Comments
Meaning
Usage
Pronunciation
Famous
Impression
Other
I never heard of this name until Outlander. Unfortunate that it has an unsavory backstory because it is a beautiful name.
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Jocasta is a pretty cool name. It sounds bold and strikingly beautiful. I know a girl called Jocasta, and she had never had any problems with her name. The myth isn’t known to most people. It’s just a story anyway.
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If it weren't for Oedipus I would definitely use this name.
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Also used in other spellings and variants in medieval England too.
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I’m actually Greek and I asked my Ancient Greek teacher the etymology of the name and she said it comes from the Greek ίον meaning violet and κάζω meaning decorate. After some searching in Greek this etymology can be found in many Greek name sites and dictionaries.
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I don't think some of the people in this comment section know about the Greek myth. In the story, Jocasta unknowingly married and had kids with her own son. When she found out, she hung herself.
This is still a pretty name, but definitely should not be used, especially since the child will probably read the story in school.
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This is still a pretty name, but definitely should not be used, especially since the child will probably read the story in school.
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So I did a lot of digging for this, because I heard somewhere this name means "shining moon" but I don't like taking things at face value.
I broke the name up into Io (the Greek form of Jo) and casta. I recognized Io from the Io that Zeus fell in love with, and I finally found Martin Bernal's book Black Athena, where he mentions it may be connected to jꜥḥ, or Iah, who was a god of the moon. The word jꜥḥ literally means moon in Egyptian, so the first part of Jocasta's name we can assume shares that meaning.
-casta was a lot easier. It already sounds like "cast" like "to cast light", but I did check and it may be related to κέκασμαι (kékasmai) meaning literally "to shine." It relates to names like Castor and Cassandra. So her name really does mean "shining moon," or something along the lines of "moonlight."
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I broke the name up into Io (the Greek form of Jo) and casta. I recognized Io from the Io that Zeus fell in love with, and I finally found Martin Bernal's book Black Athena, where he mentions it may be connected to jꜥḥ, or Iah, who was a god of the moon. The word jꜥḥ literally means moon in Egyptian, so the first part of Jocasta's name we can assume shares that meaning.
-casta was a lot easier. It already sounds like "cast" like "to cast light", but I did check and it may be related to κέκασμαι (kékasmai) meaning literally "to shine." It relates to names like Castor and Cassandra. So her name really does mean "shining moon," or something along the lines of "moonlight."
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Not everyone will know the mythological origin.
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I LOVE the name - since I have the name! My parents went to a James Cagney movie in 1950's - A Tribute To A Bad Man- and the girl in the movie (a Native American girl) was named JoKasta - which is how they first learned the name. I am the youngest of 4 children and my name has been a conversation piece for my entire life. Most people think it is two names - it is a great name and I don't go by the Greek Mythology namesake!
My parents spelled it with a capital K instead of a lower case c. It's a great name and has made me the person I am- UNIQUE!
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My parents spelled it with a capital K instead of a lower case c. It's a great name and has made me the person I am- UNIQUE!
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The name Jocasta sounds like a name intelligent, artistic parents would give to their little girl. It has a playful sound to it when spoken outloud. I think most people would try to shorten it--it is sort of a mouthful. I suppose she could be called Cassie or Jo. Very unique.
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Sounds like a surname...
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I like the name Jocasta. The librarian in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones bore this name, which I think is cool!
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I like this name a great deal. The association with the character doesn't bother me.
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This name should be taboo. It's associated with a "MILF", and I knew why without even reading the myth. I also hate the "joke" and "cast" in this name.
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It's pretty cool, I mean, I like the 'casta' part.
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In a series called The Land Of Elyon, jocastas are magical rocks that give the owner the power to speak with animals. They also have tiny messages etched into them.
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Can also be spelled Iocasta, since classical Latin does not use the letter "J".
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I like this name a lot, although the Oedipus myth precludes most chance of it being used by anyone.
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I've heard it pronounced "YO-cast-ah" and "HO-cast-ah."
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I love this name! But it should never be given to a child. After all, would you enjoy thinking that your grandson would grow up to have sex with his mother, Jocasta? Not to mention that she would be incredibly teased throughout school - and no one would want to marry her, considering the boys would be afraid that one day, their son would come and murder them. Great name, though! ^.^
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I LOVE this! It has a million cute nicknames too. Josie, Joey, JoJo, Jo, Cassie, Casta, Jasta, Jassie, Asta...
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The name means "light-hearted". I know, because my name is YoKasta, which is the Spanish spelling of the same name!
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Jocasta is also the name of a character in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.
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