In the modern world, Greek names are the personal names among people of Greek language and culture, generally consisting of a given name and a family name.
History Ancient Greeks generally had a single name, 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.Alexander P. Kazhdan, Michael McCormick, "Social Composition of the Byzantine Court", in Henry Maguire, ed., Byzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204, 2004, , p. 168 Family names came from placenames, nicknames, or occupations.Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, Peter McClure, The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, 2016, , p. lii
During the Ottoman period, surnames with Turkish prefixes such as "Hatzi-" ("Hacı"), "Kara-" ("brave") and suffixes such as "-(i)lis" ("li/lı" meaning "of"), "-tzis" ("ci/cı/çi/çı" meaning "-maker, -smith"), and "-oglou" ("oğlu" meaning "son of") became common. 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.Hamish Forbes, "Early modern Greece: liquid landscapes and fluid populations" Hesperia Supplements 40: 111-135 (2007)
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.
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, ούς, 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.
Demotic forms Most Greek first names in Katharévousa (which can be considered the "official" form of the first name) generally correspond to a demotic form, as well as customary shortened and/or diminutive variations. The Katharévousa form, itself equivalent to the name's form in Ancient Greek, is used in official papers, while the demotic form or the shortened/diminutive forms are the forms used in everyday life. KatharevousaDemoticΙησούς (Iisoús)Ιωάννης (Ioannis)Γιάννης (Yiannis)Γεώργιος (Georgios)Γιώργος (Yiorgos)Μιχαήλ (Michail)Μιχάλης (Michalis)Γαβριήλ (Gavriil)Γαβρίλος (Gavrilos)Αντώνιος (Andonios)Αντώνης (Andonis)Ιάσων (Iason)Ιάσονας (Iasonas)Εμμανουήλ (Emmanouil)Μανώλης (Manolis)
Changes in endings Demotic forms tend to demonstrate endings that have undergone regularization. (For instance, in men's names, the oblique stem in the Katharévousa form is sometimes suffixed with -ας (gen. -α) to create the Demotic form of the name.) +Examples (format: nominative/genitive)Ancient &KatharévousaDemotic -ωρ/-ορος -ορας/-ορα -ων/-ωνος -ωνας/-ωνα -ων/-ονος -ονας/-ονα -αξ/-ακος -ακας/-ακα -εύς/-έως -έας/-εά -ις* -η/-ης-ιδα/-ιδας *The oblique stems of the ancient names in -ις, whose descendants appear with -η/-ης and -ιδα/-ιδας, varied. At the very least, the initial origins of Demotic's -ιδα/-ιδας was almost certainly Ancient Greek's -ις/-ιδος (with the oblique stem being suffixed with -α/-ας).
Variations
Reason for variations Since antiquity, there has been a strong tradition of naming the first and second sons after the paternal and maternal grandfathers and the first and second daughters after the paternal and maternal grandmothers."Naming practices" in British Academy and Oxford University, Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, online Although this tradition is partially challenged in modern urban Greece, it is still practiced in much of the country.
This results in a continuation of names in the family line, but cousins with the same official name are almost always called by different shortened forms or diminutives. These variants make it possible to differentiate between cousins despite these traditionally having the same official names because they are traditionally named after their grandparents.
Shortened forms The use of shortened forms is widespread in Greek. Most Greek first names correspond to a customary shortened form. These are constructed by breaking one or more syllables, at the beginning or at the end of the first name, resulting in a form generally in two or even three syllables. The formation of these can be done according to different methods, either alone or combined with each other:
Apheresis (loss of syllables at the beginning of the name); for example: Παναγιώτα (Panagióta) → Γιώτα (Gióta) Apocope (loss of syllables at the end of the name); for example: Νικόλαος (Nikólaos) → Νίκος (Níkos) Syncope (loss of syllables inside the name); for example: Θεόδωρος (Theódoros) → Θόδωρος (Thódoros) Assimilation (propagation of a sound on the neighboring sound); for example: Πηνελόπη (Pinelópi) → Πόπη (Pópi) Repetition; for example: Παρασκευή (Paraskeví) → Βιβή (Viví) Borrowing from another language, notably English; for example: Βασίλειος (Vasíleios) → Μπίλης (Bílis, Billy); Αθανασία (Athanasia) → Νάνσυ (Nánsy, Nancy) Using another shorter Greek name of similar sound; for example: Παρασκευάς (Paraskevas) → Πάρις (Paris)
Diminutives Another method of variation is the use of diminutives. Diminutive forms are constructed by adding a suffix, either to the first name, or to the shortened version of the first name. The suffixes are generally:
-άκης (-akis) or -ούλης (-oulis) for masculine nouns -ίτσα (-itsa), -ούλα (-oula), or -ιώ (-io) for feminine nouns
+Examples of diminutivesFirst nameShortened FormDiminutive(s)Ελένη(Eleni)Ελενίτσα(Elenitsa)Πέτρος(Petros)Πετράκης, Πετρούλης(Petrakis, Petroulis)Κωνσταντίνος(Konstantinos)Κώστας(Kostas)Κωστάκης(Kostakis)Ειρήνη(Eirini)Ρήνα(Rina)Ρηνούλα, Ρηνιώ(Rinoula, Rinio)
Shortened versions of diminutives Furthermore, diminutives themselves have shortened forms. For example, Takis may be short for Kostakis or Panagiotakis, themselves derived from Konstantinos and Panagiotis.
