Atenaida

Atenaida is a Slavic-inflected variant of the Greek Athenais, itself built on Athena, the grey-eyed goddess of wisdom and strategic craft. A fifth-century Athenais became the Byzantine empress Eudocia, a poet-consort to Theodosius II, and the name has surfaced now and again in Eastern European records ever since, especially in Russian, Ukrainian, and Balkan Orthodox communities. Four syllables, ah-teh-NAH-ee-dah, with a musical Slavic opening and an almost operatic close. The name is rare, a little courtly, carrying the scent of icon lamps and lecture halls. It suits a girl with watchful eyes and an early appetite for difficult books.