Circe as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Circe

What is the meaning of the name Circe ?

The baby name Circe is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced English: SUR-see (/ˈsɜːrsi/ or /ˈsɜrsi/); Classical Greek: KIR-kay (Kirkē, /ˈkir.keː/)..

Circe is Greek in Origin.

Circe derives from Ancient Greek Κίρκη (Kírkē), Latinized as Circe. The etymology is debated: often linked to κίρκος ‘hawk/falcon’ or to terms for ‘ring/circle,’ yielding senses like ‘falcon-like’ or ‘encircler’; by literary association it also reads as ‘enchantress.’ In English it’s SUR-see or SEER-see; Classical Greek KIR-kay, Latin KEER-keh, Modern Greek KEER-kee.

A storied figure rather than a historical namesake, Circe is the sorceress of Homer’s Odyssey, daughter of Helios, later reimagined by Ovid and Virgil and revived in Renaissance and Pre-Raphaelite art. As a given name it remained rare until the late 20th–21st centuries, with a modern bump after Madeline Miller’s novel Circe (2018). International variants include Kirke/Kírkē (scholarly transliteration), Kirki (modern Greek), and the unchanged Circe in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese; nicknames sometimes used are Cece and Ciri.