It has always been asserted that the purpose of naming is giving identity to a person. And for the Ancient Greeks, there were not one, or two, but three elements in this identification – the personal or given name, the name of a parent, which is usually the father’s name, and a name that indicates the origin or membership in a particular kinship.
The Ancient Greeks followed the Indo-European norm of giving one personal name. You can find this pattern in Homer’s poems, dated eighth century and Mycenaean texts of the 13th century.
The patronymic or matronymic (which was rare) was required for identifying and legitimizing the baby. Women of Ancient Greece bore standard male names with a feminine ending or suffix. The etiquette of those times required that women must be spoken of as the daughter or wife of someone than by their own names. But on the dedications and gravestones, they had to be referred by their given name. The given name and the patronymic were followed by a name that indicated the origin.
Of the hundreds of thousands of Ancient Greek baby names, MomJunction has selected the best for you in the list below. Take a look!
NAMES | MEANING | GENDER | FAVOURITES | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agnes | A chaste woman | Girl | |||
Alexander | Defender of Mankind | Boy | |||
Aristotle | Excellent, best thinker; name of a great philosopher | Boy | |||
Chrysanthe | A golden coloured flowering plant | Girl | |||
Euthalia | Flower or Bloom | Girl | |||
Georgius | One who works as a farmer or planter | Boy | |||
Heron | heron is long legged bird,Greek inventor known as Heron | Boy | |||
Irene | Peace | Girl | |||
Kassandra | Kassandra means She Who Shines and Attracts Men | Girl | |||
Kyros | Kyros name means He who is Far Shighted | Boy | |||
Linus | Son of the God Apollo, this is a name from Greek Mythology and means flax | Boy | |||
Melissa | Germanic - Hard Worker; Greek - Honey; Bee; Strong Work; Industrious; Highborn Power; Variant of Melissa | Girl | |||
Nikias | Victory | Boy | |||
Olympias | Belongs to the home of Gods | Girl | |||
Plato | A man who is broad-shouldered | Boy | |||
Sophia | She who posesses great knoledge and wisdom | Girl | |||
Thales | Greek name, means to flourish | Boy | |||
Xanthos | Yellow | Boy | |||
Xenia | Hospitality | Girl | |||
Achaikos | Achaikos is the ancient Greek form of Achaicus. It refers to a region in Greece names Achaia. | Boy | |||
Aeropos | Male form of the name Aerope. | Boy | |||
Aeschylus | Aeschylus originates from the Greek name Aischylos, which means shame. | Boy | |||
Agapetos | Agapetos is the original form of Agapito. It means beloved. | Boy | |||
Aikaterine | Ancient Greek form of Katerine. It means pure. | Girl | |||
Akakios | Akakios is derived from a Greek word meaning innocent or not evil. | Boy | |||
Alkaios | Alkaios is Greek form of Alcaeus. It means strength. | Boy | |||
Alketas | Strength, a strong man. | Boy | |||
Alkibiades | Alkibiades is the Greek form of Alcibiades. It means strength or force. | Boy | |||
Ampelios | Ampelios is the original Greek form of the name Ampelio. It means vine. | Boy | |||
Anakletos | Original Greek form of Anacletus. It means invoked. | Boy | |||
Anaxagoras | Anaxagoras is derived from Greek element anax, which means master, or lord and agora, which means assembly, marketplace. | Boy | |||
Androkles | Greek form of Androcles. It means glory of man. | Boy | |||
Andronikos | Andronikos is a form of Andronicus. It means victory of a man. | Boy | |||
Aniketos | Original form of Anicetus. It means 'unconquerable'. | Boy | |||
Antigonus | The ancient Greek name means against or compared to. | Boy | |||
Aristomache | She who is best in the battle. | Girl | |||
Aspasia | Name of the lover Pericles | Girl | |||
Asphodel | Name of the flower lily; resembles a flower | Girl | |||
Athanasia | Greek name for immortal | Girl | |||
Athanasios | The immortal divine soul | Boy | |||
Basileios | Ancient Greek form of Basil, meaning king. | Boy | |||
Chares | The name is derived from Greek word chari, meaning grace, kindness. | Boy | |||
Cleisthenes | Glory and strength | Boy | |||
Damianos | Ancient Greek form of Damian. It means to tame. | Boy | |||
Dareios | Dareios is the original form of Darius. It means to possess something good. | Boy | |||
Democritus | Judge of the people | Boy | |||
Demosthenes | Vigor of the people | Boy | |||
Demostrate | Army of the people | Girl | |||
Diodorus | Gift of Zeus | Boy | |||
Diodotus | Given by Zeus | Boy | |||