FenrirNorse"Fen-dweller"; monstrous wolf, son of Loki, destined to slay Odin at Ragnarök
FreyaNorse"Lady" (from Proto-Germanic frawjōn); goddess of love, beauty, and fertility
FreyrNorse"Lord" (from Proto-Germanic frawjaz); god of fertility, prosperity, and peace
FriggNorseFrom Proto-Germanic Frijjo, related to "free/beloved"; Norse goddess of marriage and foresight
HadesGreek"The unseen one" (from aidēs); Greek god of the underworld
HathorEgyptian"House of Horus" or "my house is the sky"; Egyptian goddess of the sky and love
HecateGreekUncertain; possibly "far-reaching one/worker from afar," goddess of magic
HeliosGreek"Sun"; Greek personification and god of the sun
HeraGreekUncertain; possibly "lady" or "protectress"; Greek queen of the gods
HeraclesGreek"Glory of Hera"; famed Greek hero known for his labors
HerculesGreekLatin form of Heracles, "glory of Hera"
HermesGreekUncertain; possibly from herma "boundary marker/cairn"; messenger god of travelers and thieves
HorusEgyptianFrom Egyptian Hor, "the distant/lofty one"; falcon-headed sky god
IsisEgyptianGreek form of Egyptian Aset, "throne"; goddess of magic, motherhood, and healing
JupiterRoman"Sky-father" (from Iuppiter, cognate with Zeus); Roman king of the gods (also a planet)
KoreGreek"Maiden"; epithet of Persephone as goddess of spring
LughCelticUncertain; possibly from Proto-Indo-European "to bind by oath"; Celtic god of skill and kingship
LyraGreekLatin/Greek: "lyre"; a northern constellation
MaatEgyptian"Truth/order"; Egyptian goddess personifying cosmic order
MardukMesopotamian"Calf of the sun" (Sumerian amar utu); supreme god of Babylon
MercuryRomanFrom merx "merchandise"; Roman god of commerce, travel, and messages (also a planet)
NovaLatinLatin: "new"; an exploding star
NoxLatinLatin: "night"; Roman goddess of night
NyxGreek"Night"; Greek primordial goddess of night
OdinNorse"Fury/inspiration" (from Proto-Germanic Wodanaz); chief god of the Norse pantheon
OrpheusGreekUncertain; possibly linked to "darkness of night" or Indo-European "bereft/orphan"; legendary musician
PegasusGreekUncertain, possibly "of the spring/water"; winged horse in Greek myth
PeleusGreekPossibly from pēlos "clay/mud"; father of Achilles
PersesGreekPossibly from perthō "to sack/destroy"; Titan of destruction
PhoebusGreek"Bright/shining/radiant"; epithet of Apollo as sun god
RheaGreekUncertain, possibly "flow" or pre-Greek; Titan mother of the Olympian gods
SekhmetEgyptian"The powerful one" (from sekhem "power"); lioness-headed goddess of war and healing
SeleneGreek"Moon" (from selas "light/brightness"); Greek goddess of the moon
ShivaHinduFrom Sanskrit śiva, "auspicious one"; Hindu god of destruction and transformation
ShuEgyptian"Emptiness/dryness"; Egyptian god of air
SifNorse"Kinship/bride"; golden-haired wife of Thor
SkadiNorsePossibly "harm/shadow"; giantess goddess of winter, mountains, and hunting
SusanooJapanese"Impetuous male"; Japanese god of storms and the sea
TheseusGreekUncertain; possibly "he who sets/institutes," Athenian hero who slew the Minotaur
ThothEgyptianFrom Egyptian Djehuty, "he who is like the ibis"; Egyptian god of writing and wisdom
TiwAnglo-Saxon"God," from Proto-Germanic Tiwaz; Anglo-Saxon form of Tyr
TyrNorse"God" (from Proto-Germanic Tiwaz); Norse god of war, law, and justice
UlyssesLatinLatin form of Odysseus, from Greek odyssomai "to be wroth/hated"
VishnuHindu"All-pervading" (Sanskrit); Hindu preserver god of the Trimurti
ZeusGreekUncertain; possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dyēus "sky/day-god"; king of the Greek gods
ZiuGermanic"God," from Proto-Germanic Tiwaz; Germanic form of Tyr
Where to go next
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