Hermes gives Pandora her name in Hesiod’s creation story. After Hephaestus shapes her from earth and the other gods contribute gifts, Zeus sends Hermes to name her and give her deceptive qualities. Her name means “all-gifted,” referring to the gifts supplied by the gods.
Hermes is the Olympian messenger and a god associated with boundaries, travel, trade, cunning, and trickery. His role is therefore more than a naming detail: Hesiod connects him with the qualities that make Pandora dangerous within the poem’s moral framework. The story describes her as equipped to deceive and entice.
This detail is often omitted from simplified summaries, which may say only that Zeus created Pandora. Zeus does command the project, but Hephaestus performs the shaping, Athena teaches skills, Aphrodite gives beauty, and Hermes names her. Separating these roles helps distinguish Hesiod’s original narrative from later compressed versions.