In Greek mythology, the name “Pandora” means “all-gifted” in Hesiod’s account.
The name reflects the story’s creation of Pandora by the gods. Hesiod explains that the Olympian deities each contributed a gift to the woman fashioned for humanity, so she was called Pandora. The Greek name is commonly understood as combining words meaning “all” and “gifts.”
Pandora’s name is sometimes loosely paraphrased as “gift of all,” but “all-gifted” is the standard concise translation in English discussions of the myth. The name emphasizes that she received qualities or adornments from several gods, rather than identifying her as a gift from only one deity.
Hesiod presents Pandora in both the Theogony and Works and Days, although Works and Days gives the fuller account of her creation and the opening of the container. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” is also a later expression: the ancient Greek story describes a large storage jar, not a box.