They call Ancient Greece the cultural sire of Western civilization for a reason. It is a country closely tied to its legendary past and cultural traditions, which shows through their architectural landmarks, weddings, and naming conventions as well. In this article, we will look at different aspects of Greek names, from their general presentation through the customs connected to naming children in Greece, reaching the remains of mythological spirit today.
Introduction to Greek Names
Greek names used to have a unique structure following a long-held tradition of paying tribute to the paternal line of the family. This was most evident in the use of patronymics placed between the given name and the family name of a person. A patronymic is derived from the father’s personal name, which undergoes a slight change when inherited by his children, usually expressed through the suffix ‘–ou’, meaning “of” in English. The name of a father named Γεώργιος (Georgios) was changed to Γεωργίου (Georgiou) when gifted to his descendants, meaning “(son) of Georgios”. This tradition is not in general use anymore, only in special official contexts like applying for University. In terms of surnames, most of them have different endings according to the gender of the bearer in Greek. For example, a boy who has the family name Παπαγιάννης (Papaioannis) might have a sister whose name is Παπαϊωάννου (Papaioannou). We all know how long a Greek surname can be, and so another interesting fact about Greek name structure is, that family names can also be abbreviated. If someone is called Papachristodoulopoulos, his friends might escape by shortening his name to Παππάς (Pappas).
On this note, it’s interesting to note how varied Greek given name hypocorisms can be. For foreigners it’s a bit difficult to connect the original Greek given name to all of its short or diminutive forms, because they often seem very different. For example, the name Αικατερίνη (Aikaterini) may have the following informal variations: Kaiti, Katina, Katerina, Katilo, Katinio. Similarly, someone named Ιωάννης (Ioannis) might be called by the names Giannis, Giagkos, Giannakos or Giannelos by his friends and family.
Greek names change in terms of grammatical case too. You should not be surprised when during your holiday in Greece, it seems like people forget to pronounce the whole name of someone they are trying to call. This happens because Greek vocative case makes the name drop its original suffix and what remains is a shortened version of the name ending in a vowel. If someone named Νίκος (Nikos) forgets to wash the dishes, he will be called to the kitchen using the form Νίκο (Niko) by his mother. If someone wants to say hi to a person named Χρήστος (Christos), they will also use the form in the vocative case and say: “Γειά σου Χρήστο“. Another case that makes the names change in Greek is the genitive, which expresses possession. For example, in Greek publications, the author’s name is often written in their genitive form, to express the owner’s right to the book, and these can be easily distinguished by the ‘-ou’ at their end, even in the case of masculine surnames.
Greek Naming Customs
Breaking plates and wearing an evil eye charm or a martis are some of the most famous customs of Greece. There are, however, a few traditions that have to do with names and the naming ceremony, as an important part of a child’s upbringing. Conventionally, children in Greece receive the names of their grandparents as given names, thus cherishing their roots and the history of their family. Usually, boys take the name of their paternal grandfather, while girls get the name of their maternal grandmother. This tradition seems to fade due to modern globalizing tendencies but the names of the grandparents still do not fall out of the frame, they are just placed in the humbler position of a middle name.
Greece is very closely tied to its religious background and this leads to the majority of names coming from biblical figures. Naming children after saints has led to the establishment of name days, celebrations highly cherished and respected in Greece. Name day celebrations in Greece have the same degree of importance as birthdays in other cultures, so people gather for a party at a taverna or call each other on these days. Priests who do not have a saint’s name when joining the clergy often change their names according to their religious beliefs. Moreover, a wife of a priest is also often called Πρεσβυτέρα (Presvytera) instead of her given name, showing respect towards her by this title meaning “the wife of an elder”.
Even though all women must keep their birth surname after marriage in Greece, wives sometimes are referred to by the name of their husbands with the ending ‘–αινα’ (‘-aina’) or ‘-ινα’ (‘-ina’) added to them. This convention comes from ancient times when referring to a woman as the daughter or wife of somebody was considered more polite than calling them by their first names. This might also be the reason why most female given names are simply male ones with a different suffix added to them, creating female-male name pairs such as: Νικάνδρα (Nikandra) – Νίκανδρος (Nikandros) or Λουκία (Loukia) – Λουκάς (Loukas).
