The Greek name Pandora is traditionally interpreted as meaning “all-gifted.” The name comes from the Greek elements pan, meaning “all,” and doron, meaning “gift” or “present.”
This meaning fits Hesiod’s account in Works and Days, where Pandora receives attributes, adornments, and abilities from multiple gods. Her creation is presented as a coordinated divine act after Prometheus gives fire to humanity. Rather than being made by one deity alone, Pandora is equipped through contributions from the wider Olympian order.
The name can also be understood in relation to the idea that Pandora was a gift from all the gods, though interpretations of the Greek wording and mythic context vary. Later retellings sometimes treat her name as a simple label for curiosity or danger, but that is not its literal etymology.
Pandora’s name is also sometimes confused with the name of the container in the story. In Hesiod’s original version, the container is a jar, not a box. “Pandora’s box” became the standard phrase through later transmission, especially after a Renaissance-era Latin rendering associated the vessel with a box.