Ancient Baby Names, Names from Old Rome or Greek, Page 9
Choosing an ancient baby name is a way to hand your child a piece of deep history the moment they're born. These names echo from the temples of Rome, the agoras of Greece, the courts of Byzantium, and the pages of old scripture, and they carry a weight that trendy modern picks simply can't match. If you want your baby to stand out with a name that feels timeless, mysterious, and quietly powerful, ancient baby names are a wonderful place to start.
You'll find striking options like Cassius and Octavia from Rome, Atticus and Calliope from Greece, Theodora and Alaric from Byzantium, and Ezra and Naomi from biblical tradition. Each of these ancient baby names carries a story — Atticus means "from Attica" and evokes wisdom, Theodora means "gift of God," and Alaric was the Visigoth king who shook an empire. These names have survived thousands of years precisely because they sound strong and mean something worth remembering.
When you read these names aloud, notice which ones feel natural with your family's rhythm and which ones invite nicknames you'll actually use. If this collection inspires you, you may also love our Biblical baby names, Arthurian picks, or our Celtic origins collection for more storied options. An ancient baby name gives your little one a name that has outlasted empires — and will grow gracefully with them through every stage of life.
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Recorded origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lycomedes | Myth Name (A King Of Scyros) | Male | Greek |
| Lycoris | Twilight | Female | Greek |
| Lynceus | Myth Name (An Argonaut) | Male | Greek |
| Lynette | Bird | Female | Anglo |
| Lyra | Of The Iyre Or Song | Female | French |
| Mac | Son Of | Male | Celtic |
| Macha | Plain | Female | Irish |
| Machaon | Myth Name (Son Of Aesculapius) | Male | Greek |
| Maeve | A Mythical Queen | Female | Celtic |
| Magnus | Great | Male | Danish |
| Mahala | Tender | Female | Hebrew |
| Maia | Myth Name (Mother Of Hermes) | Female | Greek |
| Malvina | Handmaiden | Female | Celtic |
| Marcella | Warring | Female | French |
| Marcellus | "YOUNG WARRIOR .VARIATIONS: MARCEAU,MARCEL,MARCELIN,MARCELLO." | Male | Latin |
| Marcia | "Variant Of Mark. Mars, Greek God." | Female | English |
| Marcus | Hammer | Male | Gaelic |
| Mariana | Compound Name Combining Marie And Anne, "Bitter Grace." | Female | Romanian |
| Marilla | Shining Sea. Variant Of Muriel. | Female | Celtic |
| Marina | Female | English | |
| Marius | Hammer | Male | Romanian |
| Maro | Myself | Male | Japanese |
| Marpessa | Myth Name (Daughter Of Evenus) | Female | Greek |
| Marsyas | Myth Name (A Satyr) | Male | Greek |
| Martina | Feminine Of Martin Warring. | Female | Spanish |
| Maximus | Greatest. | Male | Irish |
| Meadhbh | Happiness Or Pearl | Female | Irish |
| Medea | Myth Name (Wife Of Jason Who Murders Her Children) | Female | Greek |
| Medus | Myth Name (Son Of Medea By Aegeus) | Male | Greek |
| Meena | Fish; Precious Stone. In Hindu Myth, Meena Is A Name Of The Wife Of Shiva. MY... | Female | Indian |
| Melampus | Myth Name (Seer) | Male | Greek |
| Melanie | Dark. | Female | French |
| Melantho | Myth Name (A Serving Girl) | Female | Greek |
| Melissa | Meaning Unknown | Female | Arthurian |
| Melita | Honey | Female | Romanian |
| Menelaus | Myth Name (Brother Of Agamemnon) | Male | Greek |
| Mentor | Wise Counselor | Male | Greek |
| Merope | Myth Name (Foster Mother Of Oedipus) | Female | Greek |
| Metis | Myth Name (Resourcefulness) | Female | Greek |
| Midas | Myth Name (Turned Everything He Touched To Gold) | Male | Greek |
| Milan | "Union, Combine, Joining" | Male | Indian |
| Milo | Merciful. | Male | English |
| Minerva | Wise | Female | Greek |
| Minos | Myth Name (Son Of Zeus) | Male | Greek |
| Mira | Bitter | Female | Hebrew |
| Mopsus | Myth Name (A Seer) | Male | Greek |
| Mungo | Lovable | Male | Celtic |
| Murray | From The Sea. Ancient Scottish Clan Surname. | Male | Scottish |
| Nausicaa | Myth Name (Princess Who Finds Odysseus) | Female | Greek |
| Nefertiti | Name Of A Queen | Female | Egyptian |
622 names found. Page 9 of 13.
More Ancient Baby Names
Persian Mythology Baby Names: Heroes of the Shahnameh and Names From Ancient Iran
Persian mythology offers two distinct wells for baby names: Ferdowsi's Shahnameh — the epic Book of Kings, completed around 1010 CE — and the older Zoroastrian and Avestan tradition, which deserves respect as a living faith. This guide groups the names by real-world wearability rather than dumping them in one pile. The crossover tier (Cyrus and Kourosh, Darius and Dariush, Roxana, Soraya, Daria, Yasmin) already crosses easily onto Western birth certificates. The hero tier from the Shahnameh (Rostam, Sohrab, Arash, Jamshid, Kaveh, Bahram, Esfandiyar, Zal, Khosrow) is bolder but still in everyday use across Iran and Central Asia. The heroines and lovers (Tahmineh, Rudabeh, Shirin, Manijeh, Farangis, Gordafarid, Parisa) make soft, literary choices, while the Zoroastrian deity and scripture names (Anahita, Mithra and Mehr, Mehrdad, Avesta, Zarathustra) range from quietly usable to admire-only. The piece flags Simorgh as a mythic bird rather than a human name, gives a pronunciation key for the trickier names, and decodes the shared roots — mehr for sun and love, the suffix -dad for given, the bright-roots inside Roxana and Jamshid — that explain why these names have survived a thousand years of continuous use.
8 Pretty Girl Baby Names From Ancient Culture
For a baby name that truly stands apart, step back through centuries to these eight ancient picks for girls. Amica is the Latin feminine of Amicus, meaning a friendly, loving woman, while Aurelia has flowed gracefully since the Roman Empire. Cassia comes from Greek for "spicy cinnamon," Fabia belongs to the Roman Fabius clan, and Flavia means golden, perfect for a blonde-haired baby. Gaia is the Greek earth goddess and universal mother, Junia is a Biblical name meaning "youth," and Russian Mila translates to "people's love." Each name hands your daughter a story that predates every trend.