Entry № 3509 · Greek origin

Galatea Galatea — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ gah-lah-TEE-ah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Milk-white, sea-green"
Syllables
4
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "milk-white, sea-green".

Galatea (Γαλάτεια) comes from the Greek gala, meaning "milk" — referring to her milk-white complexion. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Galatea is the statue carved by Pygmalion and brought to life by Aphrodite.

Galatea is rare as a given name but distinctive.

Milk-white. The statue brought to life.

The name in its native script.

Γαλάτεια
Transliteration
Galáteia
Pronunciation
/ ˌɡæl.əˈtiː.ə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Galatea stands.

Galatea 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.

Galateas before her.

Real people

In fiction
Galatea
Pygmalion's statue come to life.
Ovid's Metamorphoses

Names connected to Galatea.

The number behind Galatea.

2

The Peacemaker

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