Daphne

Pinterest

Origin: Greek

Δαφνη (Greek) Daphne

Meaning: from Greek meaning "laurel".

In Greek mythology, Daphne was a naiad (a female nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, rivers, streams, brooks, and any type of fresh water. She was a beautiful nymph who had attracted the attention of the Greek god Apollo and he pursued her in spite of her rejection of his advances. Just as he was about to catch her, Daphne called out to her father, the river god Ladon, for help (in some versions it's the Greek goddess of the earth Gaia) and he transformed her into a laurel tree. Since than, Apollo adopted the laurel as one of his symbols which he wears as a wreath around his head.

It's pronounced daf-nee.


Variants:

• Dafina (Albanian, Macedonian)
• Dafne (Italian)
• Daphna 
• Dafna (also a Hebrew name meaning laurel)