# Names from Plutarch, Homer and Other Sources **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960 "2011-11-15T01:20:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/1 "2011-11-15T01:20:35Z")
in the latin and anglo-saxon world today, you have a lot of boys christened hector, aquiles, diomedes, alexander, mark, anthony, mark anthony, julius, caesar, julius caesar. different languages have different versions of the same name. what i wonder is why there aren’t that many girls named cleopatra (helen, cassandra, nefertiti, and penelope are still highly popular.) the name cleopatra doesn’t sit well with parents? or perhaps there are versions and evolutions to the name that i don’t know? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/2 "2011-11-15T01:43:39Z")
You meet a lot of boys named Achilles and Diomedes? But [“Cleo”](http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#prefix=cleo&ms=false&exact=false) used to be a semi-popular name for girls. I always assumed it was short for Cleopatra, but I don’t know for certain. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/3 "2011-11-15T01:49:25Z")
Also, from the same site, Achilles and Diomedes have never been in the top 1000 names for boys. And I suspect people with the names Mark and Anthony are named after the evangelicist and the Saint respectively, rather then the Roman Genearl. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/4 "2011-11-15T02:09:22Z")
i was afraid to ask what long form “cleo” for girls might take. i know cleofe and cleofas but those are boys’ names. latin countries have a lot of people named aquiles. had a teacher named epictetus. dionisio and dionisia are also common. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/5 "2011-11-15T02:42:29Z")
Well, there are plenty of Helens and a few Calypsos, but outside of anime I’ve yet to encounter a Nausicaa. It’d be tempting fate to have your girl named Circe or Clytymnestra. I’m amazed that there are so many Cassandras, when you think about it. And, of course, we’ve got Penelopes and Portias. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/6 "2011-11-15T03:21:10Z")
According to the Baby Name Voyager, “Cleo,” while popular a century ago, faded into obscurity in the 1950s. Other names from the Roman era that are popular with girls are Julia, Irene, Claudia, and Livia (which had a boomlet a few years ago). Phyllis is a bit passe now. If there are fewer women with names from the Roman era, it may be simply because fewer women of that era were mentioned in books. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/7 "2011-11-15T05:11:26Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > in the latin and anglo-saxon world today, you have a lot of boys christened hector, aquiles, diomedes, alexander, mark, anthony, mark anthony, julius, caesar, julius caesar. different languages have different versions of the same name. what i wonder is why there aren’t that many girls named cleopatra (helen, cassandra, nefertiti, and penelope are still highly popular.) > > the name cleopatra doesn’t sit well with parents? > or perhaps there are versions and evolutions to the name that i don’t know? Mark is a Biblical name. “The latin and anglo-saxon world today” is a bit of broad brush. Anthony and Alexander are common names, and variations thereon, but Julius or Julian are extremely rare where I live. Helen is very popular, and Penelope is ordinary. Cassandra not so much. I know two Cleos. Nefertiti? WTF? You know people called Nefertiti, enough for you to think it popular? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/8 "2011-11-15T05:27:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’d be tempting fate to have your girl named Circe or Clytymnestra. I knew an Iphigenia at uni. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/9 "2011-11-15T06:14:46Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Mark is a Biblical name. > > “The latin and anglo-saxon world today” is a bit of broad brush. Anthony and Alexander are common names, and variations thereon, but Julius or Julian are extremely rare where I live. > > Helen is very popular, and Penelope is ordinary. Cassandra not so much. I know two Cleos. Nefertiti? WTF? You know people called Nefertiti, enough for you to think it popular? i wanted to qualify some points i made in the OP but you guys were too fast. 😃 maybe not so popular that every classroom in school is bound to have one. but you hear the name from time to time. that’s why it makes you wonder. aquiles - one neighbor’s kid, one classmate, one guy in college, couple people i met after graduating in other parts. nefertiti - knew one neferti, one nefertiti. bound to be more. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/10 "2011-11-17T02:18:21Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > i wanted to qualify some points i made in the OP but you guys were too fast. 😃 maybe not so popular that every classroom in school is bound to have one. but you hear the name from time to time. that’s why it makes you wonder. > > aquiles - one neighbor’s kid, one classmate, one guy in college, couple people i met after graduating in other parts. > > nefertiti - knew one neferti, one nefertiti. bound to be more. 😃 I’ve known one person called Nimrod, and that’s an OT name, but I still wouldn’t expect it to be common outside of Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-from-plutarch-homer-and-other-sources/602960/11 "2011-11-17T15:13:20Z")
It’s suprising that it’s popular IN Israel. The biblical Nimrod wasn’t exactly a hero.