Io is a Greek name of unknown meaning.

In Greek mythology, Io was a priestess of Hera, a cult her father Inachus was said to have introduced to Argos. Zeus seeing Io and finding her beautiful, lusted after her. To hide the object of his affection from his wife, the Goddess Hera, he transformed Io into a beautiful white heifer.

Seeing through this deception, Hera begged Zeus to give her the heifer as a gift. Having no reason to refuse, he did. Hera sent the giant with 100 eyes, Argus Panoptes, to watch Io and ensure that Zeus would not be able to visit her. In anger, Zeus sent Hermes to lull the giant to sleep and slay him. Once this was done Zeus freed Io. Hera, upon finding the giant, used all of his eyes except two to decorate the peacock in his honor, as thanks.

Hera, in an act of revenge, sent a gadfly to bite and torment Io, causing her to wander the world without any rest. During her wandering, she met Prometheus who had been chained to Mt. Caucus by Zeus. He comforted Io, telling her that she would be returned to her human form and become the ancestress of the greatest of all heroes.

Continuing on, Io escaped across the Ionian Sea to Egypt where she was found by Zeus and restored to her human form. It was there she gave birth to the son of Zeus, Epaphaus, and to the daughter of Zeus, Keroessa. It's said that in Egypt she was worshiped as the goddess Isis.

In Latin, however, 'io' (prn. EE-o) is a profound exclamation of joy, like the angels singing on high. I find this to be much more pleasing than the story of Io and Zeus.

I typically prefer Io to be without a middle name, but just in case...

c o m b o s

• Io Josephine
• Io Rosaline
• Io Rosalind

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