Entry № 6670 · Greek origin

Medea Medea — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ meh-DAY-ah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Cunning, plotter; Colchian sorceress"
Syllables
3
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "cunning, plotter; colchian sorceress".

Medea (Μήδεια) is from the Greek mēdomai, meaning "to plot" or "to scheme." The Colchian sorceress and granddaughter of the sun god Helios who helped Jason steal the Golden Fleece — and then, when he betrayed her, killed their children. Subject of Euripides's tragedy.

Medea is rare but iconic.

Cunning. The Colchian sorceress of Euripides.

The name in its native script.

Μήδεια
Transliteration
Mḗdeia
Pronunciation
/ məˈdiː.ə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Medea stands.

Medea 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.

Medeas before her.

Real people

In fiction
Medea
Heroine of Euripides's tragedy.
431 BCE

Names connected to Medea.

The number behind Medea.

1

The Leader

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Medea reduce to 1, The Leader. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.