Daphne

Meaning & origin

Daphne is a girl's name of Greek origin, traditionally used in Christian families. The name means "The laurel tree — Daphne (Greek daphnē) names a girl after the laurel tree, sacred to Apollo. In Greek myth, the nymph Daphne was transformed into a laurel to escape Apollo's pursuit. The laurel wreath has crowned victors since ancient Greece." and belongs to the Nature cluster — names drawn from the natural world — earth, water, sky.

Beyond its Christian heritage, Daphne is also used in Atheist traditions, reflecting how this name has traveled across cultures.

Common among American, European, British, Greek, Singaporean, HongKonger, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese families, Daphne carries cultural weight that goes beyond its dictionary definition — it's a name with a story and a community.

Numerology of Daphne

Numerology assigns each name a single-digit destiny number by summing its letter values. Different schools use different mappings — NameRoot computes both so you can see how Daphne resonates in either tradition.

How Daphne sounds

NameRoot scores the phonetic fit of every name against the sound of your last name. The pronunciation of Daphne breaks down into 6 phonemes: /D-AA-P-HH-N-EH/. In the app, you'll see how those sounds flow with your family name across rhythm, stress, and consonant clusters.

Nicknames

Common affectionate forms of Daphne — useful for everyday family conversation, early childhood, or as standalone given names themselves.

The six signals, applied to Daphne

NameRoot scores every name across six independent dimensions. Here's how Daphne maps to each — install the app to see the full compatibility score for your specific family.