Flora is a female Greek name whose origins are found in Latin; flora is a word deriving from the Latin word flos, which means flower.
Although Flora is a relatively common name in Greece, its male respective “Floros” is rather uncommon and is used more as an epithet, which gives a downgrading attribute.
Sound of name Flora: Fló-rah
Male Version of name Flora: Floros
Nameday of Flora: October 18th and December 18th
Origin of name Flora – Agios Floros (St Floros)
Flora is a name that exists since the antiquity; in Roman times Flora was the Roman goddess of spring and flowers, the wife of Zephyr who was the west wind.
For the Greek Orthodox tradition, Flora is associated with Agios Floros (St Floros) a man who lived in the 6th or 7th century AD.
Floros and Lavros were twins and very warm believers of the Christian religion. They came from Byzantium and had been introduced to the religion by St Proklos and Maximus who suffered tortured deaths.
After the death of their teachers, Floros and Lavros left for Illyria and chose the city Ulpiana for their residence. They worked on their craft but were also helping local priests to teach about the Christian religion.
There was a man named Merentios there, who was a pagan prisest. His son Athanasius got blind and the doctors could not cure him. Merentios approached the two brothers and asked them to help his son in the name of God.
Indeed the boy was cured and Merentios became also a believer. When the local ruler Lykon found out he had the two brothers arrested and thrown in a well where they died. Their bones were gathered by local Christians who transfered them to Constantinople.
The Orthodox church declared the two brothers saints and celebrates the nameday of Floros and Lavros on October 18th.
Blessed Floros
In some cases, you might find a woman named Flora celebrating her nameday on December 18th; this nameday is dedicated to Blessed Floros, a man who lived in Constantinople and served the Christian religion with passion.
He died peacefully in December 18th and the Orthodox Church declared him Osio( Blessed), celebrating his nameday on December 18th.
Nicknames deriving from name Flora
Flora has just a few nicknames and diminutives, such as Floritsa, Flori, Ritsa, Flery
The Names’ Fairy reveals the meaning of name Flora
Flora is a positive and optimistic person; she usually wants to be the heart of any group, but at the same time she is quiet and modest. This results in losing many important positions especially in her public and professional life.