Comments for the name Leto

In the first couple episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist, there is a sun god by the name of Leto.

It's pronounced LEE toe.

It is pronounced Leh-Toh.

In the book Peaches, there's a character named Leeda whose name is based on the name of a goddess, and I think that this is the inspiration for it.

In the book Dune, there is a baron named Leto. His son names his own son Leto after him.

Because I'm a big geek I must correct an earlier comment... The character from Dune was Duke Leto Atreides I and he was a good guy. The Baron to whom you refer is The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the bad guy.

That being said Leto is on my top 5 boy name list.

This is the surname of actor / 30 Seconds to Mars singer Jared Leto.

Leto, comes from the Greek Λητώ that means λανθάνω pronounced lah-n-thah-no (making a mistake).

Elphaba in the Greek mythology was Leda the mother of the Dioscuri, Helena and Clytaemnestra. She was not a goddess, but maybe the author thought of this name.

I love Leto. I like how it’s got an almost masculine feel to it, but still has an almost girlish element. I also adore it’s meaning – “Hidden, forgotten” – for some reason, but it might be a little off-putting for a child… I’m tempted to giggle.
I love how it has an almost futuristic feel, but it’s still so rooted in Ancient history, with so many fantastical tales to go with it. ^^

I adore the name Leto for a little girl. It's so unique!

In the video game Dragon Age 2, the former slave Fenris, a male elf who lost his memory, finds out that his real name was Leto. Though it has masculine usage in this case, the meaning ("hidden, forgotten") fits.

The usages of 'Literature' and 'Popular Culture' should also be added for this name, for it was the name of Leto Atreides I and his grandson Leto Atreides II from Frank Herbert's "Dune" novels. "Dune" was also made into a film in the '80s, which hopelessly flopped at the time but is now considered a cult film.

Also note that the name Leto was not invented by the author himself for these characters from the "Dune" universe - the Greek origin as stated here in the database also applies to the name of these characters. You see, the Atreides family (which was founded by Vorian Atreides) is ultimately Greek in origin, so it makes sense for Frank Herbert to have used a name of genuine Greek origin, rather than for him to have invented a Greek-sounding name himself.