Speaking of customs, we have to mention that surnames were not always in use in Greece. In ancient times, people were generally given only one name, which was complemented with other terms for a more specific and clear expression only occasionally. These were the terms, however, which later were transformed into surnames and are used today as well. These names can come from patronymics, or descriptive nicknames, but can also allude to different occupational or geographical characteristics of a person. Surnames originally derived from patronymics are for example Nikolopoulos and Theodoropoulos which use a common suffix ‘-opoulos’ meaning “descendant of” or “son of” to create a family name. More suffixes like the one mentioned are ‘-akis’ which is used mainly in Crete in names such as Θεοδωράκης (Theodorakis), or ‘-antis’ from Pontos, as in the name Υψηλάντης (Ypsilantis). Surnames alluding to occupations are common in other languages as well, examples for these in Greek are Ράπτης (Raptis) meaning “tailor” and Μυλωνάς (Mylonas) with the sense of “miller” in English. Descriptive names were first meant to hint at the characteristics of a person and then, when transformed into family names, lost their strong allusion to physical or moral aspects. Some of these surnames used in Greece today are Κοντός (Kontos) which means “short”, Σπανος (Spanos) which stands for “beardless” or Λεβέντης (Leventis), alluding to a brave and honorable person. Lastly, Greeks have surnames derived from geographical names, such as Θεσσαλονικιος (Thessalonikios) alluding to the city of Thessalonika or Νησιώτης (Nisiotis) hinting at people from the islands.
Mythological Names
Greek mythology shapes stories since ancient times. It influences pop culture and literature, and has its imprint upon naming conventions as well. What an honor can it be to have a name derived from a Greek god or goddess? In ancient times, the names of these respected figures were changed when given to ordinary mortals, such as in the case of the Διονύσιος (Dionysios) which is the adjectival form of the name Διόνυσος (Dionysos), the god of winemaking, fertility and ritual madness. Another variant of this name used in ancient times is Διονυσόδωρος (Dionysodoros) which means “gift of Dionysos”. Today, it’s acceptable to use names of gods and goddesses for ordinary people, even if their popularity is quite recent. There are many names which are derived from these mythological characters and that became widely used in Greece and abroad as well. In the following, we will present a few of these names with their meaning in relation to their mythical origins.
Names of goddesses for girls are more commonly used that those of gods as male names. The first that we would like to mention is Δάφνη (Daphne), which is a name originally held by a nymph in Greek mythology, an unfortunate victim of Eros’ anger who transformed into a laurel tree to escape Apollo. Her story is closely linked to this name which means “laurel” and is a popular name for girls in many cultures. Another such name is Ἑλένη (Helen), which alludes to a daughter of Zeus who is portrayed in Greek mythology as the woman whose beauty caused the Trojan War. The etymology of this name is uncertain but it might have been derived from the Greek word “ἑλένη” which means “torch”, so it implies light and brightness, appropriate for a girl with this kind of fatal beauty. The last feminine name we would like to mention is Ἶρις (Iris), one connected to the goddess of the rainbow and messenger of gods. The meaning of this name is also “rainbow” which suggests beauty and power.
The practice of giving divine names for boys is also becoming more and more widespread. Probably the most popular between names derived from Greek mythology is Ἰάσων (Jason), originally pointing towards the fearsome leader of the Argonauts, nowadays even towards friendly neighbors playing football. Another epic name from Greek mythology is the Απόλλων (Apollo), the one signifying the god of oracles, healing, archery, music and arts, and many more, the figure bringing dawn by riding across the sky in his fiery chariot. The meaning of the name is “destroyer”, but the seemingly negative connotation does not overthrow the fact that it’s the god of light that it refers to. Finally, another name bearing a very strong aura is Ἄτλας (Atlas), referring to the Titan condemned to hold up the sky for eternity in Greek mythology. The etymology of the name also hints at this gesture of holding the weight of the world upon one’s shoulders, so it bears the quality of inner strength.
We’ve taken a brief look at how diverse and meaningful Greek names can be, holding wisdom from one of the earliest civilizations. Which one would you choose for your child?
