Hippolytus as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Hippolytus

What is the meaning of the name Hippolytus ?

The baby name Hippolytus is a Male name , 4 syllables long and is pronounced English: /ˌhɪpəˈlɪtəs/ (hip-uh-LIT-əs); Classical/Greek approx.: /hipˈpo.ly.tos/ (hip-POL-y-tos).

Hippolytus is Greek in Origin.

From ancient Greek Ἱππόλυτος (Hippolytos), formed from hippos “horse” + lyein “to loosen, release,” Hippolytus means “releaser of horses” (sometimes interpreted “unleasher of horses”). In Greek myth the chaste Hippolytus, son of Theseus, dies when terrified horses overturn his chariot - an irony that sharpened the name’s resonance in literature from Euripides to Racine.

Christian transmission via Latin Hippolytus - most notably Saint Hippolytus of Rome (3rd century theologian and martyr) - secured the name in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. International variants include Greek Hippolytos, Latin Hippolytus, French Hippolyte, Italian Ippolito, Spanish/Portuguese Hipólito, German Hippolyt, Polish Hipolit, Russian Ippolit, and Czech/Slovak Hipolyt; feminine forms are Hippolyta and Hippolyte. Usage today is rare in English, but endures in Romance and Slavic traditions and among classicists.

⚙ Hippolytus is extremely rare. There are only 5 recorded uses on record, spread over 2 countries.