Greek name
In the modern world, personal names among people of Greek language and culture generally consist of a given name, a patronymic and a family name.
History
, often qualified with a patronymic, a clan or tribe, or a place of origin. Married women were identified by the name of their husbands, not their fathers.Hereditary family names or surnames began to be used by elites in the Byzantine period. Well into the 9th century, they were rare. But by the 11th and 12th centuries, elite families often used family names. Family names came from placenames, nicknames, or occupations.
It is not clear when stable family surnames became widely used. Though elite families often had stable family names, many of the "last names" used by Greeks into the 19th century were either patronymics or nicknames. It is also possible that family names were simply not recorded because Ottoman administrative practice preferred patronymics, and did not require surnames.
In the 19th century, patronymic surnames became common.
For personal names, from the first century CE until the nineteenth century CE, pagan names from antiquity were mostly replaced by names from Christian scriptures and tradition. With the Modern Greek Enlightenment and the development of Greek nationalism, names from antiquity became popular again.
Family names may be patronymic in origin or else based on occupation, location, or personal characteristic. These origins are often indicated by prefixes or suffixes. Traditionally a woman used a feminine version of her father's family name, replacing it with a feminine version of her husband's family name on marriage. In modern Greece, a woman keeps her father's family name for life but may use a husband's name.
In official documents in modern Greece, people are given three names: a given name, a patronymic and a family name.
Given names
Until the late 18th century, almost all Christian Greeks were named for Orthodox saints from the Old and New Testaments and early Christian tradition. Since then, names of both deities and mortals from antiquity have been popular as well.Male names usually end in -ας, -ης, and -ος, but sometimes ancient forms are also used. Female names almost always end in -α and -η, though a few end in -ώ with -ου being possible.
Since antiquity, there has been a strong tradition of naming the first son after the paternal grandfather and the second after the maternal grandfather. This results in a continuation of names in the family line.
There is a strong clustering of first names by locality according to patron saints, famous churches or monasteries. Examples include:
- Spyridon and Spyridoula in Corfu,
- Gerasimos in Kefalonia,
- Dionysia and Dionysios in Zakynthos,
- Andreas and Andriana in Patras,
- Markella and Markos in Chios
- Savvas among families from Asia Minor,
- Emmanuel or Manolis, Joseph or Sifis, Manousos, and Minas in Crete.
- Tsambikos or Tsampika/Mika in Rhodes.
Family names
Greek family names are most commonly patronymics but may also be based on occupation, personal characteristics or location. The feminine version is usually the genitive of the family name of the woman's father or husband; so, for example, Mr. Yannatos and Mrs. Yannatou.As a result of their codification in the Modern Greek state, surnames have Katharevousa forms even though Katharevousa is no longer the official standard. Thus, the Ancient Greek name Eleutherios forms the Modern Greek proper name Lefteris. In the past, people in speaking used the family name followed by the given name, so John Eleutherios was called Leftero-giannis. In modern practice he is called Giannis Eleftheriou, where Giannis is the popular form of the formal Ioannis but Eleftheriou is an archaic genitive. For women the surname is usually a Katharevousa genitive of a male name, whereas back in Byzantine times there were separate feminine forms of male surnames, such as Palaiologína for Palaiológos which nowadays would be Palaiológou.
In the past, women would change their surname on first marrying to that of their husband in the genitive case, so marking the change of dependence to husband from father. In early Modern Greek society, women were named with -aina as a feminine suffix on the husband's given name, for example "Giorgaina" signifying "wife of George". Nowadays, a woman's surname does not change upon marriage but she can use the husband's surname socially. Children usually receive the paternal surname, though some children receive the maternal surname in addition or exclusively.
In official documents, the father's name in the genitive will be inserted between a person's first and last names. For example, if John Papadopoulos has a daughter named Mary and a son named Andrew, they will be referred to as María Ioánnou Papadopoúlou and Andréas Ioánnou Papadópoulos. If Mary then marries George Demetriádes, she may retain her original name or choose to be called María Geōrgíou Demetriádou. If she is widowed, she will revert to her father's patronymic but retain her husband's surname to become María Ioánnou Demetriádou.
