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.