Meles as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Meles

What is the meaning of the name Meles ?

The baby name Meles is a boy name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced MEH-les.

Meles is Amharic, Greek, Tigrinya in Origin.

Meles is best documented as an Ethiopian and Eritrean masculine name, written መለስ in Ethiopic script. It reflects the Amharic and Tigrinya verb መለሰ, mälläsä, to return, send back, or answer, so the name is usually glossed as return or response. An unrelated ancient Greek homograph appears as Μέλης, Mélēs, the name of a river and river god at Smyrna; its etymology is uncertain and is not securely explained from Greek μέλι, honey.

In modern use Meles is concentrated in Ethiopia and Eritrea and in their diasporas, with spellings shaped by different transliteration habits: Meles, Melesse, and Melese. The name became internationally recognizable through Meles Zenawi, prime minister of Ethiopia from 1995 to 2012. The Greek Μέλης belongs chiefly to classical geography and myth: the Meles River near Smyrna was linked in ancient biographical tradition with Homer, who was sometimes called Melesigenes, born of Meles. Outside these contexts the name remains uncommon.