Examples of given names
Ancient names
- Acamas
- Achaeus
- Achilles
- Adonis
- Aeneas
- Agamemnon
- Agathocles
- Agenor
- Alcaeus
- Alcibiades
- Alcman
- Alcyone
- Alexander
- Amyntas
- Anacreon
- Anaximandros
- Antenor
- Antiochus
- Androcles
- Andromache
- Andronicus
- Andromeda
- Antigone
- Aphrodite
- Apollonius
- Arcesilaus
- Archelaus
- Archelochus
- Archimedes
- Arete
- Argus
- Ariadne
- Aristarchus
- Aristides
- Aristippus
- Aristo
- Aristocles
- Aristophanes
- Aristotle
- Artemis
- Arion
- Aspasia
- Athena
- Athenodoros
- Atreus
- Berenice
- Calchas
- Calliope
- Callirrhoe
- Cassandra
- Cassiopeia
- Chryses
- Cleanthes
- Cleopatra
- Clio
- Clymenus
- Clytaemnestra
- Coön
- Creon
- Crino
- Daedalus
- Danaë
- Daphne
- Demeter
- Democritus
- Demoleon
- Demosthenes
- Despina
- Diocles
- Diodorus
- Diogenes
- Diomedes
- Dionysios
- Dionysus
- Electra
- Eleni
- Empedocles
- Epictetus
- Epicurus
- Eratosthenes
- Eteocles
- Euthydemus
- Euthymia
- Euclid
- Eucratides
- Euripides
- Europa
- Eurydice
- Eurymachus
- Gaea
- Glaucus
- Gorgias
- Harmonia
- Hector
- Helianthe
- Helicaon
- Heliodorus
- Hera
- Heracles
- Hermes
- Hermione
- Herodotus
- Hesiod
- Hippocrates
- Hippolyta
- Hippolytus
- Homer
- Hyacinth
- Hypatia
- Icarus
- Idomeneus
- Ino
- Ion
- Iphidamas
- Iphigenia
- Irene/Irini
- Ismene
- Jason
- Jocasta
- Laodamas
- Laodice
- Leonidas
- Leto
- Lycurgus
- Medea
- Melpomene
- Menander
- Menelaus
- Metrodorus
- Miltiades
- Myron
- Narcissus
- Neoptolemus
- Nestor
- Nicander
- Nicanor
- Nicodemus
- Nike
- Nikolaos
- Oceanus
- Odysseus
- Oedipus
- Olympias
- Orestis
- Orpheus
- Pandora
- Pantaleon
- Paris
- Patroclus
- Pausanias
- Peleus
- Penelope
- Pericles
- Phaethon
- Pheidias or Phidias
- Philippos
- Philoctetes
- Philon
- Phoebe
- Phyllis
- Pindar
- Plato
- Polemon
- Polybus
- Polynices
- Polybios
- Priam
- Ptolemy
- Pythagoras
- Pyrrhus
- Rhea
- Selene
- Seleucus
- Simonides
- Socrates
- Sofia
- Solon
- Sophocles
- Strato
- Talthybius
- Telemachus
- Tethys
- Thaleia
- Theano
- Thekla
- Themistocles
- Theodoros
- Theophrastus
- Theseus
- Therion
- Thestor
- Thetis
- Thraso
- Thrasybulus
- Thrasymachus
- Thucydides
- Thyrien
- Urania
- Uranus
- Xanthippe
- Xenocrates
- Xenophon
- Zeno
Biblical names
- Andreas
- Ananias
- Anna
- Bartholomaios
- Daniel
- David
- Eleftherios
- Elias
- Elizabeth
- Emmanouil
- Erastus
- Eva
- Gabriel
- Isaakios
- Isaias
- Iakovos
- Ieremias
- Joachim
- Ioannis
- Jonah
- Joseph
- Lazarus
- Loukas
- Lydia
- Magdalene
- Markos
- Mary
- Martha
- Matthaios
- Michael
- Moses
- Nicanor
- Nicodemus
- Nicolaos
- Pavlos
- Petros
- Philemon
- Raphail
- Sarah
- Silas
- Simeon
- Solomon
- Stefanos
- Thaddeus
- Thomas
- Aikaterine
- Alexios
- Anastasios
- Angelos
- Antonios
- Athanasios
- Anthimos
- Barbara
- Vassileios/Vassilios
- Calliope
- Charalambos
- Christianos
- Christoforos
- Christos
- Christina
- Konstantinos
- Kyrillos
- Damianos
- Dimitrios
- Despina
- Dioscoros
- Dorothea
- Eleutherius
- Eleni
- Eudocia
- Evgenia
- Eusebius
- Evangelos
- Georgios
- Grigorios
- Irene
- Ioulia
- Leo
- Margarita
- Nectarius
- Niketas
- Nikephoros
- Panayiotis
- Panteleimon/Pantelis
- Procopios
- Rovértos
- Savvas
- Sergios
- Sofia
- Sakellarios
- Spyridon
- Staurakios
- Stavros
- Stylianos
- Theodoros
- Theofilos
- Timotheos
- Zoe
- Zacharias
Examples of family names
Common prefixes
- Archi-: meaning "superior" or "boss".
