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Dryad Names: 90 Tree Nymph Names From Greek Myth and Beyond
By Metavulgar · updated 2026-11-12 · 6 min read
Dryad names are the names of tree nymphs, and the best ones are tied to a particular tree. The word dryad comes from the Greek drys, "oak", and was first the nymph of the oak; it widened to any tree spirit. A hamadryad adds hama, "together", a nymph who lives and dies with one tree. This page groups names by source: myth (named in Greek tradition), plant words (Greek, Latin and Celtic words for trees and plants that work as names) and invented (mine). Every dryad here is an adult being, centuries old, as the word is understood in fantasy.
Dryads and hamadryads in myth
Greek sources are loose about the terms, and writers often use them as synonyms. The usual sorting is:
- Dryads: nymphs of trees, especially oaks. They can move between trees and forests.
- Hamadryads: nymphs bound to a single tree. When the tree dies, so does she.
- Meliae (Meliai): nymphs of the ash tree, born in myth from the blood of Uranus and tied to the Bronze Age of men.
- Oreads: nymphs of mountains and grottoes, often grouped with dryads.
- Naiads: nymphs of fresh water, who share forest stories with dryads.
Athenaeus gives a family of eight hamadryad sisters, each tied to a tree, which is the closest the sources come to a named list.
Hamadryad names from Athenaeus
These names are given for the eight daughters of Oreios and Hamadryas. The meanings are the Greek words for the trees they belong to.
- Karya: "nut tree", the walnut or hazel.
- Balanos: "acorn" or "oak".
- Kraneia: "cornel tree".
- Morea: "mulberry".
- Aigeiros: "black poplar".
- Ptelea: "elm".
- Ampelos: "vine".
- Syke: "fig".
These are the most defensible hamadryad names on the web. Treat the exact list as one author's account rather than the only one.
Tree and forest nymphs named in stories
- Daphne: "laurel". A nymph who becomes a laurel as she flees Apollo; the best-known tree nymph of all.
- Dryope: from drys and ops, roughly "oak-face". A woman turned into a tree in Ovid.
- Phyllis: "foliage". A woman who becomes an almond tree in Greek tradition.
- Pitys: "pine". A nymph turned into a pine in the Pan stories.
- Leuce: "white poplar", a nymph transformed into the tree in the underworld.
- Philyra: "linden". A sea nymph transformed into a linden tree, mother of the centaur Chiron.
- Chloris: "green", a goddess of flowers and spring.
- Oenone: "wine woman", a nymph of Mount Ida.
- Echo: "sound", a mountain nymph cursed to repeat what she hears.
- Syrinx: "reed pipe". A nymph who becomes reeds in the Pan story.
- Eurydice: "wide justice". Orpheus's wife, a nymph in some versions.
- Melia: "ash tree".
- Hamadryas: the mother of the hamadryads in Athenaeus.
Greek plant words that work as names
None of these are mythic characters. They are real Greek words with clear meanings.
- Dendra: "tree".
- Hyle: "forest, wood".
- Anthea: "flowery".
- Rhodanthe: "rose-flower".
- Chloe: "green shoot", an epithet of Demeter.
- Elate: "fir".
- Kissos: "ivy".
- Myrtia: "myrtle".
- Elaia: "olive".
- Pteris: "fern".
- Phoebe: "bright".
- Thallo: "bloom, young shoot", one of the Greek Horae.
- Karpo: "fruit", another of the Horae.
- Auxo: "growth", a third.
Tree names from other traditions
Celtic ogham trees
The ogham alphabet names its letters for trees. These are well documented.
- Duir: "oak".
- Saille: "willow".
- Nion: "ash".
- Coll: "hazel".
- Luis: "rowan".
- Fearn: "alder".
- Beith: "birch".
- Ruis: "elder".
English tree names as given names
Hazel, Willow, Rowan, Linden, Alder, Ash, Elm, Juniper, Laurel, Rowena (not a tree, but sounds like one), Hawthorn, Briar.
Slavic and Norse
Berezka (Russian, "little birch"), Dub (Slavic, "oak"), Askja (Norse, "ash tree"), Embla (the first woman in Norse myth, made of elm or vine), Yggdrasil (the world-tree, not a person's name).
Names by character
The old oak
Balanos, Duir, Dryope, Drys, Dubrava. Heavy, slow, a voice with rings.
The slender birch
Beith, Berezka, Aigeiros, Pitys. Pale, quick, rustling.
The orchard keeper
Syke, Karya, Morea, Elaia, Karpo. Fruit, honey and long afternoons.
The weeping willow
Saille, Willow, Echo, Melia. A sad, graceful, water-edge dryad.
The thorn and the briar
Hawthorn, Briar, Luis, Phyllis. A dryad who bites.
Invented dryad names
These are original and not from myth.
- Oakwyn: oak plus the Welsh -wyn, "white".
- Verdanna: from Latin viridis, "green".
- Thornwen: thorn plus -wen.
- Emberleaf: for an autumn dryad.
