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Nymph Names: 60 Greek Nymph Names With Meanings, by Type
By Metavulgar · updated 2026-11-12 · 6 min read
Nymph names are well documented, because Greek myth catalogues its nymphs by the hundreds. A nymph (nymphē, "young woman" or "bride") is a female nature spirit, tied to a place: a tree, a spring, a mountain, the sea. They are grouped by habitat, and each type has its own name list. This page sorts 60 names by type, gives meanings and marks which names come from myth and which are invented. The nymph is a spirit of great age in the stories, and every name here is for an adult being.
The types of nymph
Four main habitats give four types, though the categories overlap and a nymph may be several at once:
- Dryads (drys, "oak"): tree nymphs, bound to a particular tree. The related hamadryads die with their tree.
- Naiads (naiein, "to flow"): nymphs of springs, rivers and fountains.
- Nereids: the fifty sea nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris.
- Oreads (oros, "mountain"): nymphs of mountains and grottoes.
A spring on a mountain may be home to a naiad who is also an oread, and a tree beside the spring may house a dryad as well. The overlap is how the myths work.
Dryad and tree names
- Daphne (Δάφνη): "laurel". The nymph who turned into a laurel tree to escape Apollo.
- Syrinx: "pan-pipe". A nymph turned into reeds to escape Pan, whose reeds became the pipes.
- Phyllis: "foliage"; a name in the myth of Demophon and the almond tree.
- Dryope: "oak-face". A mortal woman who became a tree in a well-known myth.
- Eurydice: "wide justice". A dryad in some tellings, the wife of Orpheus.
- Ptelea: "elm". A hamadryad name from the lists of tree nymphs.
- Oxylus and Hamadryas: names from the family of tree nymphs in ancient lists.
- Melia: "ash tree". A nymph of ash trees, linked to the Meliae.
- Kranaie: "cornel cherry". A name from the Dryad lists.
- Karya: "walnut". A nymph turned into a walnut tree in a Laconian myth.
- Balanis: "acorn", from a tree-nymph name.
- Syke: "fig". A nymph of a fig tree.
Naiad and water names
- Arethusa (Ἀρέθουσα): "the waterer". A nymph who became a spring in Syracuse.
- Callirhoe: "fair-flowing", the name of several water nymphs.
- Clytie: "splendid"; the nymph who loved Helios and became a sunflower-like flower.
- Salmacis: a spring nymph in Ovid's tale.
- Metope, Rhodos, Kyrene: river and spring names from myth.
- Larunda or Lara: a nymph punished for talking.
- Aegina: a river nymph for whom an island is named.
- Thronia: a naiad loved by Poseidon.
- Pegasis: "of the spring".
- Hydna: "of water".
- Amalthea: a goat-nurse nymph of Zeus's infancy; a naiad in some lists.
- Pitys: a nymph turned into a pine in a myth about Pan.
Nereid and sea names
- Galene (Γαλήνη): "calm". A nereid of calm seas.
- Cymo: "wave", "white as sea foam" in some glosses.
- Eione: "shore".
- Thetis: the best-known nereid, mother of Achilles.
- Amphitrite: a sea goddess and nereid, wife of Poseidon.
- Galatea: "milk-white". A nereid beloved of a cyclops in myth.
- Doto: "giver".
- Thoe: "swift".
- Cranto: from the Nereid lists.
- Nesaea: "island".
- Panope: "all-seeing".
- Halimede: "thinking of the sea".
- Psamathe: "sand".
- Spio: "grotto".
Oread and mountain names
- Echo: the nymph whose voice became an echo, one of the most famous oreads.
- Oenone: a mountain nymph on Ida.
- Callisto: "most beautiful"; an Arcadian huntress nymph of myth.
- Cyrene: a huntress nymph.
- Oreithyia: "mountain-raging", a mountain figure.
- Ida: a mountain nymph tied to the mountain of that name.
- Maia: a mountain nymph, mother of Hermes.
- Taygete: a nymph of the Taygetus range.
- Ismene: a name from Boeotian lists.
- Nomia: "of the pasture".
Invented nymph names
These are mine, built from Greek roots:
- Drysia: from drys, oak.
- Naiane: from naiein, to flow.
- Oreia: from oros, mountain.
- Thalassine: "of the sea".
