Entry № 1903 · Greek origin

Electra Electra — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ eh-LEK-trah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Amber (Sophocles + Mourning Becomes Electra + Strauss opera)"
Syllables
3
Rank · US 2025
№ 0
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "amber (sophocles + mourning becomes electra + strauss opera)".

Electra is from the Greek Ēléktrā (Ἠλέκτρα — amber, shining one). A modern American baby name in the broader Greek heritage aesthetic. Electra in Greek mythology is the daughter of King Agamemnon of Mycenae and Queen Clytemnestra, sister of Orestes, Iphigenia, and Chrysothemis. Appears as protagonist in Aeschylus's Oresteia trilogy (458 BCE), Sophocles's Electra (c. 410 BCE), and Euripides's Electra (c. 413 BCE) — one of the great tragic heroines of world drama. Her role in her mother Clytemnestra's death (avenging Agamemnon's murder after the Trojan War) makes her a morally complex classical figure. The Electra complex was coined by Carl Jung (1913) as the feminine counterpart to Freud's Oedipus complex. *Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra (1931) won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Richard Strauss's opera Elektra*** (1909) with libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal is a modern opera + German Expressionism masterwork.

Featured throughout Greek heritage and Western tragedy.

Amber / shining (Greek). Greek tragedy heroine — Aeschylus Oresteia + Sophocles + Euripides + Eugene O'Neill Mourning Becomes Electra (Pulitzer) + Strauss opera 1909.

The name in its native script.

Ἠλέκτρα
Transliteration
Ēléktrā
Pronunciation
/ ɪˈlɛk.trə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Electra stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 0 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 0 in 0
Babies named Electra · last year
88 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
0
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · — NOW · —

Electras before her.

Real people

In fiction
Electra (Greek)
Greek tragedy heroine.

Names connected to Electra.

The number behind Electra.

9

The Humanitarian

Electra reduces to nine.

Why families chose this name.

"Greek tragedy. Seven letters. Electra."
Sofia · Mother of one · Athens