Amaryllis | Name Meaning & Origin

Literary Characters, Nature, Greek

English and Greek speaking countries

Amaryllis was a nymph in Virgil's "Ecologues" and was used in the bucolic poetry of the ancient Greek poet Theocritus. It was one of the stock names of the bucolic/pastoral literary tradition, and in more modern times appears in Milton's "Lycidas".

Amaryllis is the scientific name for the Belladonna Lily, and the popular name for the tall, large-blossomed plants of the Hippeastrum genus.

It was also the name of the piano-playing young girl in Meredith Wilson's musical "The Music Man".