🔥Calliope

ka-LYE-oh-pee or ka-lee-OH-pee (English), kah-LYO-pee (Greek)
Greek mythology name
"beautiful voice"

Calliope Origin and Meaning

The name Calliope is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "beautiful voice".

Calliope is the name of the muse of epic poetry -- and also the musical instrument on the merry-go-round. Bold and creative, it debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016, and entered the Top 500 in 2023. Similar in rhythm and sound to Penelope with usable nicknames Callie, Clio, and Lola, it is no wonder it's on the rise.

While Americans usually pronounce this name with a long I sound and the emphasis on the second syllables, Greeks pronounce it with the emphasis on the third syllable -- ka-lee-OH-pee.

# 492 in the US

Calliope Rank in US Top 1000

# 127 on Nameberry

Calliope Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Calliope Popularity

Famous People Named Calliope

  • Saint Calliope aka Kalliopi
    3rd century Roman martyr
  • Calliope "Callie" Thorne
    American actress
  • Calliope Tsoupaki
    Greek pianist and composer
  • Calliope "Popi" Maliotaki
    Greek folk,pop singer
  • Calliope Maeve Day (b. 2017)
    daughter of Felicia Day

Calliope in Pop Culture

  • Dr. Calliope Iphigenia "Callie" Torres
    character on TV's Grey's Anatomy
  • Calliope/Callie/Cal Stephanides
    narrator of Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex
  • Calliope
    character in "Scrambled Eggs at Midnight" by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler
  • Calliope
    main character in Aimee Carter's "Goddess Test"
  • Calliope "Callie
    " character in the webcomic Homestuck
  • Calliope
    character in the Burn Journals by Brad Runyon
  • Calliope Jones
    character on TV's "Days of our Lives"
  • Calliope Bell
    character in Stephanie Perkins "Lola and the Boy Next Door"
  • Calliope
    one of the ugly stepsisters in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
  • Calliope
    character in "Coyote Blue" by Christopher Moore
  • Calliope "Callie"
    main character in "Oblivion" by Sasha Dawn, who suffers from graphomania, an irresistible urge to write
  • Calliope
    character on TV's "One Tree Hill"
  • The Calliope
    housing project in New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Calliope Chadwick
    character in Mother,Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick
  • Calliope Juniper
    a character from The Simpsons