Daphne — Meaning, Origin & Everything to Know

Drawn from Greek, Daphne means 'laurel tree' and has a character all its own. As a daughter's name, Daphne suggests beauty, delicacy and natural grace and travels comfortably across languages. Daphne appeals to families after a name with real roots — here, the Greek word for 'laurel tree'.

What Does the Name Daphne Mean?

The name Daphne translates as 'laurel tree', a meaning inherited from Greek.

Historically, Daphne took shape among Greek speakers, for whom naming a daughter was an act of meaning. As it travelled, Daphne kept its 'laurel tree' sense intact, handed down to honour relatives and express a hope for the child.

Today Daphne reads as approachable and contemporary, even though its meaning of 'laurel tree' is anything but new. It is exactly this balance that lifted Daphne into wider use in the 2020s.

Daphne carries connotations of beauty, delicacy and natural grace; the Greek background gives that symbolism somewhere to stand.

Origin & Etymology of Daphne

Greek · Greek

The roots of Daphne lie in Greek, carrying the sense 'laurel tree'. When families carried the Greek tradition abroad, Daphne went too, picking up minor spelling shifts without losing 'laurel tree'. Now Daphne works as both a nod to roots and a thoroughly usable everyday name.

Within Greek culture, Daphne connects to enduring values through its idea of beauty, delicacy and natural grace.

How Greek names are chosen

Greek naming is close to an algorithm, which is why the same names recur down a family for centuries: the eldest son takes his paternal grandfather's name and the eldest daughter her paternal grandmother's, with later children drawing on the mother's side. The name is usually settled within the first week or ten days, the christening following at around forty days, and by custom the godfather has the final word. Because so many names are saints' names, most Greeks keep a name day — the saint's feast — as well as a birthday, and it is often the more sociable of the two. Regional patron saints show up plainly in the distribution: Spyridon clusters on Corfu, Gerasimos on Kefalonia, Dionysios on Zakynthos.

How to Pronounce Daphne

DAPH-ne — Daphne is usually said in 2 parts — DAPH · ne. From Greek roots: vowels are open and clearly sounded.