'she who stays up at night') was, according to Greek and Roman mythology, a princess and a rape victim, the daughter of Epopeus, a king of Lesbos.

Both compound words are of Proto-Indo-European origin; νύξ from the PIE root *nókʷts,[4] and μένω from *men-.

[5] In order for the name to translate to "moon of the night", as suggested by another proposed etymology,[6] it would have to be spelled Νυκτιμήνη with two etas instead of Νυκτιμένη with one.

[10] Servius says that Nyctimene was filled with shame after realizing she had slept with her father, implying some sort of trickery to have occurred.

[11] Another scholiast says that Nyctimene was raped not by Epopeus but rather a visiting guest named Corymbus.