Persephone

Originally, my father was going to name me this, but my mother thought it was "too excessive", so I ended up with a common, boring, and generic name instead. I wish this would have been my name, I find it so very lovely and the meaning is so interesting!

Bewitching... an enigma woven by mystery! Though the meaning may initially evoke somber and fear, a closer look reveals (at least to me) that Persephone is far from a harbinger of misery and despair. Instead, she embodies the cyclical nature of existence, where death is but a necessary companion to the vibrance of life... a whimsical melody, she dances gracefully like swirling violet ribbons. A symphony of crashing purple anthems, she reverberates with an unearthly allure, luring, tempting the listener into her enchanting embrace... sparkling like stardust, she casts a spell upon all who dare to say her name. She embraces the paradox of life, where endings give birth to new beginnings and darkness harbors life. Amidst the dreadful shadows and voices of the departed, there lies the promise of renewal and transformation. She beckons us to confront our fears and accept the inevitability of change, for without death there can be no life. A phantasmagoria of complexity, every purplish shadow holds the promise of a new dawn.

It's a pretty name, but I wouldn't use it because of the unfortunate meaning and mythological association.

It just seems weird and pretentious to use god's names on your own children... The name is aesthetically pleasing, but at least it isn't Hades.

Pretty sounding, but in every-day life seems super pretentious and too much of a mouthful to use.

I've always loved this name after I read a book with a character named Persephone! I have to say it does look like it is pronounced Perse-phone like an actual phone haha but I also think that Sephy is a really nice nickname for this name.

Too long and unpronounceable. And the meaning is horrifying.

Ooh, long and pretty. I like it.

The meaning kinda freaks me out, but I just love the name!

This name is super pretty, and the meaning is so cool for a goddess of spring (although some versions state that she was more of a death goddess herself)!

I actually love the meaning.

It sounds nice, I absolutely love it. But the meaning is a big yikes. But hey, not everybody cares about the meaning of names.

When I was young, I thought this name was pronounced like purse-h phone lol. It's cute, prefer Penelope.

Awful. I would absolutely hate to be stuck with this name throughout life!

I LOVE the meaning. SO cool. The sound is good too.

Persephone is a pretty cool name. Very Greek. Very pretty. If you don't like it, but like the idea of Persephone, Kora is really nice too (I don't like the spelling Cora much). Same deity, different name. I also really like the nickname Persie.

It's pretty, but yikes, the meaning...

It's an unusual name, but I think it's very pretty.

I love this name. Persephone is an elegant upper-class lady who gets invited to the royal wedding because she knows all those people very well. She shows up in a long floral dress cut on the bias, and she wears one of those fantastically expensive hats. Her friends and family call her Percy, never forgetting what her real name is.

I love the name Persephone. It gets so much hate cause it’s the name of the Queen of the Underworld, but she is the also the goddess of spring and agriculture. My cousin's name is Persephone, but we call her Percy for short.

My name is Persephone! I usually go by Persy though. I think it’s a beautiful Greek name!

My friend's name is Persephone and she goes by Perseis :)

Despite her dark origins, Persephone has a light and lyrical aura, and pleasant associations with springtime, so I think it's a lovely name for a girl born in that season. It could also make an interesting replacement for the overused Stephanie.

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While the meaning "bringing death," is... worrisome, to say the least, the name makes me think of an eloquent, though slightly mysterious young aristocrat, clad in an azure robe.

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If you find the meaning and/or story too heavy for your little girl, a nice alternative is Cora, a variant of Kore, the name Persephone was called in her childhood.

I love the name, and the meaning is not that bad, but a bit dark, especially for the daughter of a goddess of agriculture.

I love the name, it's very lyrical and reminds me of a soft day with a beautiful breeze and just happiness without worries. I love Persephone with Guinevere, so Persephone & Guinevere, would be adorable sibling names.

Haha.. My little sister's name is this, her name is way more beautiful and rare than mine. Mine is just common and sloppy I feel, after reading the comments about it. We call her Percy.

My name is Persephonie, I love my name, although most cannot pronounce it correctly, I'm always answering questions about my name and the story behind it. I love my name and I think it's beautiful.

As a person growing up with the name Persephone, I can personally tell you it's not a big deal. Yes, half of the time it was mispronounced or misspelled but the majority of it were compliments. No matter who I met or who couldn't pronounced it, the conversation would always end with a "Wow, your name is beautiful." Your child may not be able to get her name on a coke bottle or spelled right at Starbucks, but she will learn to charish being different. I've never been called Percy or Sephy though, only Perseph and seph. Also, to help with pronunciation, you can add and "I" in there like mine.
Yes, the story and meaning of the name isn't the happiest, but I personally think it's pretty kickass, and the story itself isn't as horrible as people say, depending on which version you've read.
I've only heard of the one where Persephone is swept away by Hades, and lives as his loving queen. Guiding lost souls through the Underworld to where they need to be, adding a woman's touch of "grace, elegance, and compassion" to the darkness of the underworld, something Hades himself could not do.

It's a pretty name, but rather frilly and pretentious.

It's beautiful! The spelling with "phone" I personally believe is what's holding it back. The Greek names are gorgeous but when you look at them on paper... not what we are used to and that brings them to a halt.

Sounds like the words, purse & phone. No thank you.

