Entry № 2203 · Greek origin

Cybele Cybele — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ SIB-uh-lee /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Phrygian-Greek mother goddess + Magna Mater of Rome"
Syllables
3
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "phrygian-greek mother goddess + magna mater of rome".

Cybele is from the Greek Kybélē (Κυβέλη) — adapted from the Phrygian Kubileya (mountain mother). A modern American baby name in the broader Anatolian-Greek-Roman heritage aesthetic. Cybele is the Phrygian-Greek mother goddess of mountains, wilderness, and fertility — adopted into Roman religion as Magna Mater (Great Mother) in 204 BCE during the Second Punic War, after the Sibylline Books prophesied Rome's victory if her stone idol was brought from Pessinos (Anatolia). Central to the Megalesia festival (April 4-10) in Rome. Her consort Attis is central to mystery-cult traditions across Anatolia and Greece. Appears throughout Lucretius's De Rerum Natura and Catullus's poem 63. Her chariot drawn by lions and her turreted crown became iconic across classical sculpture — including the iconic statues at the Capitoline Museums (Rome) and Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Ankara).

Featured throughout Anatolian-Greek-Roman heritage.

Mountain mother (Phrygian-Greek). Phrygian-Greek mother goddess + Magna Mater of Rome (204 BCE Sibylline Books) + Megalesia festival + Lucretius + Catullus 63 + turreted crown + lion chariot.

The name in its native script.

Κυβέλη
Transliteration
Kybélē
Pronunciation
/ ˈsɪb.ə.li /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Cybele stands.

Cybele does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Cybeles before her.

Real people

In fiction
Cybele (Greek)
Phrygian-Greek mother goddess + Magna Mater.

Names connected to Cybele.

The number behind Cybele.

7

The Seeker

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Cybele reduce to 7, The Seeker. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.