Kallisto

The Greek word “kallistos” (Καλλιστος) means “fairest, most beautiful” and was the ancient name given to a mythological nymph with whom the god Zeus fell in love. According to Greek mythology, the beautiful virginal nymph Kallisto was a follower of Zeus’s daughter Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Zeus spotted Kallisto one day and became immediately enraptured with the beautiful nymph. The powerful god disguised himself in order to trick Kallisto into his embrace; and it obviously worked because she bore him a son Arcas. Artemis, however, was not pleased with her father’s indiscretion so she shot Kallisto with her silver arrow to avenge her mother Hera. Zeus took pity on the nymph and his son, so he turned them into bears and set them in the night sky as stars (known as the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor which translates to Larger Bear and Smaller Bear in Latin). The Latin forms of Callisto and Calista have never been a particularly popular in the Western World; considered too exotic and bohemian. The nicknames Callie and Kallie have been used with far greater frequency.