Artemis
Meaning
“Greek goddess of the hunt; etymology uncertain”
The story
Artemis changes when you walk from one sanctuary to another. In familiar Greek art she is the huntress with bow, deer, and wild country, a protector of animals who is also linked to childbirth. At Ephesus, her image could look markedly different: upright and richly patterned, with an altar-like headdress and rows of animals across the garment. Ancient worship did not require every city to imagine a deity in exactly the same form. Even the name's etymology remains unsettled; confident explanations have been proposed, but none has closed the question. That combination makes Artemis more compelling than a tidy label such as moon goddess. The mythology contains wilderness, birth, danger, protection, and local traditions that do not collapse into one portrait. For a modern child, these are cultural associations rather than a script. The name's real gift is plurality: one figure, many images, and an ancient world arguing through art about what power looked like.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Artemis peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
644 people · the #11,228 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 333,333 · median age 34
Among people named Artemis living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 80 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Artemis
Most people given the name Artemis in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Artemis deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Artemis truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Artemis fits with your family’s names and surname.
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