Faidra

Faidra is a female name becoming increasingly popular in Greece, despite the fact that it has been a very popular name in the antiquity. Faidra is a name that comes from the Greek word faidros, which means happy and funny, but nowadays it has taken a rather negative meaning, referring to something that is becoming ridiculous.

Sound of name Faidra: Phae’-dra

Male version of name Faidra: Faidros (not that common though)

Nameday of name Faidra: November 29th

Origin of name Faidra

As we said the name Faidra comes from the ancient Greek language and refers to the wife of Theseus the king of Athens. Faidra was the daughter of king Minos and Pasiphae and moved to Athens with Theseus, where she felt in love with her step son Ippolytus. This love affair did not have a happy end, as Theseus found out about it and send Ippolytus away; Ippolytus got killed though and Faidra killed herself out of remorse. Based on this story, Euripides wrote the tragedy Ippolytus and later scientists gave the name Faidra to a very known star that appears over the Big Bear.
The Greek Orthodox Church celebrates the name Faidra on November 29th although there is no Saint or Martyr that day. It is one of those ancient Greek names that found their place in the Greek Orthodox Calendar.

Nicknames deriving from name Faidra

Faidra doesn’t have many nicknames, but you can find a couple diminutives, such as Faidrina and Faidroula.

The names’ Fairy reveals about the name Faidra

Faidra is usually a nice person, very kind and intellectual. She can be very social when she wants and she is very font of the family. She likes being the center of attention some times.