Alcyone as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Alcyone

What is the meaning of the name Alcyone ?

The baby name Alcyone is a Female name , 4 syllables long and is pronounced al-SEE-oh-nee,al-SY-oh-nee.

Alcyone is Greek in Origin.

Alcyone is the Latinized form of the Greek Alkyone (Ἀλκυόνη), derived from alkyon, “kingfisher.” The name carries associations of serenity through the myth that during the kingfisher’s winter nesting, the seas grow calm - hence “halcyon days.” In Greek lore, Alcyone, daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx, was transformed by the gods into a kingfisher after his death at sea. The name also belongs to a Pleiad; Alcyone is the brightest star of the Pleiades in Taurus, lending the name a celestial dimension.

Attested in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and echoed by Chaucer, Alcyone filtered into English with classical learning and occasional 19th–20th century revival, yet remains rare as a given name. Variants and cognates include Alkyone (Greek transliteration), Halcyone (poetic English), and Alcione (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish). Possible nicknames are Aly or Allie. Meaning: “kingfisher,” by extension “calm” or “halcyon.”