Phedre as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Phedre

What is the meaning of the name Phedre ?

The baby name Phedre is a Female name , 21 syllables long and is pronounced English: /ˈfeɪdrə/ (FAY-druh); French: /fɛdʁ/ (fehd-r).

Phedre is Greek in Origin.

Phedre is the Anglicized spelling of French Phèdre, the French adaptation of Greek Phaedra (Φαίδρα). The root is Greek phaidros, “bright, radiant,” ultimately related to phôs, “light.” Through classical education and French theater, the name passed into European naming traditions, with the accent often dropped in English to yield Phedre.

In myth, Phaedra is the Cretan princess, wife of Theseus, whose tragic love for Hippolytus anchors Euripides’ Hippolytus and Seneca’s Phaedra; Racine’s 1677 tragedy Phèdre cemented the French form and its literary prestige. As a given name, Phedre has seen intermittent, rare use in France, the UK, and North America, with a modern uptick from Jacqueline Carey’s heroine Phèdre nó Delaunay. Variants include Phaedra (standard English), Phèdre (French), Fedra (Italian, Spanish, Polish), Faidra (Modern Greek), and the rarer Phedra. Parents choose it for its luminous meaning and enduring, dramatic aura.