Comments for ACHILLES:

It makes me think of 'Achilles Heel'.

-- shmeagle  1/3/2005

Makes me think of a Roman gladiator. Most likely because when I think of the name Achilles, I think of someone strong, who is a fighter. Someone advanced in the fighting profession, and the total opposite of a coward.

-- Kae Kae  6/9/2005

Like it was already mentioned, Αχιλλεύς (a-kil-LEFS) has to do with άχος (A-chos) - "pain", and the word "λύειν" (LI-in) - "to untie". "The One Untying the Pain" - possibly connected to healing capabilities.

-- Sifu VERSUS  6/25/2005

Translates as "without lips". Appolodorus suggests it may be because he was never suckled as a baby (!?). Could also imply Achilles is the name of an ancient oracular hero (hint: they keep the head in the shrine, over time the skin shrinks away...)

-- nastler  9/30/2005

A song by Led Zeppelin goes by the name "Achilles Last Stand". It is sang with great emotion; focussing on Apocolypse or even death.

-- rosco kid  5/11/2006

I definitely like this name, because while it is very masculine (Achilles, the great warrior!) it's not macho, like the names of most warriors seem to be. Achilles was hidden away in the guise of girl and his best friend and lover, Patroclus, was a male. No one could ever call him dainty or demure, but he was certainly not a man's man sort of person. I think I would name a girl this, giving her an alliterating, female name for her middle name (or making this her middle name), like, Alice Achilles.

-- nouvellehelene  7/7/2006

The name αχιλλευς comes from the Greek word αχλύς which is a weather phenomenon mainly seen in Greek rivers, lakes and the sea. It is similar to myst. The word αχλυς (achlys) derives from the morpheme αχ (ach) which is present in words representing names of big Greek rivers. e.g. Αχ-ελώος, Ιν-αχ-ος Αχ-ερων. Achille's chariot raised clouds of dust (resembling achlys) and thus took his name that reflected this property.

-- faidra999  11/14/2006

Makes me think of Brad Pitt from the movie 'Troy'--Strong, masculine, brave, handsome, rugged, beauty, and power. Ahh, yes it's a wonderful name, no? ;~D

-- FyreHydenGirth  12/13/2006

I love Greek mythology names, but I like them better with the Swedish spelling. It sounds much simpler in Swedish. Like Akilles, it looks better then Achilles.

-- honungspinglan  1/7/2007

Achilles is a character in Orson Scott Card's book Ender's Shadow. He was kind of a psychopath. His name was pronounced ah-SHEEL, though, according to the book.

-- Anonymous User  5/26/2007

From "achos" (pain) and "laos" (the people) - pain of the people. When he was fighting in the Trojan War, he was the pain of the people for the Trojans, and when he was not fighting (like when he was mad at Agamemnon, or before he arrived at Troy), he was the pain of the people for the Greeks. He was also the pain of the people for his mother, who knew he would die young and that upset her. By the way, he was not suckled as a baby when he was with the centaur Chiron.

-- lcgirl20  8/24/2007

Achilles would be a hard name to live up to. In Greek Mythology, he was nearly invincible except for his heel. Too many in-jokes I think.

-- Zan11  9/7/2007

I love the name Achilles, because I love the Iliad. I hate Brad Pitt as Achilles though, we are watching Troy in Classical Studies. It is a grossly inaccurate film, I mean good Lord, Achilles cuts off the head of an Apollo statue. This would never happen! The people of those times were terrified and completely in awe of the gods. Pious, that's the word. Ok, sorry about that, but, yeah, I love the name Achilles! It is such a strong heroic name.

-- Clodagh  10/27/2007

I don't even know how to pronounce this name! I don't really think I would use it for my child. But it IS different.

-- Patricia Underwood  2/2/2008

You would have to be insane or just very pretentious to give this legendary, pompous name to a person.

-- slight night shiver  4/19/2008

This name is also used in Poland. I suppose it would sound nice there, but in English it just screams pretentious.

-- bananarama  3/25/2009

In Orson Scott Card's Bean series, Achilles (pronounced ah-SHEEL in that case) was the main antagonist.

-- xxmidori  4/15/2009

This is a great name. I admire anyone who would give this to their son today.

-- vomiting  6/12/2009

Achilles was the lover of, among others, Patroclus AND Troius (the latter of whom he killed in a lover's embrace). And if a child is named this, they'll probably be teased by "heel" a lot. I'm not very sure about the usage of this name.

-- Anonymous User  6/22/2009

My youngest son is named Achilles. He was born with a hole in his ankle, hence the name, as well as an atrial septal defect, otherwise known as a hole in the heart. It's a strong name for a strong boy (= I also liked it because it's a strong name without being overly masculine, trendy or sounding like a redneck name.

-- northstar091  7/17/2009

Key: Meaning/History Usage Pronunciation Famous Bearer Personal Impression Other

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