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Greek given names can be derived from the Greco-Roman gods, along with Ancient Greek traditions, or from the Byzantine Empire as well as the Old and the New Testament and early Christian traditions. Male names usually end in -ης and -ος, sometimes in -ας, -ων, -εύς, and -ης; female names almost always end in -α and -η, though a few end in -ώ.
When Greek names are used in other languages, they are sometimes rendered phonetically (e.g. Eleni for Ἑλένη) and sometimes given in their historical English counterpart (Helen). In the United States, there are conventional anglicizations of some names that are not otherwise related, e.g. Jimmy/James for Δημήτρης.
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It is a strong Greek tradition since antiquity for newborn children to be named after their grandparents. This results in a continuation of names in the family line. Yet, new names are also introduced into the family, with the Greek language having a very large list of both male and female names. There is a strong clustering of first names by locality according to patron saints, famous churches or monasteries. Examples include the name Spyridon in Corfu, Gerasimos in Kefalonia, Dionysia and Dionysios in Zakynthos, Andreas and Andriana in Patras, Markella and Markos in the Aegean Islands long under Venetian rule, Savvas among refugees from Asia Minor, Emmanuel, Joseph and Mēnas in Crete etc.
Greek surnames are most commonly patronymics. Occupation, characteristic and location/origin-based surnames names also occur. The feminine version of Greek surnames is generally the genitive of the girl's father's or woman's husband's name; so, for example, Mr. Yannatos and Mrs. Yannatou.
Because 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, and former vernacular practice (prefixing the surname to the proper name) was to call John Eleutherios as Leftero-giannis. Modern practice is to call the same person Giannis Eleftheriou: the proper name is vernacular (and not Ioannis), but the surname is an archaic genitive. Female surnames, are most often in the Katharevousa genitive case of a male name. This is an innovation of the Modern Greek state; Byzantine practice was to form a feminine counterpart of the male surname (e.g. masculine Palaiológos, Byzantine feminine Palaiologína, Modern feminine Palaiológou).[1] [2]
In the past, women would change their surname when married, to that of their husband (again in genitive case) signifying the transfer of "dependence" from the father to the husband. In earlier Modern Greek society, women were named with -aina as a feminine suffix on the husband's first name: for example "Giorgaina" or "Wife of George". Nowadays, a woman's surname does not change upon marriage, though she can use the husband's surname socially. Children usually receive the paternal surname, though there are cases where children receive the maternal surname in addition or exclusively.[3]
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. When Mary 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: María Ioánnou Demetriádou.
Some surnames are prefixed with Papa-, indicating ancestry from a priest, i.e. ."Papakostas", the "son of Kostas, the priest (papas)". Others, like Archi- and Mastro- signify "boss" and "tradesman" respectively. Prefixes such as Konto-, Makro-, and Chondro-, describe body characteristics, such as "short", "tall/long" and "fat". "Gero-" and "Palaio-" signify "old" or "wise".
Other prefixes include Hadji- which was an honorific deriving from the Arabic Hadj or pilgrimage, and indicate that the person had made a pilgrimage (in the case of Christians to Jerusalem) like "Hatzipanagis", and Kara- which is attributed to the Turkish word for "black" deriving from the Ottoman Empire era[4] such as "Karatasos".
Arvanite surnames are also common. For example, the word in Arvanitika for "brave" or "pallikari" (in Greek) being "çanavar" (Turkish canavar meaning "monster") or its shortened form "çavar" was pronounced "tzanavar" or "tzavar" giving birth to traditional Arvanitic family names like "Tzanavaras" and/or "Tzavaras".[5]
Most Greek patronymic suffixes are diminutives, which vary by region. The most common Hellenic patronymic suffixes are:[3]
Examples may include: "Mitsotakis", "Theodorakis" and "Doukakis" among many others.
Examples may include: "Melas", "Dimas", "Zorbas" and "Zappas", among many others.
Examples may include: "Georgatos", "Cosmatos" and "Manatos", among many others.
Examples may include "Georgallis" and "Kanellis" among many others.
Examples may include: "Stavridis", "Koutoufides", "Angelidis" and "Georgiadis" among many others.
Examples may include: "Stamatelopoulos", "Papadopoulos", "Gianopoulos" and "Anagnostopoulos" among many others.
Examples may include: "Tsolakoglou", "Ardizoglou" and "Patsatzoglou" among many others.
Examples may include: "Afxentiou", "Economou", "Konstantinou" and "Gregoriou" among many others.
Examples may include: "Xarhakos" and "Kyrgiakos" among many others.
Examples may include: "Koteas", "Georgeas" and "Charisteas" among many others.
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