Autolycos as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Autolycos

What is the meaning of the name Autolycos ?

The baby name Autolycos is a Male name , 4 syllables long and is pronounced aw-TOL-ih-kos (English, approx. /ɔːˈtɒlɪkɒs/); Classical Greek approx. /au̯tólykos/.

Autolycos is Greek in Origin.

Autolycos derives from Ancient Greek Autólykos (Αὐτόλυκος), built from autos “self, one’s own” and lýkos “wolf.” The compound is typically read as “lone wolf” or “the wolf himself,” evoking independence and predatory cunning. In myth he is famed as a master thief, son of Hermes and grandfather of Odysseus, often credited with the power to render stolen goods unrecognizable - associations that color the name’s connotations of guile and agility.

Attested in Homer and later classical writers, the name also belonged to Autolycus of Pitane, a Hellenistic astronomer, and resurfaced in English via Shakespeare’s roguish Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale. As a given name it remains exceedingly rare outside scholarly or fantasy contexts. Principal variants include Autolycus (Latinized/English), Autolykos (direct Greek transliteration), and forms such as Italian Autolico and Spanish Autólico; modern spellings like Autolycos occur. Related elements appear in Lykos (“wolf”) names across Greek, paralleling Latin lupus names like Lupus and Lupin.

⚙ Autolycos is absent from every birth registry and name dataset we follow. Most often that means a rare name, a regional or heritage one, or a recent coinage. By any reading, it's an exceptionally uncommon choice.