| Calliope | Ariadne | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Beautiful voice | Most holy |
| Origin | greek | Greek |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | kuh-LY-uh-pee | ar-ee-AD-nee |
| Syllables | 4 | 4 |
| First appeared | 1917 | 1960 |
| Peak year | 2025 (682) | 2016 (389) |
| In 2025 | 682 | 115 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Calliope | Ariadne |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 3,336 | 1,126 |
| 2010s | 2,339 | 2,589 |
| 2000s | 287 | 621 |
| 1990s | 55 | 255 |
| 1980s | 11 | 100 |
| 1970s | 5 | 63 |
| 1960s | 0 | 70 |
| 1950s | 10 | 0 |
| 1930s | 5 | 0 |
| 1920s | 43 | 0 |
| 1910s | 7 | 0 |
From Greek Kalliopē, from kallos 'beauty' + ops 'voice', literally 'beautiful-voiced'. The name of the Muse of epic poetry; the 'beauty' root (kallos) is explicit.
Ariadne means “most holy” in Greek; she guides Theseus from the labyrinth.
Calliope is more popular than Ariadne today: about 682 US babies were given the name Calliope in 2025, compared with 115 named Ariadne.
Calliope means Beautiful voice (greek origin), while Ariadne means Most holy (Greek origin).
In US records, Calliope first appears in 1917 and Ariadne in 1960, so Calliope has the longer recorded history.