Juno is surfacing on more and more message boards. Why not her Greek equivalent?
Thanks to Emily for suggesting Hera as Name of the Day.
Neither Juno nor Hera has ever appeared in the US Top 1000. But Juno – pop culture goddess of responsibl(ish) teenage pregnancy and the name chosen by Coldplay’s Will Champion for his daughter – seems to be catching on amongst the fashion-forward, while Hera remains neglected.
Maybe it is because Hera herself was something of a spiteful creature. She may have been queen of the pantheon, but with philandering husband Zeus’ exploits producing half-divine bastards from one end of Ancient Greece to the other, it wasn’t an easy gig. Hera took her revenge often.
Little wonder, then, that parents haven’t wanted their daughters to have such a jealous namesake. But there’s a glimmer that Hera might’ve have once been something more – a version of the original mother goddess, married and subdued by a patriarchal culture, but still feisty.
It’s an intriguing feminist read on her character, and one that revives the name as a possibility for modern parents.
But it’s also a bit of a stretch. Her etymology gives little hint of the name’s origins, with multiple origins attributed, including:
- The Greek heros – protector, possibly a feminine variant;
- The Greek hora – time or season, the source of our word hour;
- The Greek haireo – to be chosen.
Of course, if Hera truly predates the Greeks, then her name almost certainly has some other, older source.
Marriage and childbirth were Hera’s domain, and her symbols included pomegranates and peacocks, plus cows. Today we’d hesitate to give our daughter a bovine appellation, but since Homer calls her both beautiful and cow-eyed, I’m assuming the Greeks found cattle more attractive than we might today.
- In the 21st century re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Hera is a Cylon-Human hybrid, the first such child to be born;
- The first comic book Hera comes from Stan Lee’s 1960s-era Thor series. His Hera is a goddess and the shrewd CEO of Olympus Group;
- Iron Man’s Girl Friday, Pepper Potts, eventually gets her own superhero suit. At one point she wears the name Rescue, and at another time, she’s Hera.
Based on sound alone, Hera might also stand-in for Harriet if you’re eager to honor a grandpa Henry, but aren’t wild about any of the common feminine forms.
With other ancient goddesses taking their places on playgrounds everywhere, Hera could fit right in. While less than 500 girls were called Maia in 2008, over 4,000 were named Maya – easily a Top 100 choice. And while there were less than 1,000 new babies called Luna in 2008, the name is climbing in use quickly.
Goddess names for girls are nearly mainstream. So why not choose Hera for a daughter? You’ll worship her anyway!
Hera is a name I really feel like a should like. It’s probably one of the most usable Greek goddess names, and I love most names from Greek and Roman mythology. But something about it I don’t really like. I think it just sounds too light and breathy when I say it out loud. And it reminds me of herring. I would be delight to meet a little Hera, though. I think she deserves more use.
I quite like it. I can embrace her bitc-er-feistiness… but more than that, I like the sound. It’s not a choice for me, but I think it would be a great name on a little girl.
Sounds too sci-fi for me. And I don’t like Juno, Luna or Maya either. This little girl will be taunted with “hairy” and will be explaining all her life that it’s “Hera, not Sara.”
Juno is my #1 all time favorite name but DH won’t consider it
Hera would be a nice alternative (if he would be down with it, he hates everything) but we already have a Helena. Too close? I think so.
I can’t get into Hera… It leaves me with thoughts of hairy, herron,etc and yet I have no problem with either Hero or Hermione on a little girl. I should like it; It rhymes with my own name, but I just can’t.
Is it pronounced Hair-uh or Heer-uh? I prefer the latter but I think the former is correct. I love the name Hero for a girl, and I wish that this appealed to me as much, because Hero is simply too out there for me. I actually really like Juno, and I think the connection to the movie has faded enough now that it’s usable.
Oh, I have a major soft spot for god and goddess names, and I definitely think this is one of the more usable options. I always felt Hera was a great symbol of womanly strength because of her spiteful nature. She didn’t sit back and let her husband get away with his philandering ways, she did something about it. I picture her as beautiful, strong, and smart: all characteristics I would love a daughter to possess. Two thumbs up from me!
Ditto!
I’ve always liked Hera, but only pronounced as hair-uh [which is strange, because I've never liked Harry, which I pronounce the same as hairy]. I just started watching Battlestar Galactica recently, so the cylon/human baby is foremost in my mind now.
I’m not into it, unfortunately. The sound just doesn’t appeal to me. A friend of a friend just had a baby Minerva, goddess of music among other things, but I’m not into that name, either.
Thanks so much for covering Hera for me! I think we have already in the meantime decided not to use it but it was very interesting to hear everyone’s take on it. Still searching for that perfect name, it seems so much harder this second time around! I think my husband is pickier this time too lol!
Hera definitely has a pleasant sound, but it does make me think of a jealous woman. Still, its a cool name, and it would be quite interesting to actually meet someone with this name.
I’ve never liked the name Hera, although I’ve always wanted to, being a fan of Greek mythology since Grade Three. Sadly, Hera’s name has always bugged me, although I’m not sure why — maybe because it’s so close to Hero, maybe because I have half an inclination to add a “tic” to the end of it when I say the name out loud, maybe because my own father’s name is Harry and Hera sounded like a mispronunciation — I don’t know. I just can’t like the name.
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I on the other hand love Hera. Just watched Disney’s Hercules and fell in love. I might be better as a middle name but Hera is definitely in the running for us when it comes to naming our future LO.