Entry № 455 · Greek origin

Alkyone Alkyone — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ al-KIE-oh-nee /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Kingfisher (the 'halcyon days')"
Syllables
2
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "kingfisher (the 'halcyon days')".

Alkyone (Ἀλκυόνη) is the Greek word for "kingfisher." Daughter of Aeolus, wife of Ceyx — both transformed into kingfishers when she leapt into the sea on hearing of her husband's drowning. The "halcyon days" are the two weeks around the winter solstice when Aeolus calms the seas for her brooding.

The English word "halcyon" preserves her name.

Kingfisher. The original 'halcyon days.'

The name in its native script.

Ἀλκυόνη
Transliteration
Alkyónē
Pronunciation
/ ælˈkaɪ.oʊ.ni /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Alkyone stands.

Alkyone does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Alkyones before her.

Real people
Alkyone
Greek mythological figure.
In fiction
Alkyone
Origin of 'halcyon days'.
Ovid's Metamorphoses

Names connected to Alkyone.

The number behind Alkyone.

2

The Peacemaker

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Alkyone reduce to 2, The Peacemaker. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.