- Silvara: from Latin silva, "forest".
- Mossaline: moss plus a soft ending.
- Hollowmere: a hollow tree beside a pond.
- Lyrenne: invented, soft and wooded.
- Ashalee: ash plus -lee.
- Rootwhisper: a title name.
- Sapphira Greenhollow: a double name for an elegant dryad.
- Quillwren: for a dryad who writes.
- Fenmora: fen plus mora.
- Birchael: a bit on the nose, but it works for a tomboy dryad.
- Cedrine: from cedar.
More Greek nymph names to borrow
Dryads sit in a large family of nymphs, and many nymph names suit a tree spirit even when the myth places them elsewhere. These are real names from Greek tradition with their usual glosses.
- Calypso: "she who conceals", the island nymph of the Odyssey.
- Thetis: a sea nymph, mother of Achilles.
- Amphitrite: a sea goddess, wife of Poseidon.
- Galatea: "milk-white", a sea nymph.
- Arethusa: a nymph turned into a spring in Sicily.
- Clytie: a water nymph who turns into a heliotrope.
- Eurynome: "wide-ruling", an ancient sea goddess.
- Nephele: "cloud".
- Aura: "breeze".
- Hesperia: "of the evening", one of the Hesperides.
- Aegle: "radiance", a Hesperid.
- Erytheia: "red one", a Hesperid.
- Maia: a mountain nymph, mother of Hermes.
- Electra, Taygete, Merope: the Pleiades, nymphs of the mountains.
- Oreithyia: "she who rages on the mountain".
The Hesperides, who tend a golden-apple garden, are a perfect model for an orchard dryad.
Dryad personalities worth borrowing
- The guardian. She protects a grove and bargains for each branch.
- The recluse. She stays within her tree and answers only those who knock.
- The wanderer. A dryad whose tree died and who is learning to live without it.
- The gardener. She tends visitors the way she tends moss: slowly, patiently.
- The trickster. She leads travellers in circles for the joy of it.
- The storyteller. Her tree is old, and she remembers everything that happened under it.
Each personality comes with a sound. The guardian is firm and low, the recluse barely there, the wanderer a little lost, the gardener warm and slow. A name should help the voice settle into that sound.
Remember that a dryad is a long-lived being. Whichever name you choose, give her one detail that shows her age: a memory of a storm that felled a neighbour, a count of rings, a preference for slow mornings. That detail is what turns a name from a label into a character.
Seasons and names
- Spring: Chloe, Anthea, Thallo, Hazel, Verdanna.
- Summer: Karpo, Auxo, Elaia, Juniper, Silvara.
- Autumn: Emberleaf, Aigeiros, Rowan, Syke, Amber.
- Winter: Duir, Pitys, Elate, Holly, Hollowmere.
A dryad changes with her tree, and an audio piece can use that to set the mood. A winter dryad is spare and quiet; a summer dryad is full of sound.
How to choose
- Choose the tree first. A dryad who is an oak speaks differently from a willow. Let the tree set the voice.
- Decide whether she can leave. Hamadryads cannot. A dryad who can walk is freer, and the story has more places to go.
- Pick myth or vocabulary. A Greek myth name has weight. A plant word gives you a meaning no one else has used.
- Mark invented names. If it is not Greek, Celtic or Norse, say so.
- Match her season. An autumn dryad, a winter dryad, a spring dryad. Seasons change the tone.
Dryads in my sessions
In my own library the plant-woman is a glasshouse keeper: grown, patient, with a voice that comes from several directions at once. The night bloom glasshouse is the closest, a plant girl who opens the door for you. For the lore, see dryad meaning and lore, the dryad vs nymph comparison and the dryad vs naiad page. More lists: alraune names, nymph names and monster girl names. New here? Start with the Start Here course.
Frequently asked questions
What are good dryad names?
Karya, Ptelea, Syke and Balanos are hamadryad names from Athenaeus. Daphne, Dryope, Pitys and Phyllis are tree nymphs from myth. Duir, Saille and Coll are Celtic tree names. Verdanna and Oakwyn are invented.
What does dryad mean?
Dryad comes from the Greek drys, which means tree and specifically oak. It originally meant an oak nymph and later any tree spirit. Hamadryad adds hama, "together", for a nymph bound to one tree.
What is the difference between a dryad and a hamadryad?
A dryad is a tree nymph who can sometimes move between trees. A hamadryad is bound to one tree and dies with it. Ancient writers often use the two words interchangeably.
What are the names of the eight hamadryads?
Athenaeus lists Karya (nut), Balanos (acorn), Kraneia (cornel), Morea (mulberry), Aigeiros (black poplar), Ptelea (elm), Ampelos (vine) and Syke (fig). They are daughters of Oreios and Hamadryas.
Can I name a dryad after a tree?
Yes. The Greek names for trees (Elate, Elaia, Myrtia), Celtic ogham names (Duir, Saille) and English tree names (Hazel, Willow, Rowan) all work. Say which tradition you are borrowing from.
