Bia

Gender: Female
Origin: Greek
Meaning: “force; might; power.”
(BEE-ah)

This attractive, sweet two-syllable name, may be appealing to those who have been considering such trendy names as Gia, Leah, Mia, Nia, and Tea.

The name has an ancient and primordial past, in Greek mythology, Bia was the female personification of force, power, strength and compulsion.

She and her sister Nike, (victory), were the sisters of Cratos (Strength) and Zelos (Rivalry). They were the winged attendance of Zeus, and stood before his thrown on Mt. Olympus. They were known as spirits or daemon.

Some scholars believe that Bia may have started out as a pre-classical goddess, but was relegated to the duty of a type of protectress or angel to the Olympian gods during the Hellenistic period.

In Italy, Bia is used as a nickname for Bianca. In fact, it was born by the illegitimate daughter of the Italian nobleman Cosimo I de Medici, and a beautiful portrait done by Agnolo Bronzino, depicts the young beauty.