- Chondro-: meaning "fat".
- Gero-: meaning "old" or "wise".
- Hadji-: the Arabic honorific for one who has made the Hadj or pilgrimage, used in the case of Christians for a voyage to Jerusalem, for example "Hatzipanagis".
- Kara-: the Greek word for "cart" and the Turkish word for "black", for example "Karatasos".
- Konto-: meaning "short".
- Makro-: meaning "tall" or "long".
- Mastro-: meaning "artisan" or "workman".
- Palaio-: meaning "old" or "wise".
- Papa-: indicating descent from a papas, a priest. So Papakostas is the "son of Kostas, the priest".
Common suffixes
- -akis : associated primarily with Crete and the Aegean Islands, it is a diminutive, such as Giorgos becoming Giorgakis for the young Giorgos. Examples are: "Mitsotakis", "Theodorakis" and "Doukakis".This suffix was also very common for Cretan Turks up until they were officially changed with the Surname Law. This suffix was introduced in the 19th century.
- -akos : mainly from Laconia, particularly among Maniots from the Laconian part of the Mani peninsula.' Examples are: "Xarhakos" and "Kyrgiakos".
- -oulis : mainly from Thessalia, it is a diminutive, which is also used as a diminutive for place names in the region such as Giannouli and Damasouli.' Examples are: "Katsioulis" and "Giannoulis".
- -as : from Macedonia and the Epirus. Examples are: "Melas", "Dimas", "Zorbas", "Lekkas", "Moustakas" and "Zappas". However, the surname Dukas or Doukas derives from the Latin title dux or duke.
- -atos :, of Venetian derivation. Examples are: "Georgatos", "Cosmatos" and "Manatos".
- -eas : mainly among Maniots from the Messenian part of the Mani peninsula. Examples are: "Koteas", "Georgeas" and "Charisteas".
- -elis and -ilis : from the Turkish suffixes for agent, possession and origin, common in western Asia Minor, Mytiline, Lemnos and Imbros. Examples are: Myrsilis, Katselis, Papadelis, Manelis.
- -allis and -ellis : both found especially in the Dodecanese, mainly Rhodes. Examples are "Georgallis" and "Kanellis".
- -idis or -ides and -iadis or iades : meaning 'son of' or 'descendant of'. The suffix -idis is the oldest in use. Zeus, for example, was also referred to as Cronides. -idis was the most common suffix in Byzantium, Bithynia and Byzantine Thrace, being also used by Pontic Greeks and Caucasus Greeks in the Pontic Alps, northeast Anatolia, Georgia, the former Kars Oblast, and sometimes in Epirus, Corfu and some Aegean islands. Examples include: "Stavridis", "Koutoufides", "Angelidis", "Georgiadis".
- -lis. Turkish suffix for "of" a place, like the Greek suffixes -tis and -otis. Examples are: "Karamanlis" and "Kasdaglis".
- -opoulos : meaning "descendant of", originated from the Peloponnese but has become very widespread. Examples are: "Stamatelopoulos", "Papadopoulos", "Gianopoulos", "Anagnostopoulos" and "Theodorakopoulos". It can also indicate ethnic origin, such as Frangopoulos meaning "son of a Frank", Persopoulos meaning "son of a Persian", Servopoulos meaning "son of a Serb" and Voulgaropoulos meaning "son of a Bulgarian".
- -oglou : from the Turkish -oğlu meaning "son of", seen in families from Asia Minor. Examples are: "Tsolakoglou", "Ardizoglou" and "Patsatzoglou".
- -ou : a genitive mainly from Cyprus. Examples are: "Afxentiou", "Economou", "Konstantinou", "Christoforou" and "Gregoriou".
- -tis, -otis : meaning "of" a place. Examples are "Politis" and "Chiotis" from Chios.
- -tzis, -tsis and feminine : Turkish suffix to signify a profession, like the English -er in Baker or Butcher. Examples are: "Devetzi" and "Kouyioumtzis".