- Phyllia: from phyllon, leaf.
- Akantha: "thorn".
- Leimone: from leimon, meadow, which is a real Greek nymph word.
- Anthea: "flowering", a real Greek name.
Nymphs in the myths: what they do
A name works better when you know the role. Nymphs in Greek myth are not warriors or rulers; they are companions and caretakers of places. They attend gods such as Artemis, Dionysus and Pan, they nurse infants (the nymphs of Mount Nysa who raised Dionysus, or the nymph Amalthea who fed the infant Zeus), they dance and sing in groups, and they are the objects of pursuit by gods and satyrs. Their stories often turn on transformation, as when Daphne becomes a laurel or Syrinx becomes reeds, which gives the tradition its melancholy edge.
For a modern character, that means a nymph can be gentle, playful, protective of her place and fierce when it is threatened. A tree nymph whose tree is cut down suffers; a spring nymph whose water is fouled grows angry. The best nymph names carry that tie to a place: Arethusa and the spring, Daphne and the laurel, Echo and the cliffs.
Nymph groups and families
Ancient lists give nymphs in groups, which makes good material for sisters. The Nereids are fifty sea sisters, daughters of Nereus and Doris. The Hesperides, "nymphs of the evening", guard the golden apples at the edge of the world and have names such as Aegle ("radiance"), Erytheia ("red one"), Hesperia ("evening") and Arethusa. The Pleiades, seven sisters, are nymphs of the mountains turned into stars, among them Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope and Merope. The Hyades, rain nymphs, are their cousins. The Heliades, daughters of the sun, weep amber when turned to poplars. Choosing a pair or a set from one of these families gives a cast a shared mythic root, and the list names above are all real.
Using nymph names in a script
In audio, a nymph name has to be easy to say and easy to hear. Short, open-vowel names such as Echo, Galene, Maia, Cymo and Eione carry well. Longer names such as Callirhoe or Oreithyia need a moment and can be saved for the first introduction, then shortened: Callirhoe becomes Calli. A good trick is to have the nymph tell the listener what her name means, in the speech of a woman who has lived beside the same spring for a thousand years: "They called me Galene, because the sea was calm the day I was born." It teaches the meaning in a sentence and sets the mood in one breath.
How to choose
- Pick the habitat first. A forest story wants a dryad name; a spring story, a naiad.
- Use a real name for weight. Daphne, Arethusa, Galene and Echo have genuine myth.
- Mark invented names as invented.
- Note the meaning. The Greek word tells you the mood: Galene is calm, Cymo a wave.
- Say it aloud. Greek names read gracefully in a whisper, especially those with open vowels.
Where to go next
For the nymph in context, dryad names is a deeper list for the tree-spirits, dryad vs nymph sorts out the terms, and monster girl names is the wide list. For audio, The Night-Bloom Glasshouse: Open for Her is my plant-woman session, and Melt: Held by the Slime Girl in the Glowing Spring has a spring spirit. The monster girl bestiary places them all, and Start Here is the gentle first route.
A note on sources
Names and meanings in this list follow the common reference lists, such as the Theoi catalogue of nymphs, and the English glosses are the ones scholars usually give. Some name lists differ between ancient authors, and a few meanings are conjectural, so check an ancient source before quoting any of them as a scholarly fact. For fiction, the useful point is that the Greek nymph world is rich enough to give you a real name for almost any setting.
Frequently asked questions
What are the types of nymph?
Dryads (trees), naiads (fresh water), nereids (sea) and oreads (mountains), with many more local types. The categories overlap, so a spring on a mountain can hold a naiad who is also an oread.
What are good nymph names?
Daphne, Arethusa, Galene, Cymo, Echo and Callirhoe are real mythological names with clear meanings. Galene means calm and Cymo means wave, so you can match name to mood.
What does Daphne mean?
Daphne means laurel in Greek. In myth she was a nymph who turned into a laurel tree to escape Apollo, and the laurel became his sacred plant.
What is the difference between a dryad and a nymph?
A dryad is a type of nymph, specifically a tree nymph. Nymph is the wider category, covering water, mountain, sea and other nature spirits as well.
Are nymph names real Greek names?
Many are, drawn from myth and ancient name lists. Others in this guide are invented from Greek roots, and each section says which is which so you can use them accurately.
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