Entry № 7747 · Greek origin

Xanthippe Xanthippe — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ zan-THIP-pee /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Yellow horse (Socrates's wife + Plato + Xenophon)"
Syllables
3
Rank · US 2025
№ 0
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "yellow horse (socrates's wife + plato + xenophon)".

Xanthippe is from the Greek Xanthíppē (Ξανθίππη) — xanthos (yellow, blond) + hippos (horse) — yellow horse. A modern American baby name in the broader Greek heritage aesthetic. Xanthippe (c. 5th-4th c. BCE) was the foundational wife of Socrates and mother of his three sons (Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, Menexenus). Appears throughout Plato's foundational Phaedo (where she attends Socrates's death scene) and Xenophon's foundational Symposium and Memorabilia. Her foundational reputation in classical and Renaissance literature as the strong-willed wife shaped the foundational Western archetype of the xanthippe — used as a literary trope in works from Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew to modern feminist reclamation scholarship. Central to Socratic dialogue tradition and classical Greek domestic philosophy.

Featured throughout Greek heritage.

Yellow horse (Greek). Xanthippe — foundational wife of Socrates + Plato Phaedo + Xenophon Symposium + foundational Western strong-willed wife archetype + modern feminist reclamation.

The name in its native script.

Ξανθίππη
Transliteration
Xanthíppē
Pronunciation
/ zænˈθɪp.i /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Xanthippe stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 0 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 0 in 0
Babies named Xanthippe · 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 · —

Xanthippes before her.

Real people

In fiction
Xanthippe
Socrates's wife in Plato + Xenophon.

Names connected to Xanthippe.

The number behind Xanthippe.

4

The Builder

Xanthippe reduces to four.

Why families chose this name.

"Socrates's wife. Nine letters. Xanthippe."
Sofia · Mother of one · Athens