indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Feminine
Usage Greek Mythology
Scripts Μνήστρα(Ancient Greek)
Other Forms FormsΜήστρα (Mestra)
Meaning & History
Derived from Greek μνηστήρ (mnester) meaning "courter, wooer". In Greek legend she was a princess of Thessalia who was loved by the god Poseidon. According to Ovid, her lover gave her the ability to shapeshift at will, a gift exploited by her father King Erysichthon; repeatedly the king sold his daughter to suitors, only for her to return home in the form of various animals.