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.[1][2] Family names came from placenames, nicknames, or occupations.[3]
During the
Ottoman period, surnames with Turkish prefixes such as "Hatzi-", "Kara-" and suffixes such as "-(i)lis", "-tzis", and "-oglou" became common, especially among
Anatolian Greeks. 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.[4]
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.[5]
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.[5]
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.
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.
Katharevousa
Demotic
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 &
Katharévousa
Demotic
-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.[6] 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 phenomena, alone or associated 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. The construction of diminutive forms is done 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:
First name
Shortened Form
Diminutives(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 Version 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:
First name
Shortened Form
Diminutive
Shortened Diminutive
Παναγιώτης
(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 include:
Savvas, Charalambis for those descended from
Asia Minor
Emmanuel or Manolis, Iosif (Joseph) or Sifis, Manousos, and Minas or Mina in
Crete
Tsambikos or Tsampika/Mika, Katholikos or Katholiki in
Rhodes.
Stratis or Stratoula and Taxiarchis or Taxiarchoula in
Lesbos.
When Greek names are used in other languages, they are sometimes rendered phonetically, such as Eleni for Ἑλένη, and sometimes by their equivalents, like Helen in English or Hélène in French. The Vasiliki (Βασιλική) is Basilica in Italian or Basilique in French. The Elisavet (Ελισάβετ) is Elizabeth in English or Elliezet in French. In the United States, there are also
conventional anglicizations based on phonetic similarity rather than etymology, for example James or Jimmy for Δημήτρης / Dimitris (nickname Ντίμης / Dimis, Ντέμης / Demis hence Jimmy), despite the English name
James and its diminutive
Jimmy actually coming from Greek Ἰάκωβος Iakobos, English Jacob (through Vulgar Latin Iacomus from Latin Iacobus, which is the Latinized form of Ἰάκωβος Iakobos in the Vulgar Latin and originally Greek New Testament).
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.[7][8]
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.[9]
Patronymic and matronymic
The use of the patronymic as part of a
personal name in everyday language is scarce and virtually non-existent, unlike languages with
Eastern Slavic naming customs. It is used in lieu of the father's full name and it is inserted between a person's given name and surname. The use of the matronymic is even more rare.
In a dated, self-styling practice, if Ioánnis Papadopoulos has a daughter whose first name is María and a son whose first name is Andreas, their full names will be María Ioánnou Papadopoúlou and Andréas Ioánnou Papadópoulos. If María then marries George Demetriádes, she may retain her maiden name or choose to be styled 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. This largely obsolete styling practice is not reflected in official documents or the spoken language, but could be utilized by, e.g., authors or anyone who uses his/her name for business purposes.
Official documents
The foremost-and compulsory-identification document in Greece, the
Greek identity card, includes name information as follows:
Surname (Επώνυμο)
Given name(s) (Όνομα)
Father's name (Όνομα Πατέρα)
Father's surname (Επώνυμο Πατέρα)
Mother's name (Όνομα Μητέρας)
Mother's surname (Επώνυμο Μητέρας)
Out of the six fields, only the first three are transliterated in English per
ELOT 743/
ISO 843. The first two comprise the
personal name and the rest is just
identity information. The
Cypriot identity card also includes father's and mother's name and surname in Greek and English; however all fields are transliterated.
In other significant identity documents, like the
Greek passport and
Greek driving license, compliant to European standards, the mother's and father's names are completely omitted. Corresponding documents in
Cyprus omit them as well.
In other official documents in Greece, like, exempli gratia, a marriage certificate, names are included accordingly (Surname/Given Names/Father's Name/Father's Surname/Mother's Name/Mother's Surname).
In education
In
report cards and the
Apolytirion, the students' names are displayed as "(student's full name) of (father's full name) and (mother's full name)".
However, in universities and specifically university degrees, the practice varies. For example, university degrees of the
Aegean University displays graduates' names as "(student's surname and name) of (father's given name)",[10] whilst degrees from the
University of West Attica display both the patronymic and the matronymic.[11]
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-: from the Turkish word for "black",[12] 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 (-άκης): associated primarily with
Crete (except
Anogeia) 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.[13]
-oulis (-ούλης): 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: "
Georgoulis" and "
Giannoulis".
-elis (-έλης) and -ilis (-ιλής): 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 (-άλλης) and -ellis (-έλλης): both found especially in the
Dodecanese, mainly
Rhodes. Examples are "
Georgallis" and "
Kanellis".
-lis (-λής). Turkish suffix for "of" a place, like the Greek suffixes -tis and -otis. Examples are: "
Karamanlis" and "
Kasdaglis".
-opoulos (-όπουλος): meaning "descendant of", originated from the
Peloponnese but has become very widespread. Examples are: "
Stamatelopoulos", "
Papadopoulos", "
Gianopoulos", "
Anagnostopoulos" and "
Theodorakopoulos". It can also be coined using ethnonyms, such as Frangopoulos (Φραγκόπουλος) meaning "son of a Frank", or 'Voulgaropoulos (Βουλγαρόπουλος) meaning "son of a Bulgarian".
-tis, -otis (-της, -ώτης): meaning "of" a place. Examples are "
Politis" from
polis (city) and "
Chiotis" from
Chios.
-tzis, -tsis (-τζής, -τσής): Turkish suffix to signify a profession, like the English -er in Baker or Butcher. Examples are: "
Devetzi" and "
Kouyioumtzis". Not related to -atzis/atzes (-άτζης) and -atsis/atses, (-άτσης), a
tsitacised version of -άκης associated with
Thrace. Example:
Vatatzes or Vatatses (instead of Vatakes).[16]
^Alexander P. Kazhdan, Michael McCormick, "Social Composition of the Byzantine Court", in Henry Maguire, ed., Byzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204, 2004,
ISBN0884023087, p. 168
^Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, Peter McClure, The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, 2016,
ISBN0192527479, p. lii
^Hamish Forbes, "Early modern Greece: liquid landscapes and fluid populations" Hesperia Supplements40: 111-135 (2007)
^
abMackridge, Peter (2009). Language and National Identity in Greece, 1766-1976. Oxford. p. 21.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
^"Naming practices" in British Academy and Oxford University, Lexicon of Greek Personal Names,
onlineArchived 2018-08-16 at the
Wayback Machine
^Guentcho, Banev (2002).
"John III Vatatzes". Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. p. note 1.
External links
Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, a Major Research Project of the British Academy, Oxford, contains over 35,000 published Greek names up to the 6th century.