In Greek mythology, Pandora’s name means “all-gifted.”
The name comes from the Greek elements pan, meaning “all,” and doron, meaning “gift.” Hesiod presents Pandora as a woman fashioned by the gods, with different deities contributing qualities or gifts to her creation. Her name therefore emphasizes the collective divine role in making her.
Pandora appears most fully in Hesiod’s Works and Days, where Zeus sends her as part of the punishment inflicted on humanity after Prometheus gives humans fire. The familiar English expression “Pandora’s box” comes from this myth, although Hesiod described a large storage jar rather than a box.
The name is sometimes incorrectly treated as a personal name meaning “curious” or “evil.” Neither meaning is the literal Greek etymology. Hope, called Elpis, is the final being associated with the jar after the other troubles escape.