Roman Mythology Names (With Meanings and Popularity)

The name of a heavenly planet and the Roman goddess of beauty and love was an intimidating no-no until tennis champ Venus Williams put an athletic, modern spin on it.

He was the original Roman, Remus's twin and a founder of Rome. But parents attracted to this name are advised to read the legend first. Romulus does have some less than savory characteristics, including killing his twin brother and making Rome in his own image, and is later deified as Quinnius. Romy and Quinn might make good twin names.

Adventurous parents are starting to look back to names of ancient gods like Mercury, Zeus, and Apollo. This one is also a planet and a metallic element, and has a friendly nickname, Merc. The Roman god Mercury, which derives from the Latin words for trade or wages, is the patron of tradesmen and travelers and the fastest-moving planet in the solar system. Mercury is the planet associated with the sign of Virgo, so this is one of the prime names for Virgo babies.

The Anatolian mother goddess Cybele had a place in Greek, Roman, Trojan, and Anatolian mythology. Today, she has special meaning as a symbol of gender nonconformity.

Fauna is the Roman goddess of the earth as well as one of the fairies who protected Disney's "Sleeping Beauty".

Nox was the Roman goddess of the night, equivalent to the Greek Nyx, from which her name was derived. Although identical in sound, Nox is unrelated to the Scottish masculine name Knox.

The Nixi were a tribe of childbirth goddesses in ancient Rome. The similar Nixie is a girls' name associated with German water nymphs. Whichever variation you choose, this is a unique name with a modern feel and evocative ancient roots.

Vulcan was the Roman god of fire (from which, volcano) and metalworking, but this name is now more familiar as the pointy-eared humanoids on "Star Trek," represented by Mr. Spock.

The meaning of this ancient Roman god's name relates to transitions, hence its connection to the name of the first month of the new year, a time of fresh beginnings. Janus is usually depicted as a two-faced god facing in opposite directions, since he looks both to the future and the past. It's no surprise then, that Janus is one of the premiere January baby names. The Slavic form Janusz is more commonly used than the English, represented by the Polish cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who has shot all of Steven Spielberg's films from Schindler's List to Lincoln.

Nona is a name sometimes given to the ninth child -- but unlikely to serve that purpose today. Musical cred: the name of a song by Motley Crue.

Properly spelled Luã, this is a light and bright alternative to mega-popular Luna, with the same celestial meaning. Lua is also an attractive choice for tech-heads, with Lua being a popular programming language.

In Roman mythology, Silvanus was the god of the forests. He protected farmers and fields and was credited with developing a system for marking field boundaries.

If you've rejected all the names on earth, you might move on to the sixth planet from the sun, also the Roman god of agriculture and plenty, and the origin of Saturday.

This name of the Roman goddess of fruit trees is also associated with a suburban town in Southern California.

A classic virtue name for girls stretching back to the Pilgrim times, in more recent years, Honor has become one of the unisex baby names with a near-even gender split. Rarely used on boys before the 2010s, it has nearly doubled in use over the last decade.

One of the names of the sun god Apollo, this is better known in its feminine form, Phoebe.

Lucina, deriving from Latin lucus "grove" and also associated with lux "light", is an epithet given in Roman mythology to the goddess Juno (and sometimes also Diana) in her role as goddess of childbirth. A stately and unusual route to Lucy, more delicate than Lucinda.

In Roman mythology, Caelus was the god of the sky prior to Jupiter. It's one of the few names that's virtually one-of-a-kind yet fits in with current stylish choices such as Caius and Callum (neither of which Caelus is etymologically related to).

Name of the Roman goddess of harvest and grain, appropriate for a fall baby. And a palindrome too!