Greek or not?

[pyrokitten77.livejournal.com]

What do you think of old Grecian names, such as Persephone and Thaddeus? Are they too old for the times? What do you think of when you hear names like those? Love 'em, hate 'em? Have you used one? Are you one?

Just wondering what your opinions are. TIA!

Comments

[inmeggsyoutrust.livejournal.com]

I'm usually not into really "different" names, meaning I'm into more classic old fashioned but still heard of names, but I love love love calliope and Persephone. My FH on the other hand does not so they remain guilty pleasures.

[brittmarie.livejournal.com]

I looove Calliope! It was the name of a character in my book, and they called her Callie for short. I adore it, and Persephone. I think I would like Aphrodite as well.

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

Adore them. I must admit that I worry a bit about using them for real - are they too "out there" and "do they pass the resume test" but honestly, half of my absolute favorites are old Grecian themed names - Adrasteia, Athenais, Mneme, Persephone (wont use that one because it rhymes with my sisters name), etc...

[mia-verita.livejournal.com]

I like them. Friends of mine had a baby in January and they named him Aristides John. They are calling him Ari a lot.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i know brothers names thaddeus and nikolai.

i dont really mind it, but i find it a bit pretensious.

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

Old Greek names are my favorites, hands down, but more so for girls than for boys. I love:

Ariadne
Persephone
Calliope (but only how it looks, oddly enough)
Andromeda
Atalanta
Clio
Astraea
Adrasteia
Athena
Artemis
Leda
Hera
Helen/a
Cassiopeia (but only how it looks)
Hermione
Selena
Calypso


Achilles
Ares
Silas
Elias

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

And I'd use them, even though I know how pretentious they seem. I love them so much that I simply do not give a damn. Hardly anybody else will name their daughters Persephone and Ariadne, so I might as well.

[satunian.livejournal.com]

IAWTC!
Not too crazy about boy names too, but definitely on the girls'!
Ariadne
Persephone
Calliope (but only how it looks, oddly enough)
Andromeda
Atalanta
Clio
Astraea
Adrasteia
Artemis
Leda
Cassiopeia (but only how it looks)
Selena
Calypso

Love all these names and I want to add Demeter to this list (I deleted maybe 3 or 4 I didn't care for, but kept the rest!)

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

Demeter is the one I love but would never use. I would use it for a book character, though!

[sal_amanda]

I really love them, especially Calliope, which I tried to suggest to my husband who wasn't having it. There's a Calliope at the college where I work, but she has a Greek last name, and she opts to go by Kelly. I think people with Greek backgrounds are much more able to pull it off.

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

I like some of them, but I look askance at people who give their children the names of gods. Mythical figures? Awesome. Deities? Ew. But, I'm actually less annoyed by that from other traditions. I guess it's just that the Greek ones are so well known.

[how-obscure.livejournal.com]

Persephone was my favorite name for years. It's slipped some now, but I still really like it. I think some Greek names work better than others, but it's great to see them. Plus, they're unique while still being legitimate.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

They seem pretty trendy at the moment, actually.

[arrien.livejournal.com]

I knew a guy growing up named Thaddeus. We called him Thad. I thought it was a nice name.

[hwar.livejournal.com]

I like mythological names although I also squick a little when the association is negative. Persephone for example...not exactly a cheery story. But some of the muses are ripe for the picking (Calliope, Clio, Thalia) and some other names from mythology has persisted as normal names: Althea, Leta/Leda, Alexander, Damon, Ariadne, Cassandra, Cynthia, Chloe, Daphne, Penelope, Hector, Ione, Phoebe, blah blah. I guess of the less common names I could see Castor, Eudora, Evander, Leander, Ianthe, Jocasta, and Zephyr pop up, since they fit with some modern trends.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

It really depends on the name, but since I love Persephone and would use it in a second, I guess as a general rule I like them, and then there are always exceptions to that.

[lipsty.livejournal.com]

I love them, but as a guilty pleasure, as they can seem quite pretentious!

[1842.livejournal.com]

i knew a guy named thaddeus, but he went by TD. i thought it was a nice enough name. i do like a few greek names though!

[rachie-01.livejournal.com]

I once tried to use Persephone as a World of Warcraft character name because I had an under dead character, haha. Definitely would not use on a baby. For me I think they are too old and perhaps a little too unusual. I've never known anyone with that type of name. I think I actually dislike the "extreme Greek" names more. From the comments for example, I like Selena (wouldn't use it, but it's nice) but Andromeda, Adrasteia, Artemis? Nooo.

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

I like 'em, in general.

[pegasus2o5.livejournal.com]

Fantastic for pets. Way too overwrought for humans. Generally speaking, of course. Some, Penelope for instance, are just fine on humans. But something like Persephone or Galatea or Dionysus, as attractive as the name itself may be in the abstract, is just really, really too much.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Mightn't be easy to live with for 80 years (you really need a dramatic personality, and that's hard to order beforehand :) but there are a LOT worse...

[kilobites.livejournal.com]

Generally I find that I like them, but they are a bit over the top. I would use them as pet names, or maybe as middle names, but I think some of those names could be difficult to live with as first names. I am not a huge fan of Persephone, but I like a lot of the others that were mentioned here.

[moldycelery.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call Thaddeus Greek (it's from the Bible, IIRC) but I don't mind ancient Greek names, barring Persephone. That just sounds like it's trying too hard -- but stuff like Athena, Thais and Leander and nice.