Gender Feminine Usage Greek Mythology Scripts Ἰάνειρα(Ancient Greek) Pronounced Pron. /ˌaɪ.ə.ˈnaɪ.ɹə/(English) Meaning & History Possibly from Greek Ἰάν (Ian), a variant of Ἴων (Ion) meaning "Ionian", the Ionians being a Greek tribe. The name Ianeira was borne by a few characters in Greek mythology, including one of the Nereids and one of the Oceanids.