I've always thought this name is so distinctive. Lyrical, delicate and refined, yet strong as well. A classic beauty. Keep in mind the myth of Demeter-Persephone can have different meanings--it can also symbolize an unusually strong bond between mother and daughter. And as for "being difficult to spell" for a child, it only has one more letter than "Stephanie." No need to dumb down.

Nick-name "Perri".

Love this name! It's so beautiful. I will use this name for my daughter. I plan on teaching her to write a nickname until she masters the entire spelling. Nicknames can be Pera, Persy, or Sephie.

Why is everyone thinking the meaning is bad? To destroy murder? That would be awesome if no one was ever murdered, if murder was destroyed. It's a good name.

Despite the negative meaning, I think this name is absolutely stunning. I love it with the name Rose. Persephone Rose... it's wonderful.

This name is so cool and it's also exotic. I like it with the middle name Lillian so it matches with the myth.
Also, this seems too long as a middle name so it's best to go with firsts.

This is my favorite name, but I hate how everyone here loves it. Thank god it's not popular, and I think it's silly for the ignorant anglophones on here who think this will be mispronounced all the time- then why is Penelope always pronounced right? That was a more common name at one time. This even rhymes with that name. Sheesh, it's gorgeous.

Persephone is my youngest daughter's name. I always remembered the story from school and I always associated it more with the changing of seasons than kidnapping and rape. I also think the name itself is reminiscent of a white flower. It just sounds pure and clean and beautiful. We call her Sephie or Seph for short and while my husband wasn't on board with it at first and still worries it's too pretentious, he admits that it really is HER name and she couldn't be named anything else. And BTW, almost everyone who hears it loves it. And it doesn't get mispronounced as often as you might think.

I've always liked old Latin names... this one is no exception. I love how it sounds when you say it out loud~

Beautiful sound, terrible meaning.

Horrid meaning, but I really like the way it sounds.

This name is lovely but I wouldn't give it to my child due to it's horrific background.

So, so, so gorgeous. Words don’t even begin to describe how lovely I find Persephone. I actually really like the meaning – at least in theory, though not necessarily on a child.

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I LOVE the nickname Posy for a little Persephone. I think it’s precious. Despite my love for Persephone, to this day I still have issues pronouncing it!

It sounds like a mix between "Percival" and "Stephanie". It's lovely but only on a character in a book or something.

Persephone is a beautiful name, but other names that refer to death, demons and the like such as Medusa, Lilith and Nemesis I wouldn't give a daughter this sort of name. It was however a most appropriate name for the character Monica Bellucci portrayed in the Matrix movies.

I know someone with this name, and I think it is absolutely beautiful. Teachers actually don't have any trouble pronouncing her name.

I think this name sounds delightful really. It sounds much better than the more common Stephanie, or even Daphne, but I am afraid it is too bad about the supposed meaning. If the meaning wasn't what it is, I could imagine this name being very popular, due to it being nice and poetic-sounding, but because of its meaning I don't think the name will ever be popular, unfortunately.

To the person who said this name sounds like "Persian phone", Persephone is not said as it sounds, it is usually pronounced "per-SEH-fo-nee". I think this name, while it being rather long and unusual, is beautiful.

I just HATE the name. Perse-phone! It sounds like "Persian phone"! YUCK!

Lovely, beautiful sound. I love hearing Persephone but I'm not too fond of how it looks. I wish I could love it more though.

This name is so feminine and pure-sounding. Surprisingly, I can imagine an older person with this name, not just a kid or teenager.

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I always think of the planet in Joss Whedon's sci fi show "Firefly" when I see this name.

This name would sound quite big and loaded, even a bit pompous, on a person today. In Finland, this name would be unthinkable, as the word 'perse' means 'ass' in Finnish. This is why I always find the name a bit amusing, even though it's not that bad in English.

I love the way this name simply rolls of the tongue. There are no harsh sounds to it. Simply beautiful.

I absolutely adore this name! I'm not sure if I would name my kid this though, not because of the pronunciation or anything (you'd have to be pretty ignorant to not know and recognize the name). I think the story behind the name is nice and doesn't put me off it at all, but ... I don't know, there is just something that makes me uneasy about it. Hope I don't sound crazy.

This name is very melodious and elegant but I think it's too mythological. And it's too long. And I don't like the meaning. It's beautiful though.

I didn't even know how to pronounce this up until a year ago! That's one of the things that puts me off. I have a feeling it will be mispronounced all the time. When pronounced correctly I quite like it. It's a very pretty sounding name.

I love the name Persephone, especially as an alternative to the uber popular Stephanie. And Persephone wasn't just the goddess of hell, she was also the goddess of flowers, and her mother was the goddess of fertility, so I think that the myth shouldn't hold parents back.

Well, I like the Spanish form of this name which is Perséfone (per-SEH-fohn-eh), if I ever have a daughter her name will probably be this. I don't know why people say so many bad things about her myth, as far as I know she only spent one thrid of a year with her "husband" and when Persephone went back to earth spring arrived, which I think is beautiful.

I LOVE Persephone. I like the nickname "Pera".

Nice name.

Even though it means 'to murder' I would still use it, but only as a middle name.

It's funny that such a horrible background and meaning would make such a lyrical, lovely name.

Despite the myth of Persephone, I think it is quite elegant and beautiful. A very good name!