Entry № 7498 · Greek origin

Niobe Niobe — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ NIE-oh-bee /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Snow, fern"
Syllables
1
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "snow, fern".

Niobe (Νιόβη) was the Greek queen of Thebes whose pride in her fourteen children offended Leto. Apollo and Artemis killed all fourteen; Niobe was turned to weeping stone.

Niobe is rare as a given name but powerful in literary tradition.

The mother of grief, turned to weeping stone.

The name in its native script.

Νιόβη
Transliteration
Nióbē
Pronunciation
/ ˈnaɪ.oʊ.bi /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Niobe stands.

Niobe 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.

Niobes before her.

Real people

In fiction
Niobe
Tragic mother in Greek mythology.
Greek mythology
Niobe
Character in The Matrix Reloaded.
2003 film

Names connected to Niobe.

The number behind Niobe.

9

The Giver

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Niobe reduce to 9, The Giver. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.