Names (and etymologies) of Centaurs
Centaurs are very dear to me. I have named by daughter Nephele (Nebula) after the mother of the Centaurs. Here are the principal Centaurs and their names' etymologies:Agrios - wild, fierce, evil
Agchios - near, from agchi-
Aisakos - branch of myrtle or laurel
Amykos - without nose (from amykter
Amphion - on both sides (amphi- is related to the Latin ambi-)
Aratos - prayed against, accursed
Argeios - from the plain (argos). There are also several Greek town called Argos..
Argeus - Same as Argos
Asbolos - soot
Bianor - bodily strength, force (from bia)
Gleneus - playful (from glenos, meaning playthings)
Dapnis - bayberry
Dexamenos - accepting, receiving (from dexameni, receptacle)
Demoleon - Lion (leon) of the people (demos)
Doupon - making a dead, heavy sound (doupos)
Dryalos - to talk nonsense, play the fool (dryazein)
Elatos - to drive, drive on, set in motion (enauno)
Erigdoupos - loud-sounding, thundering, from eris (discord) and gdoupos (sound).
Eurybios - having a broad, robust (eurys) life (bios).
Eurynomos - Broad, far-reaching (eurys) law (nomos)
Thaumas - causing wonder, marvel (thauma)
Thereus - hunter, chaser
Iambreus - Iambic, speaking in verse
Ixion - from Hiketes, one who comes to seek protection, a suppliant or fugitive
Ixon - as above
Hippasos - related to horses/riding (hippasia = horse riding)
Hippotion - a horseman, knight (from hippotes)
Isoples Equally (iso-) armed (oplon)
Klanis - the weeper, lamenter (from klano to lament). Means he who farts in contemporary Greek.
Lykidas - wolf's cub, from lykos
Melagchaites - dark-mane, from mela (black) and chaite (mane)
Melaneus - The dark one, from melas (black)
Mermeros - Baneful, warlike
Mimas - actor, mime
Nessos - possibly related to homecoming (nostos). Nostalgia has the same root.
Oiklos - possibly related to oikos (to be like)
Homados - noisy throng, mob of warriors
Oreios - of or from the mountains, mountain-haunting
Ourios - of or from the mountains, mountain-haunting
Ophion - serprnt-like, from ophis (pronounced like Office, come to think of it!)
Perimedes - prudent and cunning, from medos.
Petraios - living among the rocks (from petra)
Peukeides - living in the pine forest (from peukon, pine tree)
Pylenor - he who tends the gates/doors (from pyle)
Pyretos - burning heat, fiery heat, fever
Roikos - fluid, flowing (from rheo)
Roitos- fluid, flowing (from rheo)
Hylaios - belonging to the wood or forest, savage (from hyle, woods)
Phlegaios - twines or twisted (from plegma)
Pholos - loaded, beast of burden (phol-)
Phrikios - shivering, causing shivers (phrike). The word freak descended from phrike)
Phrixos - shivering, causing shivers (phrike). The word freak descended from phrike)
Cheiron - worse, meaner, inferiorCentaur names were culled from *Thesaurus of Greek Names* by Ares Diamantes (Athens, 2001. Once again, etymologies were drawn from Liddell-Scott and common sense.
vote up1vote down

Replies

COOL! I could seirously use some of those...
vote up1vote down
Cool list! Plus, a question...Were there ever any lady centaurs in Greek legend? I can't recall any, but I always thought those little centaurettes in Disney's Fantasia were kinda cute.I'm surprised some marketing genius hasn't come out with toy, multi-colored centaurettes for little girls to play with and collect. Kinda like the "My Pretty Pony" toys of past years.Heheh, I'll bet the dads would be collecting 'em more than the kids. ;)-- Nanaea
vote up1vote down
Great ! !(
vote up1vote down
Thanks :)
vote up1vote down
PSOf the names mentiones, only Dapnis and Klanis were girls :)
Fortunately for all, Centaurs had no qualms about mating with other species.
vote up1vote down
LOL :)
vote up1vote down
Well, they ARE Greek, after all..... : P
vote up1vote down