+Examples of shortened diminutivesFirst nameShortened FormDiminutiveShortened DiminutiveΠαναγιώτης(Panagiotis)Παναγιωτάκης(Panagiotakis)Τάκης(Takis)Δήμητρα(Dimitra)Δημητρούλα(Dimitroula)Ρούλα(Roula)Κωνσταντίνος(Konstantinos)Κώστας(Kostas)Κωστάκης(Kostakis)Τάκης(Takis)
Other trends There is a strong clustering of first names by locality according to patron saints, famous churches, or monasteries. Examples: Spyridon or Spyridoula in Corfu Gerasimos or Gerasimoula in Kefalonia Dionysios and Dionysia in Zakynthos, Andreas or Andrea or Androulla in Patras and the rest of Achaea province, as well as Cyprus and Andreanos (Ανδρεάνος) or Andreana (Ανδρεάνα) Cyprus Markellos (Markos), or Markella in Chios Savvas, Charalambis for those descended from Asia Minor Emmanuel or Emmanuelos /Manolios / Manolis / Manios /Manusos Emmanuela or Emmanuelia / Manolía / Manólia / Mania (Manio), Iosif (Joseph) / Sifis or Iosifina (Josephine), Manousos, Minas or Mina, Myron in Crete Tsambikos or Tsampika /Mika, Katholikos or Katholiki, Archangelos or Archangela, Skiadenis or Skiadeni in Rhodes. Stratis or Stratoula and Taxiarchis or Taxiarchoula, Rafail or Rafailia, Myrsini in Lesbos. Myrtidiotissa, Myrto, Myrta, Myrtia in Kythira. Regional variants and dialectal hypocoristics
In various Modern Greek dialects and idioms, given names (Christian names) frequently undergo phonetic and morphological modifications, taking distinct suffixes depending on the region. These variants are utilized either as hypocoristics (pet names) or as a means of adapting standard names into the phonology of the local dialect.
* Crete and the Aegean Islands: A highly characteristic feature is the formation of female hypocoristics ending in ''-io'' (''-ιώ''), such as ''Annio'' (from Anna), ''Mario'' (from Maria), '''Vasilio''' ( Vasileia), '''Manio''' (from Emmanouela or Mania, Manio), '''Lenio''' (from Eleni), and '''Stelio''' (from Styliani), while the form '''Manolia''' is also attested. Correspondingly, male names often take the suffix ''-ios'' or ''-akis'', such as ''Kostios'' or '''Yannios''' (from Ioannes) and '''Thomakis''' (from Thomas). For the name Emmanouil in particular, the dialectal variants '''Manios''', '''Manolios''', and '''Manousos''' are exceptionally widespread in Crete. Other prominent island variants include '''Giorgis''' or '''Giorgaros''' (from Georgios) and '''Stelis''' (from Stylianos). Due to historical Western (Venetian) influences, types like '''Tomazos''' (from Thomas) also appear.
* Mani and the Southern Peloponnese: There is a distinct regional tendency to shift female names into the neuter gender with the suffix ''-o'', primarily used as a term of endearment or familiarity. Characteristic examples include '''to Vasiliko''' (from Vasiliki),'''to Vasilio''' (from Vasilia) ''Annio'' or ''to Annio'' (from Anna), '''to Eleniko''' (from Eleni), and '''to Mitriko''' (a neuter pet form from Demetrios). Additionally, unique local variations and suffixes occur, such as '''Giorgounis''' (from Georgios), '''Petrounis''' (from Petros), '''Mitros''' (from Demetrios), '''Pota''' or '''Potoula''' (from Panagiota), and '''Tsandoula''' (from Alexandra).
* Northern Dialects (Epirus, Macedonia, Thessaly): Due to the vowel raising and unstressed vowel deletion typical of northern idioms, names differentiate significantly in their declension and form. For instance, the name Thomas is frequently found as '''Thomas''' (pronounced ''Θώμος'' in Epirus) or '''Matsios''' / '''Matsioras''' (in Macedonia). Similarly, the female names Vasiliki and Vasileia transform into the traditional dialectal types '''Vasilo''' or '''Vasiliko''', as well as the hypocoristics '''Katinko''' (from Aikaterini) and '''Tsia'''. In Epirus and Macedonia, male names often take unique local forms such as '''Kotsios''' or '''Kotsis''' (from Konstantinos), '''Metsios''' (from Demetrios or Thomas), '''Siomos''' / '''Tsiomos''' (from Thomas), and phonetic adaptations like '''Giorgous''' or '''Giogos''' (from Georgios). Particularly in the Epirotic idiom, male and female hypocoristics ending in ''-elis'' or ''-eli'' (''-έλης'' / ''-έλη'') are exceptionally common for widely used names, such as '''Yannelis''' (from Giannis), '''Giorgelis''' (from Giorgos), '''Kotsarelis''' (from Kostas), '''Fotelis''' (from Fotis), '''Marineli''' (from Marina), and '''Marieli''' (from Maria).
* Dodecanese and Cyprus: It is customary to use hypocoristic suffixes such as ''-oui'' (neuter) or ''-ouda'', for example ''Annoui'' or ''Mariouda''.
* Ionian Islands (Eptanisa): Due to heavy historical influences from the Italian language, names frequently adopt suffixes such as ''-etos'' / ''-eta'' or ''-inos'' / ''-ina'', such as ''Spyretos'' (from Spyridon) and ''Tzanetos'' (from Ioannes).